Aton Reports the Results From Its Phase 2 Diamond Drilling Programme at the Semna Gold Mine, Including 11.69 g/t Au and 1.38% Cu over an Interval of 5.19 metres

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / July 4, 2024 / Aton Resources Inc. (TSXV:AAN) ("Aton" or the "Company") updates investors on the results of recently completed phase 2 diamond drilling programme at the Semna gold mine project, located within the retained exploration areas of the Company's Abu Marawat Concession ("Abu Marawat" or the "Concession") in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.

Highlights:

• 28 diamond drill holes were drilled at Semna, for a total of 4,701m, and were designed to test the Main Vein zone, and its eastern extension, with 2 short holes testing the Eastern Adit Vein;

• Significant high grade mineralised intersections from the Semna Main Vein eastern extension zone ("MVZ-EX") include:

• 11.69 g/t Au, 19.1 g/t Ag and 1.38% Cu over a 5.19m interval , from 126.35m downhole depth and 21.53 g/t Au over a 1.50m interval , from 147.20m downhole depth (both from hole SMD-048;

• 15.05 g/t Au, 8.7 g/t Ag and 0.47% Cu over a 2.55m interval , from 100.45m downhole depth (hole SMD-025);

• 3.16 g/t Au over a 13.96m interval , from 57.42m downhole depth (hole SMD-043), including 27.90 g/t Au over 1.37m , from 68.94m;

• 3.49 g/t Au over a 7.97m interval , from 135.83m downhole depth (hole SMD-027), including 8.10 over 3.13m , from 135.83m;

• 16.77 g/t Au over a 1.55m interval , from 64.3m downhole depth (hole SMD-044);

• The programme confirmed the continuation of blind, high grade gold mineralisation in the MVZ-EX zone, which remains open at depth and along strike.

"I am happy to now announce the final results from the recently completed phase 2 diamond drilling programme at Semna, which has continued to show excellent promise with more very significant drill intersections from the eastern extension of the previously mined Main Vein" said Tonno Vahk, CEO. "The drilling has shown that the high grade mineralisation continues over a strike length of at least 500m, with good mineralisation drilled in the easternmost hole. As always a drill programme raises new questions, including an issue with one of the RC holes, and now is a suitable moment to review the data from the first two drill programmes. The presence of abundant coarse gold at Semna suggests that it is important to use as large diameter drill holes as possible, and we plan to return to Semna in the coming months, to continue with a combination of RC percussion and PQ size diamond drilling. However the most important thing is that the persistence of the high grade and coarse gold bearing mineralisation to the east of the old underground workings is quite clear. We are now well into the new diamond drilling programme at Abu Marawat and we are liking what we are seeing so far. We are also making progress at Hamama, with the establishment of Abu Marawat Gold Mines. The programme for the next year has been agreed by the board of the JV operating company, and once we have crossed the T's and dotted the final I's we expect to start making rapid progress towards the development of the next gold mine in Egypt at Hamama West."

The Semna prospect is located approximately 27km east-northeast of the Hamama West deposit and 13km 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, and was exploited between 1904 and 1906 by two British companies, which worked the Main Vein on two underground levels. More recently the area has been extensively worked by illegal artisanal miners, who have now been removed from the site.

Figure 1: Geology plan of the Abu Marawat Concession, showing the location of the Semna prospect

During 2023 Aton completed a first phase of revere circulation percussion ("RC") drilling at Semna completing 21 holes for a total of 3,662m. This programme yielded excellent results with mineralised intersections including 50.07 g/t Au over a 6m interval (hole SMP-016), 28.36 g/t Au, 28.4 g/t Ag and 1.15% Cu over a 4m interval (hole SMP-003), 11.98 g/t Au over a 16m interval (hole SMP-018) , 10.61 g/t Au, 24.0 g/t Ag and 1.20% Cu over a 9m interval (hole SMP-019), and 5.73 g/t Au over a 14m interval (hole SMP-017). The RC drilling confirmed the presence of significant coarse gold in the Semna mineralisation (see news release dated December 18, 2023).

Subsequent metallurgical testwork undertaken by Aton returned very positive results with gold recoveries in excess of 97% from 2 representative bulk samples of the Semna mineralisation. Gold was also recovered to 2 gravity concentrates at rates of 56.4% and 62.2%, again indicating a significant component of coarse gold in the Semna mineralisation. The testwork indicated that the Semna mineralisation is amenable to treatment by both conventional CIL, and gravity concentration-leach processing options

21 drill holes, SMD-021 to SMD-048, were completed at the Semna prospect, for a total of 4,701m metres during the recently completed phase 2 diamond drill programme (Figure 2), with most of the holes drilled at HQ size. The programme was primarily designed to test for mineralisation in the MVZ-EX zone which appears to strike in an east-northeasterly direction to the east of the old British mine workings, where it is buried beneath wadi sediments. Other holes tested the depth extension of the Main Vein zone ("MVZ") which was exploited underground in the 1900's, and the Eastern Adit Vein. Full collar details of the holes are provided in Appendix A. Half core samples were routinely assayed for gold, silver and copper, with samples from the first 5 holes of the programme also assayed for lead and zinc.

Figure 2: Geology and drill hole collar plan of the Semna gold mine prospect

12 holes (SMD-021 to SMD-027, SMD-041 to SMD-044, and SMD-048) were drilled, generally on a north-northwesterly orientation to test the MVZ-EX. Of these holes 3 were designed to twin RC holes, with SMD-024 twinning RC hole SMP-018, and SMD-043 twinning SMP-017. Hole SMD-041 was drilled at PQ size to twin the HQ size diamond hole SMD-024, as well as RC hole SMP-018.

13 holes (SMD-028 to SMD-040) were drilled to test the down-dip extension of the MVZ, under the old underground workings, including 1 hole SMD-038, which was designed to twin RC hole SMP-004. A further 2 shallow holes (SMD-045 and SMD-046) were drilled to test the down-dip extension of the Eastern Adit Vein which was previously exploited from a British-era adit, and also more recently by artisanal miners. Hole SMD-047 was abandoned at a shallow depth, as it had been collared on the wrong azimuth.

Main Vein eastern extension zone

12 holes were drilled to test the MVZ-EX zone (Figure 2). Several of these holes returned significant high grade mineralised intersections, including 11.69 g/t Au, 19.1 g/t Ag and 1.38% Cu over a 5.19m interval , from 126.35m downhole depth, and 21.53 g/t Au over a 1.50m interval , from 147.20m (both from hole SMD-048, 15.05 g/t Au, 8.7 g/t Ag and 0.47% Cu over a 2.55m interval , from 100.45m (hole SMD-025), 3.16 g/t Au over a 13.96m interval , from 57.42m, including 27.90 g/t Au over 1.37m , from 68.94m (hole SMD-043), 3.49 g/t Au over a 7.97m interval , from 135.83m, including 8.10 over 3.13m , from 135.83m (hole SMD-027), and 16.77 g/t Au over a 1.55m interval , from 64.3m (hole SMD-044). The easternmost hole in the programme, SMD-023, also returned an intersection of 5.64 g/t Au over a 1.8m interval from 167.60m. All intersection details from the programme are provided in Appendix B, with selected intersections shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Selected final intersections from the Semna phase 2 diamond drilling programme

The mineralisation at Semna is orogenic in style, and is interpreted as being associated with an array of structures, presumed to have formed in dilational zones, accompanied by shearing and weak to moderate phyllic wall rock alteration. The mineralised structures appear to be localised between and offset by a series of north-northeast striking fault structures. The mineralisation on the MVZ-EX zone is associated with multiple mineralised quartz veins, which apparently anastomose and pinch and swell, and is associated with locally strong phyllic wall rock alteration. Historically the MVZ mineralised zone has been described as being up to 6m in thickness, and in hole SMD-048 strongly mineralised quartz was intersected over an interval of 3.62m (Figure 3).

The diamond drilling has indicated that the gold mineralisation is almost always associated with the milky white quartz veins, with gold appearing to be distributed both within the quartz veins themselves, and also in altered selvages and wall rock adjacent to the veins, as was mapped in the underground workings (see news release dated October 13, 2023). The diamond drilling has also confirmed the presence of multiple quartz veins in the MVZ-EX zone, which appear to largely sub-parallel, over a true width of approximately 20m (Figure 4).

Generally the mineralisation at Semna is predominantly gold only, with the gold being coarse and nuggety, however the sheared veins do locally contain significant quantities of semi-massive chalcopyrite (Figure 3), confirming observations from the RC drilling programme (see news release dated December 18, 2023). Significantly higher grades of gold mineralisation typically occur in these zones of semi-massive chalcopyrite, for example in holes SMD-048 (Figure 3), SMD-025 and SMD-027, and are associated with elevated levels of silver and copper although this relationship is not absolute. Lead and zinc are generally absent, although strong sphalerite was logged in a short interval in hole SMD-042, with a single 0.82m length sample returning assays of 14.8% Zn and 128 g/t Ag, as well as 2.99 g/t Au. The drilling appears to confirm that the mineralised quartz veins pinch and swell, and where vein quartz was not intersected gold was generally present at significantly lower levels.

Figure 3: Split drill core from hole SMD-048, 125.63-130.30m depth, with semi-massive chalcopyrite in vein quartz

Main Vein zone

Holes SMD-028 to SMD-040 were drilled to test the down-dip extension of the MVZ, under the old underground workings (Figure 2). Most holes intersected typically narrow zones of mineralisation, at generally lower grades than were returned from the phase 1 RC programme, with intersections including 11.56 g/t Au over a 1.66m interval , from 184.46m downhole depth (hole SMD-038) and 13.65 g/t Au, 7.5 g/t Ag and 0.11% Cu over a 0.75m interval , from 178.60m downhole depth (hole SMD-037). The diamond drilling confirms that the mineralisation appears to be quite tightly restricted to the quartz veins with limited dispersal into the adjacent wall rocks as is generally also the case in the MVZ-EX. The mineralised widths are typically narrow and less than 2m in downhole width, although in one hole the mineralised zone appears to be somewhat wider, but has been partially stoped out by a late felsic dyke (hole SMD-029). The drilling also indicates that the MVZ is shallowing out at depth, and appears to be merging with the Central Vein structural zone ("CVZ").

The drilling also intersected narrow zones of mineralisation on the CVZ (see Figure 2), for example 6.22 g/t Au over a 0.93m interval, from 75.17m downhole depth (hole SMD-029). Furthermore, near-surface narrow zones of mineralisation associated with shallow SE-dipping quartz veins were intersected in several holes, returning intersections including 10.70 g/t Au over a 0.70m interval, from 12.30m downhole depth (hole SMD-035) and 1.64 g/t Au over a 4.00m interval, from 3.20m downhole depth (hole SMD-037). These veins were channel sampled earlier this year, returning broader mineralised intervals at surface including 2.80 g/t Au over a 39.3m interval (profile SMC-065, see news release dated February 1, 2024).

Figure 4: Cross-section 6 through the MVZ-EX (refer to Figure 2 for location)

Eastern Adit Vein

Holes SMD-045 and SMP-046 were drilled to test the Eastern Adit Vein (Figure 2 and Figure 4), which was previously exploited underground from a British-era adit, and also more recently at surface by artisanal miners. Both holes intercepted narrow mineralised zones returning intersections of 3.11 g/t Au over a 1.57m interval, from 42.25m downhole depth (hole SMD-046), and 1.57 g/t Au over a 1.00m interval, from 52.60m (hole SMD-037).

Comparison of results from twin holes

The mineralised intersections from the 4 twin diamond drill holes are shown in Table 2, compared to the intersections from the RC drilling.

Holes SMD-024 and SMD-041 were drilled to twin RC hole SMP-018 which returned an intersection of 11.98 g/t Au over an interval of 16m from 61m depth, including 36.03 g/t Au over 4 metres from 61m, associated with an oxidised quartz vein in the MVZ-EX zone. Hole SMD-042 collared 1m to the west of SMP-018 returned a mineralised intersection of 2.30 g/t Au over an interval of 2.35m, from 59.80m depth, but clearly intercepted the same oxidised and heavily sheared quartz vein in the RC hole (Figure 5). Due to the discrepancy in the results of SMD-024 and SMP-018 a second twin hole was drilled, SMD-041, this time at PQ size. SMD-041 returned an intersection of 10.40 g/t Au over an interval of 1.94m, from 63.00m depth, and also intercepted a strongly oxidised and heavily sheared zone, but with very little vein quartz and some core loss.

Table 1: Comparison between the results of twin diamond drill holes, and their twinned RC holes

Figure 3: Uncut drill core from hole SMD-024, 60.71-63.20m depth

It is quite apparent that the RC hole SMP-018 and its 2 twin diamond holes SMP-024 and SMD-041 intersected the same mineralised structure, but returned very significant differences in grade. This is interpreted as being a response to the irregular distribution of coarse, nuggety gold as has been previously identified from the RC programme (see news release dated December 18, 2023), and has been now confirmed by the phase 2 diamond drilling programme. Visible gold was identified in the core from several holes, for example in hole SMD-032, from which a sample containing logged visible gold assayed 3.92 g/t Au, whereas a field duplicate sample assayed 11.05 g/t Au. Furthermore core orientation data as well as the depths of the structures in the 3 holes suggests that the shearing and vein quartz associated with the mineralisation intercepted in SMP-018, SMD-024 and SMD-041 was striking to the north-northwest, and dipping east-northeast.

Secondly the 2 twin holes have clearly shown that the wide intersection returned from the RC hole SMP-018 is incorrect, and is a result of downhole contamination, with the gold being smeared down the hole from the mineralised structure during the RC drilling process. While this is a rare event it is a recognised