Aton Reports Final Diamond Drill Results from Hamama, Including 4.28 g/t AuEq over an Interval of 20.78m

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 26, 2023 / Aton Resources Inc. (TSXV:AAN) ("Aton" or the "Company") is pleased to update investors on the final assay results from the recent diamond drilling programme at Hamama, located in the Company's 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession ("Abu Marawat" or the "Concession"), in the Eastern Desert of Egypt (Figure 1).

Highlights:

• A total of 545.8 metres was drilled from 15 shallow holes at the Crocs Nose Zone ("CNZ") at Hamama West, completing the short Hamama 2023 diamond drilling programme. The programme was designed to test for potential near-surface oxide gold-silver mineralisation that had been previously intersected in a limited number of holes;
• Results from the programme included the following mineralised intersections:
• 1.57 g/t Au, 230.6 g/t Ag, and 4.28 g/t Au equivalent ("AuEq"), over an interval of 20.78m from 12.66m downhole depth (HAD-054);
• 1.84 g/t Au, 62.20 g/t Ag, and 2.57 g/t AuEq, over an interval of 24.55m from 6.45m downhole depth (HAD-052);
• 1.37 g/t Au, 52.81 g/t Ag, and 1.99 g/t AuEq, over an interval of 34.80m from 2.00m downhole depth (HAD-042);
• 1.63 g/t Au, 7.01 g/t Ag, and 1.71 g/t AuEq, over an interval of 16.30m from surface (HAD-049), and;
• 1.23 g/t Au, 41.01 g/t Ag, and 1.72 g/t AuEq, over an interval of 18.90m from 0.80m downhole depth (HAD-045);
• Preparations are well underway for the upcoming RC exploration drilling programme, with drilling expected to commence within the first fortnight of May at West Garida.

"These final results from the Crocs Nose exceeded expectations, and we are very pleased with them" said Tonno Vahk, Interim CEO. "The Crocs Nose Zone represents a structural offset of the main mineralised zone at Hamama West and was not included in the 2017 mineral resource estimate. The grades intersected in this programme are notably higher than the overall grade of the Hamama West oxide resource, and this zone should be a nice sweetener to the planned starter open pit mining operation at Hamama. We are also pleased to have now signed the RC drilling contract with Geodrill and look forward to starting the drilling at West Garida in May. We believe there is good potential to rapidly add significant near-surface ounces from the high-grade quartz veins we drilled at West Garida last summer to the overall resource base at Hamama."

2023 Hamama diamond drilling programme
Diamond drilling re-commenced at Hamama in mid-January 2023, and was completed on March 11, 2023, with a total of 1,612.7 metres drilled. The mineralisation at Hamama is hosted in a stratiform silica-carbonate horizon ("SCMH") that outcrops over an approximately 3.2km strike length, and is variable in thickness. At Hamama West the SCMH is greater than 60m in thickness in places, and is typically iron oxide-rich and gossanous at surface and throughout the oxide zone.

Discussion of results
15 shallow holes (HAD-041 to HAD-055) were drilled at the CNZ for a total of 545.8m (see Table 1 and Figure 3), completing the short 2023 Hamama diamond drilling programme. Final assay results are now available from these last holes. The collar coordinates of these holes are provided in Table 1 below:

Table 1: Collar details of diamond drill holes HAD-041 to HAD-055

The mineralisation at the CNZ appears to be located in a faulted offset of the main mineralised zone at Hamama West (Figures 2 and 3). The SCMH appears to have been sinistrally offset approximately 150m to the south along a shallow west-dipping fault, which terminates the outcropping mineralisation to the west. At the CNZ this fault represents the underlying footwall of the mineralised block, while at Hamama West the mineralisation continues along strike to the west beneath this structure, and has recently returned intersections including 1.57 g/t Au, 29.99 g/t Ag and 1.92 AuEq over a 47m interval, from 26m depth (hole HAP-192, see news release dated October 20, 2022). The CNZ mineralisation was not included in the maiden Hamama West mineral resource estimate (see news release dated January 24, 2017).

SCMH-hosted mineralisation at the CNZ outcrops at surface on both the northern and western flanks of the Cretaceous Nubian Sandstone ("NS") outlier, which unconformably overlies the Neoproterozoic rocks hosting the mineralisation at Hamama (Figure 3). Surface trenching of the unconformity has clearly shown that the mineralisation continues under and immediately beneath the NS outlier.

Previous diamond drilling at the CNZ has returned intersections including 2.46 g/t Au, 157.3 g/t Ag, and 4.73 g/t AuEq, over a 19m interval from 12m depth (hole AHA-046, see news release dated June 9, 2015, and Figure 3), 2.05 g/t Au, 168.9 g/t Ag and 4.48 g/t AuEq, over a 12m interval from 27m depth (hole AHA-045, see also news release dated June 9, 2015), and 1.65 g/t Au, 82.7 g/t Ag and 1.92 g/t AuEq over a 28m interval, from 7m depth (hole HAD-007, see news release dated May 18, 2017). Previous surface trenching at the CNZ also returned intersections of mineralisation outcropping at surface including 3.47 g/t Au, 118.2 g/t Ag, and 5.35 g/t AuEq over a 26m width (trench AHA-T-113, see news release dated July 9, 2014).

The recent drilling has confirmed the presence of outcropping gold-silver mineralisation at the CNZ, with all holes intersecting mineralisation, as expected. Details of all mineralised intersections are provided in Table 2, and selected intersections are shown below:

• HAD-054: 1.57 g/t Au, 230.6 g/t Ag, and 4.28 g/t AuEq, over a 20.78m interval, from 12.66m depth
• HAD-052: 1.84 g/t Au, 62.2 g/t Ag, and 2.57 g/t AuEq, over a 24.55m interval, from 6.45m depth
• HAD-042: 1.37 g/t Au, 52.81 g/t Ag, and 1.99 g/t AuEq, over a 34.80m interval, from 2.00m depth
• HAD-049: 1.63 g/t Au, 7.01 g/t Ag, and 1.71 g/t AuEq, over a 16.30m interval, from surface
• HAD-045: 1.23 g/t Au, 41.01 g/t Ag, and 1.72 g/t AuEq, over an 18.90m interval, from 0.80m depth

Mineralisation at the CNZ is apparently associated with the SCMH, but is quite variable in nature. The mineralisation is hosted in a variety of rock types from hard, dense haematite gossan, to kaolinitic apparently altered felsic rocks and typically pink to yellowish jarositic clays. In places it is very rubbly and heavily fractured, resulting in significant core loss from several holes. Poor core recovery was typically associated with zones of higher grade mineralisation. Where core loss has been recorded, these zones of core loss were allocated zero grade, so it is likely that the reported intersection grades actually underestimate the true grade of the mineralised intervals. The mineralisation is typically base metal poor, but in places carries significantly elevated Pb values, and to a lesser extent Zn and Cu. Silver grades vary from being very low (eg. hole HAD-049) to very high, in the order of hundreds of ppm. Zones of high grade silver are frequently associated with the jarositic clays, and are spatially discrete within the overall SCMH unit.