News 2022

Aton announces the completion of diamond drilling at Rodruin, and further drill results

Vancouver, British Columbia, December 13, 2022: Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX-V) (“Aton” or the “Company”) is pleased to update investors on the completion of 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 was completed at Rodruin on December 10, 2022, with a total of 9,073 metres drilled from 85 holes. Final assay results are now expected by February 2023;

• Results are now available for a further 20 holes, ROD-091 to ROD-110, drilled at the Aladdin’s Hill NE, Central Buttress and GF Zones;

• 4 holes were drilled in the Aladdin’s Hill NE area, and results include 1.18 g/t Au and 11.6 g/t Ag over an interval of 20.49m in pyritic carbonate rocks from 115.11m depth (ROD-095), and 2.48 g/t Au and 13.7 g/t Ag over 7.1m from 69.0m depth, on the Saddle Fault structure (ROD-096);

• 3 holes were drilled at the CBZ, and returned intersections including 0.54 g/t Au and 6.9 g/t Ag over 47.8m, from 17.0m depth(ROD-093);

• The remaining holes were drilled at the GF Zone and from the Central Valley, and returned mineralised intersections including 16.25 g/t Au and 8.5 g/t Ag over 1.7m from 33.6m depth (ROD-099), 0.54 g/t Au and 3.9 g/t Ag over 48.2m from 5.1m depth (ROD-102) and 0.51 g/t Au and 2.0 g/t Ag over 43.5m from surface (ROD-110).

“We are pleased to announce that the diamond drilling programme has now been successfully completed at Rodruin, with more than two and half times the number of originally planned metres having been drilled. Combined with the extra time on the exploration licence that we have been awarded by our partners at the Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority this keeps Aton well on our planned track of completing new and revised mineral resource estimates and delineating “commercial discoveries” at Rodruin and Hamama in mid-2023” said Tonno Vahk, Interim CEO. “Our MRE consultants, Cube Consulting, are making good progress with the Hamama West MRE following the completion of the RC programme there in August, and once we receive the final assays from the Rodruin drilling programme in early 2023 we expect to move rapidly ahead with the maiden Rodruin MRE. We have also completed a second round of sampling at Rodruin, with the samples expected to be dispatched from Egypt this week for a second phase of metallurgical testwork, and we will also undertake an additional short diamond drill programme at Hamama East starting in January. Aton continues to work hand in hand with EMRA, and remains focussed on pushing ahead with our strategy to develop the next commercial gold mining operations in Egypt.”

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). A 50 hole Phase 1 reverse circulation percussion (“RC”) drilling programme was undertaken at Rodruin in 2018.

The Phase 2 diamond drilling programme commenced in late November 2021, and oxide zone results reported to date include 88.25m grading 1.74 g/t Au and 9.7 g/t Ag, from 25.75m (hole ROD-055, see news release dated March 1, 2022), and 129.5m grading 1.00 g/t Au and 8.8 g/t Ag, over the entire length of hole ROD-056 from its collar (see news release dated March 7, 2022). Deeper sulphide mineralisation in the Aladdin’s Hill NE area has returned intersections including 88.6m grading 5.76 g/t Au, 42.0 g/t Ag, 0.31% Cu and 2.40% Zn (hole ROD-071, see news release dated May 10, 2022), and 36.9m grading 7.04 g/t Au, 47.2 g/t Ag, 0.63% Cu and 7.18% Zn (ROD-075, see news release dated June 1, 2022). The final hole, ROD-133, was completed on December 10, 2022, with a total of 9,073.2 metres drilled from 85 holes, including re-entries of 2 of the 2018 RC holes. It is anticipated that the final results for the programme will be received and released by the end of February 2023. The rig is currently being de-mobilised from Rodruin to the Hamama project, where it will complete a short additional programme testing previously undrilled mineralisation at Hamama East after the Christmas and New Year break. Drilling is scheduled to resume at Hamama on January 7, 2023.

Figure 1: Geology plan of the Abu Marawat Concession showing the location of the Rodruin project

The current diamond drilling programme has been designed with the specific objective of delineating and establishing a maiden mineral resource estimate (“MRE”) at Rodruin. The main focus of the drilling to date has been to delineate potential oxide resources, which will be included in the Company’s submission to the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (“EMRA”) in support of “commercial discoveries” at both Rodruin and Hamama. This submission is scheduled for mid-2023, and is part of the process laid out in the Abu Marawat Concession Agreement, and which is anticipated will lead to the issuance of an exploitation licence at Abu Marawat, covering both the Rodruin and Hamama deposits.

Discussion of results

Results are now available for a further 20 drill holes, ROD-091 to ROD-110. These holes were drilled at the Aladdin’s Hill NE (“AHNE”), Central Buttress Zone (“CBZ”) and GF Zone (“GFZ”) areas. The collar co-ordinates of these holes are provided in Table 1 below, and details of all mineralised intersections are provided in Appendix A.

Table 1: Collar details of diamond drill holes ROD-091 to ROD-110

Aladdin’s Hill NE area

Holes ROD-091 and ROD-095 (Figure 2) were drilled to test for potential deeper sulphide mineralisation at AHNE. Both holes intersected multiple zones of Au-Ag (±Zn) mineralisation in a wide, heavily pyritic carbonate unit. Mineralised intersections included 1.18 g/t Au and 11.6 g/t Ag over a 20.49m interval from 115.11m depth (hole ROD-095).

Holes ROD-096 and ROD-097 were drilled to test for mineralisation on the interpreted NE-striking “Saddle Fault” structure at AHNE (Figure 2). ROD-096 returned a mineralised oxide intersection of 2.48 g/t Au and 13.7 g/t Ag over 7.1m from 69.0m depth associated with this structure. Hole ROD-097 returned a mineralised sulphide intersection of 0.90 g/t Au and 4.7 g/t Ag over a 14.38m interval from 150.0m depth associated with a distinctive strongly pyritic breccia unit.

Figure 2: Aladdin’s Hill area drill hole collar plan, showing holes ROD-091 and ROD-095 to ROD-097

Central Buttress Zone

3 holes were drilled at the CBZ, ROD-092 to ROD-094, to test for potential gossanous carbonate hosted mineralisation (Figure 3). Hole ROD-093 was designed as a “twin hole” to test the results from the 2018 RC programme.

Hole ROD-093, twinned with ROP-047, returned a mineralised intersection of 0.54 g/t Au and 6.9 g/t Ag over a 47.8m interval, from 17.0m depth. Hole ROD-092 was completed predominantly in unmineralised and heavily oxidised sediments, but returned some sub-grade but Ag-rich mineralisation from oxidised slates. Hole ROD-094 was drilled mostly in weakly weathered barren white carbonates. Both holes ROD-092 and ROD-094 were drilled sub-parallel to the generally weakly mineralised western margin of the CBZ.

GF Zone

Holes ROD-098 to ROD-110 were drilled to test mineralisation at the GFZ, with hole ROD-105 being drilled as a twin to RC hole ROP-043 in the Central Valley (Figure 3). The GFZ is another body of gossanous carbonate hosted oxide mineralisation, similar to and located to the east of the CBZ. The 2018 RC drilling indicated it to be generally lower in grade than the oxide mineralisation at the CBZ and Aladdin’s Hill.

All holes intersected the GFZ mineralised gossanous carbonates as expected, although the drilling indicates the zone to be somewhat more faulted and disrupted than is apparent at surface. Mineralised intersections returned from this programme include 16.25 g/t Au and 8.5 g/t Ag over a 1.7m interval from 33.6m depth (ROD-099), 0.54 g/t Au and 3.9 g/t Ag over a 48.2m interval from 5.1m depth (ROD-102), 0.68 g/t Au and 6.6 g/t Ag over a 26.25m interval from 9.55m depth (ROD-109) and 0.51 g/t Au and 2.0 g/t Ag over a 43.5m interval from surface (ROD-110). The drilled GFZ mineralisation hosts numerous voids and cavities, many of which appear to be ancient mine workings, which are also mapped and apparent at surface, and the lower assay grades returned in this part of programme are considered to be somewhat surprising.

Figure 3: Central Buttress/GF Zone area drill hole collar plan, showing holes ROD-092 to ROD-094, and ROD-098 to ROD-110

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).

Appendix A - Drilling Intersections