Aton Resources Inc. the Ceo’S Review of 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ATON RESOURCES INC. THE CEO’S REVIEW OF 2019
Vancouver January 6, 2020: Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX-V) (“Aton” or the “Company") is pleased to share
the thoughts of its President and CEO Mark Campbell on the company’s accomplishments in 2019.
“As we enter the New Year and a new decade, I want to reflect on 2019, which though a challenging year, was
in fact a very positive year for Aton, on three fronts.
Though we were unable to complete any drilling this past year, we did through our regional geological
exploration, make two significant early stage discoveries at the previously unknown areas of Semna East and
Safaga South, with results showing potentially two new highly prospective targets (see our news releases of
October 9, 2019 and June 20, 2019) and demonstrating the potential for intrusion related gold mineralization.
These discoveries continue to show the overall potentia l that exists in our Abu Marawat Concession area,
along with our Hamama Development project and our exciting main exploration target at Rodruin, which
delivered outstanding drilling results in 2018.
Another very significant milestone in 2019 was our applic ation for a mining license to develop our Hamama
gold project, which we submitted in November. Firstly, we are only the second company to formally apply for
a gold mining license, the other being Centamin at Sukari which currently produces c.500,000ozpa and is
currently subject to a takeover bid from Endeavour Mining. Secondly, this caps off a long and at times a
torturous road to getting here. We began exploration at Hamama less than a decade ago and have
encountered delays along the way, the most significant being the political upheavals in Egypt at the beginning
of the last decade, which have now been resolved and Egypt remains a destination of choice for foreign direct
investment in the Middle East. In addition, the downturn in the junior mining market over the last few years has
made both equity and debt capital funding for the Company challenging – we are very grateful to our existing
shareholders who continue to support and believe in the Company and its assets .
The tenacity of the Company and it s team have been exemplary in working through the challenges we have
faced and I want to thank all of our people on behalf of the directors and shareholders. We have got to this
position by having the staying power of chewing gum on a dance floor and pulling together all the pieces
needed to advance our projects. We are now awaiting the approval of our mining license , which is one of a
number of important things which need to occur if a mine is to be built, so that we can get underway to do the
required work to develop an open pit, heap leach mine at Hamama West, which constitutes phase one of our
envisioned development at Hamama. The license also allows us to move forward to continue our exploration
drilling at our primary exploration area at Rodruin and our other potential high- impact targets such as a t Abu
Gaharish, Sir Bakis and Semna. I believe that 2020 will be a year in which Aton will continue to capitalize on
the accomplishments of the past ten years and to expand our gold discovery at Rodruin, which looks to have
significant potential. This ongoing work will be a great catalyst for Aton’s share price.
But maybe the issues of most significance are the amendments to the mining law and the new executive
regulations that guide the fiscal terms and conditions of that law. Two years ago when I wrote to you, there
was not even a whisper of these changes being on cards. Since that time, President Sisi and the Minister of
Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El Molla, have focused the government’s efforts into change towards
a globally competitive mining regulatory regime, and realized that to continue to do nothing to promote the
industry would result in the exploration and mining sector not being developed and thus be an incalculable
loss to Egypt’s economy . T hey realized that something radical needed to be done and that a complete
overhaul was required to kick start the sector where, except for Sukari, no new precious or base metal mines
have been develop ed in Egypt in 100 years and that the whole sector is only one producing company
(Centamin) and two exploration companies, your Company and a private entity, Thani Stratex. You have to
admit, that for a country with the potential hard rock mineral wealth that Egypt has, this is a pretty paltry sized
sector. But for junior exploration companies and their investors, it’s all about financing.
In March of 2018 the Ministry realizing as the Minster said, that they were oil & gas guys and not familiar with
mineral exploration or mining, hired Wood Mackenzie to review why there had been no development and to
give the Ministry a pathway for the sector ’s development in line with globally accepted fiscal terms and
conditions and frameworks for attracting exploration investment, the only starting point for development of the
sector. Working in conjunction with ENPPI (Egypt’s sovereign petroleum downstream engineering company),
Wood Mackenzie within six months identified the root causes of the problem s and recommended that the
Government scrap using the oil & gas focused model of the Production Sharing Agreement, and move to the
internationally accepted mining model of Tax, Royalty and Rent, thus removing direct Government involvement
and reflecting the vast difference in the economics of explor ation and mine development and long- term
investment requirements and those of the oil and gas sectors. They also recommended that exploration
companies are given a streamlined and simple way to acquiring exploration ground and getting rid of the oil
centric ‘bid round’ structure. These are very straightforward solutions. It’s analogous to operating an airport to
international standards, as opposed to local standards.
In August of last year, President Sisi ratified the amendments to the mining law, which was a huge step forward.
So while we wait to see the actual Executive Regulations to be issued this year, we can all take heart in some
of the other developments of last year. The creation of a new position within the Ministry of Petroleum of the
Deputy Mini ster of Mineral Resources, elevat ing the sector and stressing it s importance to the Egyptian
government and economy, will see a greater focus on the sector’s development. Also, the cancellation of the
failed 2017 bid round was a positive step as it again h ighlighted the intractable differences between oil & gas
and mineral exploration and mining. All these steps forward are vital otherwise mining as a sector will be unable
to carry forward its development and be a lost opportunity for another generation. The value of a countries
mineral wealth is only of value if it can be found and exploited - left in the ground it is worthless to all
stakeholders.
So overall 2019 was good year for Aton Resources specifically and mineral exploration in Egypt in general. I
expect that 2020 will be even better and we look forward to making significant headway both at Hamama and
our exploration areas such as Rodruin, at our 596sqkm Abu Marawat Concession.
Once again, I would like to say that none of this could have been ac complished if not for our outstanding
exploration team, both expatriate and Egyptian based at the Hamama exploration camp, and our staff in both
Cairo and Vancouver. It is a real privilege for me to be associated with them. It is also important to recogniz e
the support that we have received from our contractors, suppliers and other consultants and advisors, for they
have also helped to make this possible. Furthermore the support and guidance from our Directors and Advisory
Directors over the past year has been a huge help in achieving our goals. Of course it goes without saying that
I extend my gratitude to our investors who have supported us, and in particular to our two cornerstone investors
OU Moonrider and OU Hektik, as it has been through their belief in Aton and unswerving support that we have
gotten to where we are today. To all of them I extend my most heartfelt thanks.
May I take this opportunity on behalf of all of us at Aton Resources to wish everyone a happy, healthy and
prosperous 2020.”
About Aton Resources Inc.
Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX-V) is focused on its 100%
owned Abu Marawat Concession (“Abu Marawat”),
located in Egypt’s Arabian -Nubian Shield, approximately
200 km north of Centamin’s world-class Sukari gold mine.
Aton has ident ified numerous gold and base metal
exploration targets at Abu Marawat, including the
Hamama deposit in the west, the Abu Marawat deposit in
the northeast, and the advanced Rodruin exploration
prospect in the south of the Concession. T hree historic
British mines are also located on the Concession at Sir
Bakis, Semna and Abu Garida. Aton has identified several
distinct geological trends within Abu Marawat, which
display potential for the development of a variety of styles
of precious and base metal mineralisation. Abu Marawat
is over 596 km2 in size and is located in an area of
excellent infrastructure; a four -lane highway, a 220kV
power line, and a water pipeline are in close proximity, as
are the international airports at Hurghada and Luxor.
Qualified person
The technical information contained in this News Release
was prepared by Javier Orduña BSc (hons), MSc, MCSM,
DIC, MAIG, SEG(M), Exploration Manager of Aton
Resources Inc. Mr. Orduña is a qualified person (QP) under
National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects.
For further information regarding Aton Resources Inc.,
please visit us at www.atonresources.com or contact:
MARK CAMPBELL
President and Chief Executive Officer
Tel: +202-27356548
Email: [email protected]
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements. Since forward-looking statements
address future events and conditions; by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results
in each case could differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.