Aton Reports Wide Zones of Surface Mineralisation from Channel Sampling at Semna and Final RC Drill Results from Zeno

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / February 1, 2024 / Aton Resources Inc. (AAN:TSX-V) ("Aton" or the "Company") is pleased to update investors on further exploration results from its Abu Marawat Concession ("Abu Marawat" or the "Concession"), in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, including channel sampling results from the new Semna drill discovery and the final reverse circulation percussion ("RC") drilling results from the Zeno prospect.

Highlights:

• 7 mechanical saw-cut channel sampling profiles have been completed at the Semna prospect, for a total length of 331m, along exposed rock faces and drill road cuttings. The channel profiles were sampled at nominal 2m intervals. Significant mineralised intersections from this programme include:
• 2.80 g/t Au over a 39.3m interval (profile SMC-065), associated with shallow-dipping stockwork veins on the Central Vein Zone;
• 2.60 g/t Au over a 39.3m interval (profile SMC-066), associated with exposed mineralisation on the eastern extension of the Main Vein zone; and
• 3.02 g/t Au over a 21.6m interval (profile SMC-069), associated with a narrow footwall structure to the Main Vein zone;
• At the Zeno prospect 21 RC holes were drilled for a total of 3,216m, with the programme designed to test a number of different mineralised veins and structures which had been identified at surface. Significant mineralised intersections from this programme include:
• 9.77 g/t Au over a 3m interval, from a down hole depth of 42m (hole ZEP-005);
• 4.16 g/t Au over a 6m interval, from a down hole depth of 107m (hole ZEP-020); and
• 2.60 g/t Au over a 5m interval, from a down hole depth of 74m, and 8.63 g/t Au over a 1m interval, from a down hole depth of 87m (both from hole ZEP-016).

"We are pleased to announce more very positive exploration results from our new Semna discovery today, this time the results from a recent surface channel sampling programme" said Tonno Vahk, CEO. "The results show broad zones of good grade mineralisation outcropping at surface, and appear to confirm the continuity of the high grade mineralisation identified in the 2023 RC drilling all the way up to surface. Perhaps most importantly the results continue to support the interpretation of a major structural system at Semna with high grade mineralisation hosted in multiple veins and structures, and in various orientations. We have now executed a contract with Geodrill to undertake a second phase of diamond drilling at Semna, as we fast-track the project. We now expect the drilling to be underway next week, with an initial 5,000m of drilling planned. We are also pleased to report the final results from the RC drilling at Zeno last year which returned a number of high grade intersections, from a prospect which is only about 4km away from Semna. Aton firmly believes that the wider area, on which we are planning an aggressive exploration programme, stretching all the way from Sir Bakis in the west through Bohlog, Zeno and Black Gaharish to Semna East has excellent potential to host additional very significant structurally-controlled orogenic gold deposits, similar to what Semna already appears to be shaping up to be".

Semna Prospect

The Semna prospect is located approximately 27 km east-northeast of the Hamama West deposit and 13 km north-northeast of the Rodruin deposit, and is accessed via desert tracks from either Hamama, Rodruin or the Abu Marawat deposit to the north (Figure 1). The Semna area has a long history of gold mining, during both ancient and modern times. Archaeological evidence suggests that mining dates back as far as the Old Kingdom period, over 4,500 years ago. In modern times, Semna was exploited between 1904 and 1906 by two British companies, which worked the Main Vein on two underground levels. There was also some further development work carried out at Semna in the 1950's by an Egyptian company.

Semna channel sampling

7 channel profiles, SMC-065 to SMC-071, were cut and sampled at the Semna prospect, for a total sampled length of 331.1m during late 2023 (see Figure 2). Profiles were marked up along exposed faces and drill roads where appropriate, in areas of potential surface mineralisation. After the faces and road cuttings had been exposed and cleaned up by an excavator, they were prepared for channel sampling. The channels were created by cutting 2 parallel cuts, approximately 50mm apart with a large generator-powered angle grinder. The channel was subsequently sampled using a hammer and chisel with the sampled material excavated from between the 2 saw cuts, at nominal 2m sample intervals. All channel profiles were mapped and photographed, and the start and end positions of each sample were surveyed using a differential GPS survey system.

Discussion of results

Details of the mineralised intersections from the channel profile sampling are provided in Table 1. Several well mineralised zones were identified with intersections including 2.80 g/t Au over a 39.3m interval (profile SMC-065), 2.60 g/t Au over a 39.3m interval (profile SMC-066), and 3.02 g/t Au over a 21.6m interval (profile SMC-069).

The mineralisation in profile SMC-065 was associated with a stockwork zone consisting of narrow, primarily shallow SE-dipping quartz veins, and included several discrete high grade zones. These high grade zones returned individual sample assays including 19.3, 17.0, 11.95 and 8.59 g/t Au, the last of which was associated with a shallow ancient working approximately 1.5m in width. The mineralisation is interpreted as being associated with a shallow cross-structure, which was not intersected in the RC drilling. This is highly encouraging as it is suggestive of a significant structural system at Semna with a broader array of mineralised veins and zones, rather than just a few discrete mineralised structures such as the Main Vein zone ("MVZ"), which was targeted by the RC drilling (see news release dated December 18, 2023).

The mineralised intersection in profile SMC-066 was sampled at the foot of the mountainside on the margin of wadi sediments, and is located approximately 40-50m up-dip of the high grade mineralisation intersected in RC hole SMP-018 (11.98 g/t Au over a 16m interval, see news release dated December 18, 2023). The results from SMC-066 indicate probable near-vertical continuity of this mineralisation to the base of the over-lying wadi alluvium, and to surface, where its exposed margin was sampled in SMC-066.

The wider zone of mineralisation in profile SMC-069 was associated with a narrow quartz vein located in the footwall of the MVZ, and returned an assay of 41.9 g/t Au from a 1m wide individual sample, again indicating the presence of multiple high grade structures at Semna. Lower grade mineralisation was also intersected at the end of this profile, and is possibly indicative of further blind mineralisation concealed under wadi sediments immediately to the south of this channel profile.

Profiles SMC-067 and SMC-068 tested a massive white quartz vein approximately 2m wide, which is interpreted as being a faulted offset of the MVZ. The lower grades in this zone were consistent with the samples being taken largely from the quartz vein in these profiles, with the gold interpreted as being largely in the altered wall rocks, rather than the quartz vein itself. A single 1.7m wide sample from SMC-067 returned an assay of 5.69 g/t Au from the immediate hangingwall of the quartz vein

Table 1: Mineralised intersections from the Semna channel sample profiles

The Zeno prospect area is located approximately 4 km west of the Semna gold mine and 12 km north of the Rodruin mineral deposit (Figure 1). Artisanal miners have been very active in the general Zeno area since about 2020, and have excavated numerous open pit and underground workings over a wide area on what Aton believe to be potentially high grade gold mineralised veins and structures. Surface sampling by Aton of visible gold and iron oxide bearing quartz veins has returned assays including 117.5 g/t Au and 100.5 g/t Au (see news release dated May 30, 2018), and more recently 104.5 g/t Au and 67.1 g/t Au (see news release dated June 26, 2023). The quartz veins and mineralised structures are almost universally hosted in granodioritic intrusive rocks at Zeno, belonging to the basement "Older Granites" suite.

Zeno RC drilling

21 drill holes, ZEP-001 to ZEP-020, were drilled at the Zeno prospect, for a total of 3,216m during the 2023 regional RC drill programme (Figure 1). Collar details of the holes are provided in Table A3 in Appendix A. The first-pass programme was designed to test a number of mineralised veins and structures, many of which have been exploited near to surface by artisanal miners or "dahabbas" in recent years.