VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX-V) (“Aton” or the “Company") is pleased to update investors on the latest assay results from the Phase 2 diamond drilling programme at its advanced Rodruin gold exploration project, located in the Company’s 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession (“Abu Marawat” or the “Concession”), in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.
Highlights:
- Diamond drilling is ongoing at Rodruin, with 32 drill holes having now been completed, ROD-048 and ROD-051 to ROD-081, for a total of 3,584 metres to date. Due to the success of the programme it is now being extended beyond the originally planned 3,350m;
- Drill holes ROD-062 to ROD-069 were drilled to test the Central Buttress and the South Ridge summit zones, which are comprised of outcropping gossanous and partially mineralised carbonate rock;
- Drill hole ROD-062 returned a mineralised intersection of 40.0m grading 2.32 g/t Au and 8.2 g/t Ag;
- Other drill holes also returned mineralised intersections including 38.1m grading 0.79 g/t Au and 6.0 g/t Ag (hole ROD-063); 27.68m grading 0.52 g/t Au and 9.2 g/t Ag and 5.32m grading 2.89 g/t Au and 70.1 g/t Ag (both hole ROD-067); and 12.3m grading 1.57 g/t Au and 8.8 g/t Ag and 9.88m grading 0.95 g/t Au and 10.4 g/t Ag (both hole ROD-069).
“These latest results are again very solid, and continue to confirm the existence of substantial blocks of outcropping mineralisation at Rodruin that will be readily amenable to open pit mining, with a very low stripping ratio,” said Tonno Vahk, Interim CEO. “We continue to be very excited by the visible copper-zinc sulphide mineralisation that we are currently drilling at depth, and expect to be able to report very soon. We are also pleased to announce that Cube Consulting, our long-term resource consultants, have now undertaken a site visit to Rodruin as we look to move ahead with the establishment of a maiden mineral resource estimate at Rodruin as soon as is practically possible.”
Rodruin diamond drilling programme
The Rodruin prospect was discovered in December 2017 by Aton geologists (see news release dated December 14, 2017), and is located approximately 18km east of the Company’s Hamama West mineral deposit (Figure 1). During 2018 Aton constructed a c. 4.5km access road to the prospect, and undertook a highly successful 50 hole Phase 1 reverse circulation percussion (“RC”) drilling programme at Rodruin, which returned mineralised intersections including 36m grading 12.47 g/t Au and 9.3 g/t Ag, from 5m downhole depth (hole ROP-003, see news release dated October 1, 2018) and 61m grading 1.55 g/t Au and 8.9 g/t Ag, from 111m (hole ROP-050, see news release dated January 29, 2019).
The Phase 2 diamond drilling programme at Rodruin commenced in late November 2021, and results reported to date include 48.0m grading 1.97 g/t Au and 5.3 g/t Ag in hole ROD-052 (see news release dated January 25, 2022), 88.25m grading 1.74 g/t Au and 9.7 g/t Ag in hole ROD-055 (see news release dated March 1, 2022) and 129.50m grading 1.00 g/t Au and 8.8 g/t Ag in hole ROD-056 (see news release dated March 7, 2022). All diamond drilling reported to date has tested outcropping and near surface mineralisation at Rodruin and has confirmed the potential for open pit mineable oxide gold resources at Rodruin.
| Hole ID | Collar co-ordinates 1 | Dip 2 | Grid azimuth 2 | EOH depth (m) | Comments | ||
| X | Y | Z | |||||
| ROD-062 | 552610 | 2912914 | 804 | 0.8 | 196.9 | 45.20 | South Ridge |
| ROD-063 | 552610 | 2912914 | 803 | -35.1 | 197.3 | 55.10 | South Ridge |
| ROD-064 | 552565 | 2912917 | 806 | -20.5 | 230.1 | 47.80 | South Ridge |
| ROD-065 | 552571 | 2912915 | 806 | -9.3 | 183.5 | 45.00 | South Ridge |
| ROD-066 | 552625 | 2912911 | 804 | -1.1 | 178.2 | 53.80 | South Ridge |
| ROD-067 | 552625 | 2912911 | 804 | -32.5 | 181.1 | 62.85 | South Ridge |
| ROD-068 | 552623 | 2912962 | 772 | -25.1 | 180.7 | 66.65 | Central Buttress Zone |
| ROD-069 | 552649 | 2912958 | 777 | -25.0 | 181.4 | 80.10 | Central Buttress Zone |
| Notes: 1) Collar co-ordinates as laid out using handheld GPS 2) Collar surveys of drill holes undertaken at c. 5-6m depth, using Reflex EZ-Trac survey tool 3) All co-ordinates are UTM (WGS84) Zone 36R | |||||||
Table 1: Collar details of diamond drill holes ROD-062 to ROD-069
Discussion of results
Drill holes ROD-062 to ROD-069 were all drilled horizontally or at shallow angles at the Central Buttress Zone (“CBZ”) or under the summit line of the South Ridge at Rodruin (Figure 2), and were designed to test for potential near-surface gossanous carbonate associated mineralisation. Collar and survey details of the holes are provided in Table 1.
All holes, with the exception of ROD-068, intersected gold(-silver) mineralisation. Details of mineralised intersections from holes ROD-056 to ROD-061 are provided in Table 2, and hole projections are shown in Figure 3.
| Hole ID | Intersection (m) 1 | Au (g/t) | Ag (g/t) | Cu (%) | Pb (%) | Zn (%) | Comments | ||
| From | To | Interval | |||||||
| ROD-062 | 5.20 | 45.20 | 40.00 | 2.32 | 8.2 | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.12 | includes 2.0m of voids/ workings, mineralisation through to EOH |
| ROD-063 | 9.45 | 47.55 | 38.10 | 0.79 | 6.0 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.10 | includes 2.27m of voids/ workings |
| ROD-064 | 0.00 | 11.60 | 11.60 | 0.51 | 5.5 | 0.02 | 0.02 | 0.25 | |
| ROD-065 | 25.90 | 31.85 | 5.95 | 0.80 | 4.5 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.06 | |
| ROD-066 | 0.00 | 36.95 | 36.95 | 0.44 | 9.3 | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.11 | |
| ROD-067 | 0.00 | 27.68 | 27.68 | 0.52 | 9.2 | 0.10 | 0.00 | 0.44 | |
| 56.30 | 61.62 | 5.32 | 2.89 | 70.1 | 1.03 | 0.01 | 2.27 | ||
| ROD-068 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | NSA > 0.60 g/t Au |
| ROD-069 | 28.10 | 40.40 | 12.30 | 1.57 | 8.8 | 0.05 | 0.00 | 0.12 | |
| 51.22 | 61.10 | 9.88 | 0.95 | 10.4 | 0.02 | 0.16 | 0.56 | ||
| Notes: 1) Intersections calculated at a nominal cutoff grade of 0.3 g/t Au in runs of continuous mineralisation 2) Zones of poor (or no) recovery through ancient mining voids/workings were not sampled, and allocated zero grade | |||||||||
Table 2: Mineralised intersections from diamond drill holes ROD-062 to ROD-069
These latest holes continued to hit good thicknesses of mineralisation, with hole ROD-062 intersecting a mineralised zone from 5.20m down hole, grading 2.32 g/t Au and 8.2 g/t Ag over 40.0m, right through to the end of the hole where it drilled out of the southern side of the South Ridge, confirming the presence of outcropping mineralisation on both sides of the ridge (Figure 3).
The results from this latest set of holes being reported continue to identify the presence of near-surface gold (-silver) mineralisation associated with gossanous carbonate rocks at Rodruin, on both the Central Buttress, and also under the previously untested South Ridge. Aton is confident that the mineralisation intersected in these latest holes extends all the way to the summit of the South Ridge where previous surface sampling has indicated the presence of outcropping mineralisation associated with gossanous carbonate rocks grading up to 9.59 g/t Au (sample number 18804, see news release dated February 6, 2018).
These latest drilling results continue to indicate the potential for a significant volume of oxide mineralisation at both the CBZ and also on the South Ridge, which would be readily amenable to open pit mining methods with very low stripping ratios.
The current originally planned 3,350m diamond drilling programme has been designed with the partial objective of testing and quantifying the potential near surface open pittable resources at Rodruin. Due to the success of the programme to date it is being extended with drilling now projected to continue until mid-2022. The drilling is currently focussed on testing deeper primary mineralisation, and has intersected strong visible Cu-Zn sulphide mineralisation. The Company will continue to release new drill results as they become available.
Exploration activity update
- Cube Consulting spent a week onsite at Rodruin during the second half of March 2022, carrying out initial work and independent sampling in advance of submitting a proposal for the estimation of a maiden mineral resource estimate (“MRE”) for the Rodruin deposit. Additional work was undertaken at Hamama West to allow Cube to update the Hamama West MRE. The Company intends to move ahead with these new and updated MRE’s as quickly as is practically possible, pending completion of the Rodruin diamond and Hamama West RC drilling programmes
- The Company has engaged Globex Solutions of Australia, a global leader in ionic leach geochemistry to assist in the interpretation of the Abu Gaharish wadi sampling programme (see news release dated November 3, 2021). Initial interpretation of the results is very encouraging with Globex indicating the presence of distinct elemental responses that form associated patterns, trends and associations that appear to be genuine, and identify zoned mineralised systems with apparent clear structural control.
- The Company signed a contract with Capital Drilling (Egypt) Ltd to undertake a c. 5,000m programme of RC drilling at Hamama on February 25, 2022. As the drilling at Rodruin has been extended the Hamama West RC programme is now scheduled to commence in late May or June 2022.
Sample processing and analytical procedures
Drill core was logged by Aton geologists, and marked up for cutting and sampling at the Rodruin core farm. Samples were typically selected over nominal 1m intervals, but as determined by the logged lithologies. The core was half-cut by Aton staff at the onsite Rodruin sample preparation facility.
The split half-core samples were collected and bagged up in cloth bags, weighed and crushed to -4mm onsite, and split to a nominal c. 250-500g sample size. The coarse crushed reject samples are retained onsite at the Rodruin sample prep facility.
QAQC samples are inserted at a rate of approximately 1 certified reference material (or “standard” sample) every 30 samples, 1 blank sample every 15 samples, and 1 duplicate split sample every 15 samples.
The c. 250-500g dried, crushed and split samples were shipped to ALS Minerals sample preparation laboratory at Marsa Alam, Egypt where they were pulverised to a size fraction of better than 85% passing 75 microns. From this pulverised material a further sub-sample was split off with a nominal c. 50g size, which was shipped on to ALS Minerals at Rosia Montana, Romania for analysis.
Samples were analysed for gold by fire assay with an atomic absorption spectroscopy (“AAS”) finish (analytical code Au-AA23), and for silver, copper, lead and zinc using an aqua regia digest followed by an AAS finish (analytical code AA45). Any high grade gold samples (>10 g/t Au) were re-analysed using analytical code Au-GRA21 (also fire assay, but with a gravimetric finish). Any high grade Ag and base metal samples (Ag >100 g/t, and Cu, Pb and Zn >10,000ppm or >1%) were re-analysed using the ore grade technique AA46 (also an aqua regia digest followed by an AAS finish).
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 identified 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. Two historic British gold mines are also located on the Concession at Sir Bakis and Semna. 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 447.7 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:
TONNO VAHK
Interim CEO
Tel: +1 604 318 0390
Email: info@atonresources.com
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.
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