Aton signs 10,000m RC drilling contract with Geodrill
Vancouver, British Columbia, April 20, 2023: Aton Resources Inc. (AAN: TSX-V) (“Aton” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract with Geodrill, to undertake a 10,000m programme of reverse circulation percussion (“RC”) drilling at the Company’s 100% owned Abu Marawat Concession (“Abu Marawat” or the “Concession”), in the Eastern Desert of Egypt (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Geology and prospect plan of the Abu Marawat Concession
“We are delighted to announce that we have signed a contract with Geodrill for 10,000 metres of RC drilling at Abu Marawat. This programme has been years in the making, and we are really excited to now finally be getting ready to drill some of our highly prospective regional targets.” said Tonno Vahk, Interim CEO. “We are also pleased to be working with Geodrill on this programme, who entered the Egyptian market 2 years ago. Geodrill are very much an expanding global player and are well established as one of Africa’s leading drilling companies. We have been busy the last couple of months preparing for this programme, with excavators and loaders working on access roads and drill pads around the licence area, ahead of starting the drilling in early May. We continue to work closely with our partners at the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority, and are still on track for the submission of our application for the mining licence at Abu Marawat in Q3 this year, and are looking forwards to updating investors on what we hope to be very positive drill results in the coming months.”
2023 Abu Marawat RC drilling programme
Aton has now signed a contract with Geodrill’s Egyptian branch, Geodrill for Leasing and Specialized Services Freezone LLC, for 10,000m of RC drilling at the Abu Marawat Concession. Established in 1998, Geodrill is a leading TSX listed exploration drilling company, with a fleet of 82 drill rigs operating in seven countries across Africa and South America. Geodrill operates the largest and most modern fleet of multi-purpose rigs on the African continent, and entered Egypt in 2021, winning the major underground RC drilling contract at the Sukari gold mine, as well as several exploration drilling contracts for other clients in Egypt. Geodrill will supply an X900 multi-purpose rig for the contract, designed by AustEx and built in-house, with a 1200cfm/430psi onboard compressor, and an additional service unit equipped with a 1200cfm/430psi auxiliary compressor and 1800cfm/900psi booster pack. The X900 rig has a rated RC depth capacity of 400m.
The rig is expected to mobilise to site during the first week of May 2023, with drilling starting at West Garida to follow up on the highly promising 5 hole 2022 RC programme (see news release dated September 1, 2022), before moving to the Semna and Abu Gaharish prospects. Drilling is also being planned at the Zeno, Bohlog, and Sir Bakis prospects.
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. Two historic British gold mines are also located on the Concession at Sir Bakis and Semna. 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 447.7 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: TONNO VAHK Interim CEO |
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. | |