Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX-V) (“Aton” or the “Company") is
pleased to update investors on follow-up fieldwork at the recently
discovered Safaga South prospect. Safaga South is located within
the Company’s 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession (“Abu Marawat” or
the “Concession”), located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.
Highlights:
- A second phase of reconnaissance
field inspection and selective grab sampling has been undertaken a
Safaga South, with a further 36 samples collected;
- Gold mineralisation is associated
with narrow quartz veins, hosted in granodioritic to dioritic
basement rocks, and occurs over an area of several square
kilometres;
- Samples returned assays of up to
102.5 g/t Au, associated with coarse visible gold;
- Of the 36 samples, 26 returned
assays greater than 1 g/t Au, and 10 returned grades above 10 g/t
Au, confirming the widespread development of quartz vein hosted
gold mineralisation at Safaga South, at significant grades.
“Following up on our recent new gold discovery
at Safaga South, we have now significantly expanded the footprint
of the outcropping mineralisation, and this second sampling
programme has returned some very solid results,” said Mark
Campbell, President and CEO. “Over the past months we have
been primarily focused on securing our mining licence at Hamama and
working with the Government and Wood Mackenzie on mining reform in
Egypt, but importantly we continue to develop the overall
exploration potential of the Abu Marawat Concession”.
Safaga
South
The Safaga South prospect is located at the
northeastern corner of the Abu Marawat Concession, predominantly on
the southern side of Wadi Safaga, and is approximately 14 km
east-northeast of the Abu Marawat deposit (Figure 1). Aton has
discovered gold mineralised quartz veins over a significant area at
Safaga South (see news release dated June 20, 2019), which have
been partially worked in ancient times; as well as ancient
dwellings and alluvial wadi workings in the general area. There are
no previous records known to the Company of this historic mining
site.
Aton field crews undertook a second phase of
reconnaissance sampling at Safaga South between June and August
2019 to follow up on the initial programme, with a total of 36
selective grab samples taken during this second phase (Figure 2).
The main objective of the programme was to identify and sample
further mineralised quartz veins away from the 2 main zones of
veins sampled in the initial discovery phase of sampling (see
Figure 3 of news release dated June 20, 2019). Details of all new
samples and assay grades are provided in Appendix A.
Mineralisation has been identified at Safaga
South in numerous narrow quartz veins, mainly hosted in basement
granitic rocks, predominantly granodiorites, and dioritic rocks in
the northern part of the area. A distinctive high relief, late
Younger Granite intrusive (Figure 1) outcrops in the northeast
corner of the Concession. A late regional structural fabric strikes
at approximately 070°, and is associated with very fine-grained,
predominantly felsic (to mafic?) composition dyke emplacement. Many
of the mineralised quartz veins are sub-parallel to this fabric,
and are directly spatially related to dykes. The quartz vein
mineralisation and the general geology of the area show broad
similarities to the Zeno and Sir Bakis prospects (see Figure 1; and
news releases dated May 30, 2018 and September 13, 2017).
Figure
1: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/52b5ff6e-fdeb-41e2-a1ff-ef1f4ea0ed48
The programme again returned very encouraging
results with exactly half the samples returning gold grades
greater than 5 g/t Au, up to a maximum of 102.5 g/t Au
(see Appendix A). Of the 36 samples 10 returned gold grades greater
than 10 g/t Au, 18 returned gold grades greater than 5 g/t Au, and
26 returned gold grades greater than 1 g/t Au. At one location
coarse visible gold was identified in iron oxide bearing quartz
veins, with 2 samples returning assays of 102.5 g/t Au and 95.7 g/t
Au.
Sampling again confirmed the presence of gold in
both the quartz veins as well as the altered, weathered and in
places, sheared host rocks. Most of the mineralisation at Safaga
South is associated with narrow iron stained, and occasionally
weakly gossanous quartz veins typically up to about a metre in
width. Some of the veins are copper stained, although many are not.
The Cu mineralisation, where present, is typically zoned, usually
towards and within the often sheared margins of the veins, as well
as laterally along the veins. Samples returned Cu grades up to
0.66% (sample AHA-20384), and chalcopyrite was occasionally
identified. Silver values were typically low, and less than the
gold grades, up to a maximum of 11.6 g/t Ag. No significant Pb or
Zn assays were returned, and the original sulphide content of the
veins was typically low, below 5% as a maximum.
As previously described the gold mineralised
veins are frequently associated with narrow felsic (to mafic?)
dykes, are sometimes sheared, and are typically orientated in an
approximately E-W direction. Many, but not all, of the veins appear
to be sub-parallel to the regional structural fabric, striking at
about 070°, which appears to control much of the dyke and vein
emplacement. Distribution of the gold mineralisation within the
veins appears to be zoned, with the highest grades apparently
occurring at the margins with, and extending into, the mineralised
wallrocks. Some of the dykes appear to host gold mineralisation
(eg. sample AHA-20384) whereas others do not (eg. samples AHA-25054
and AHA-25055).
One sample (AHA-20388) was collected from an
outcrop of quite strongly and pervasively copper stained and
altered granodioritic (?) rock, and returned an assay of 0.20% Cu.
Interestingly, there was no obvious quartz veining at this
locality, and the assay grade and pervasive Cu staining are
suggestive of disseminated Cu mineralisation through the intrusive
host.
Further follow-up work is justified and planned
at the recently discovered Safaga South prospect to further define
the extent and the significance of the widespread mineralisation
identified to date.
Figure 2:
https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6e7731c2-fdf1-41ae-91a1-a289c6d1255f
Exploration activity
update
A number of other regional exploration fieldwork
programmes have been undertaken during the summer months at Abu
Marawat, including the following:
- Further follow-up sampling has been
undertaken at the Wasif prospect, which is located about 5 km to
the south of Safaga South (see news release dated June 20, 2019).
Detailed examination of an ancient village in the area suggests it
to have been an ancient copper smelting site.
- Further preliminary reconnaissance
field work has been undertaken in the general Wasif-Waayrah area
towards the eastern margin of the Concession. No previous work has
been undertaken by the Company in this area of the Concession.
- A preliminary programme of mobile
metal ion geochemical sampling has been completed at the Abu
Gaharish prospect (Figure 1) to follow up on the results of the
2017 GPR geophysical survey, which identified potentially
mineralised structures buried beneath wadi sediments (see news
release dated December 19, 2017). The aim of this programme was to
identify potential blind mineralisation buried beneath wadi
sediments at Abu Gaharish, and to further refine targeting. The
Company has previously identified significant outcropping
mineralisation in granitic ‘islands’ at Abu Gaharish, within a
broad, flat-lying zone of wadi sediment cover. These samples have
not yet been dispatched for analysis.
- A sampling programme has been
carried out at the Semna East prospect, a reduced intrusive related
gold (“RIRG”) target located approximately 4km east-southeast of
the historic Semna gold mine (Figure 1), and located on the
northern margin of the highly prospective Gaharish granite pluton.
Extensive ancient alluvial wadi workings have been identified at
Semna East. The field programme comprised targeted sampling of
outcropping mineralised quartz veins, as well as a grid
lithogeochemical sampling programme.
Further details of the results of these
programmes will be released in due course, as they become
available.
Sampling and analytical
procedures
Grab samples were manually and selectively
collected at Safaga South, weighing in the order of 2-3 kg per
individual sample. The samples were transported to and crushed to
-4mm at the Company’s onsite sample preparation facility at Hamama.
The final c. 500g splits were shipped to ALS Minerals at Rosia
Montana, Romania for analysis. All samples were analysed for gold
by fire assay with an atomic absorption spectroscopy (“AAS”) finish
(analytical code Au-AA23). High grade gold samples (>10 g/t Au
and >100 g/t Au) were re-analysed using analytical codes Au-AA25
(also fire assay with an AAS finish), and Au-GRA21 (fire assay with
a gravimetric finish), respectively. All samples were also analysed
for silver, copper, lead and zinc using an aqua regia digest
followed by an AAS finish (analytical code AA45).
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. Three 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: mcampbell@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.
Appendix A
Sample ID |
Easting |
Northing |
Au (ppm) |
Ag (ppm) |
Cu (ppm) |
Description |
AHA-20377 |
576157 |
2939505 |
13.80 |
2.9 |
631 |
FeOx stained Vq, sheared and Cu stained on margins |
AHA-20378 |
576442 |
2938599 |
4.90 |
0.9 |
314 |
Vuggy Vq with FeOx, hosted in Gd |
AHA-20379 |
576456 |
2938376 |
7.75 |
0.7 |
131 |
FeOx stained Vq, dump sample, small ancient working |
AHA-20380 |
576422 |
2938460 |
5.24 |
0.8 |
18 |
FeOx stained Vq, dump sample, small ancient working |
AHA-20381 |
576548 |
2938964 |
0.02 |
0.5 |
17 |
Vq, FeOx in fractures |
AHA-20382 |
576453 |
2938976 |
13.50 |
1.5 |
1665 |
FeOx stained Vq with Cu staining and trace chalcopyrite, dump
sample |
AHA-20383 |
576320 |
2938966 |
0.08 |
<0.2 |
1960 |
Vq with minor FeOx, and altered Gd host rock with Cu staining, dump
sample |
AHA-20384 |
576137 |
2938789 |
14.85 |
2.0 |
6620 |
Strongly weathered felsic (rhyolite?) dyke with Cu staining and
some Vq, dump sample |
AHA-20385 |
575906 |
2939483 |
0.39 |
0.3 |
48 |
FeOx stained Vq with some gossanous patches, dump sample |
AHA-20386 |
575920 |
2939483 |
3.92 |
0.6 |
233 |
FeOx stained Vq, with some gossanous patches, some altered dyke at
contact |
AHA-20387 |
575921 |
2939437 |
0.49 |
0.6 |
282 |
Vq with FeOx in fractures, altered fine-grained dyke cross-cutting
the vein |
AHA-20388 |
576190 |
2937974 |
0.02 |
0.2 |
1975 |
Massive altered granodiorite (?), with pervasive Cu staining – no
Vq present |
AHA-20389 |
576275 |
2938041 |
3.67 |
0.3 |
99 |
FeOx stained Vq with some gossanous material, dump sample |
AHA-20390 |
576297 |
2938031 |
2.47 |
0.4 |
20 |
Vuggy, strongly weathered Vq, with some gossanous material |
AHA-20391 |
576502 |
2938048 |
7.44 |
2.9 |
433 |
Highly weathered FeOx Vq with some gossanous material |
AHA-20392 |
576646 |
2938641 |
0.09 |
<0.2 |
473 |
10cm wide zone of very Fe-rich altered and weathered
felsic/rhyolitic? dyke, no Vq present |
AHA-20393 |
576762 |
2938899 |
3.28 |
0.8 |
48 |
FeOx-rich, sheared Gd, with trace Vq only |
AHA-25051 |
576162 |
2939553 |
3.32 |
0.5 |
796 |
Vq, with some gossanous material on the contact with the host rock,
E-W trending |
AHA-25052 |
576281 |
2939562 |
102.50 |
11.6 |
378 |
Mineralised Vq, with FeOx and gossanous material |
AHA-25053 |
576281 |
2939562 |
95.70 |
6.5 |
2040 |
Au mineralised Vq with FeOx and some gossanous material, with
grains of coarse visible Au |
AHA-25054 |
576281 |
2939562 |
0.08 |
<0.2 |
36 |
Sheared and oxidised mafic (?) dyke |
AHA-25055 |
576281 |
2939562 |
0.04 |
<0.2 |
55 |
Oxidised mafic (?) dyke |
AHA-25056 |
576262 |
2939568 |
0.03 |
<0.2 |
49 |
Sheared and oxidised mafic dyke (other side of the AHA-25054/55
dyke) |
AHA-25057 |
575568 |
2939814 |
26.70 |
2.8 |
170 |
FeOx stained Vq, with some gossanous material |
AHA-25058 |
575540 |
2939827 |
11.95 |
0.8 |
30 |
Extension of the main vein (sample AHA-25057), with some boxwork
after pyrite |
AHA-25059 |
575536 |
2939813 |
13.45 |
0.8 |
15 |
FeOx stained Vq, some gossanous material and oxidised boxwork after
pyrite |
Sample ID |
Easting |
Northing |
Au (ppm) |
Ag (ppm) |
Cu (ppm) |
Description |
AHA-25060 |
575567 |
2939772 |
9.90 |
0.5 |
23 |
FeOx stained Vq, some oxidised boxwork after pyrite, hosted in
diorite |
AHA-25061 |
575475 |
2939878 |
8.50 |
0.5 |
10 |
Oxidised, FeOx stained Vq at 2m depth on sheared contact, minor
gossanous material, in diorite host |
AHA-25062 |
575783 |
2939729 |
8.23 |
0.5 |
175 |
Composite grab sample – 2x Vq’s with some oxidised material, and
sheared contacts |
AHA-25063 |
577216 |
2940264 |
12.05 |
0.6 |
312 |
2x parallel FeOx stained Vq’s, sheared and weathered material at
contact with intermediate (?) dyke |
AHA-25064 |
577232 |
2940068 |
0.05 |
0.3 |
16 |
FeOx stained Vq, with some gossanous material, in very weathered Gd
host, 20m long ancient working |
AHA-25065 |
577319 |
2940095 |
7.72 |
0.5 |
127 |
Extension of the sample AHA-25064 vein |
AHA-25066 |
576110 |
2939377 |
3.74 |
1.2 |
121 |
FeOx stained Vq with some gossanous material, hosted in felsic rock
(possible dyke?), shallow working |
AHA-25067 |
576799 |
2938901 |
5.70 |
1.0 |
279 |
Vq, with minor gossanous material, 30cm sheared and oxidised
contact, in weathered Gd host |
AHA-20409 |
576222 |
2939525 |
10.30 |
1.0 |
605 |
FeOx stained Vq, hosted in Gd |
AHA-20412 |
576682 |
2937872 |
1.79 |
<0.2 |
31 |
Sheared Vq with minor FeOx, at ancient working |
Notes:
- All coordinates are UTM (WGS84) Zone 36R
- Samples are all grabs, or grab composites; except AHA-20377 –
manual 2m channel across a mineralised quartz vein and mineralised
wallrock contacts
- Vq: quartz vein; FeOx: iron oxides; Gd: granodiorite; Cu:
copper
- No significant Pb (maximum 135 ppm) or Zn (maximum 134 ppm)
assays returned
|
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