Aton drills 1.04 g/t AuEq over 80 metres at Hamama West, Egypt
Aton Resources Inc. [AAN-TSXV] provided an update to investors on the final results from the RC (reverse circulation) drilling program at its Hamama West gold-silver project at the 100%-owned Abu Marawat concession in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.
Assay results have now been received for the final 42 RC drill holes, HAP-163 to HAP-204. Significant intersections include 1.43 g/t gold, 89.86 g/t silver and 2.48 g/t AuEq (gold equivalent) over a 20-metre interval, from surface in drill hole HAP-163.
Hole HAP-167 returned 0.82 g/t gold, 18.80 g/t silver and 1.04 AuEq over 80 metres from surface. Hole HAP-192 returned 1.57 g/t gold, 29.99 g/t silver and 1.92 AuEq over 47 metres, from 26 metres depth.
Hole HAP-195 returned 0.54 g/t gold, 55.12 g/t silver and 1.19 g/t AuEq over 49 metres, from 76 metres depth.
“We are surely pleased to be able to report the final results from the successful infill RC drilling program at Hamama,” said Tonno Vahk, Interim CEO. “Not only have we confirmed high-grade quartz veins in new drilling at West Garida, but the Hamama West results have been good, and we certainly believe that the drilling has achieved its objective in terms of allowing us to upgrade the confidence of the inferred resource at Hamama. The ongoing diamond drilling program at Rodruin is nearly complete, and as soon as it is finished the rig will then relocate to the Hamama area, where it will start testing currently undrilled oxide mineralization at Hamama East. Now that we have the final assay results in, we will soon be able to start on updating the Hamama West mineral resource estimate, before we get on to the maiden Rodruin MRE. We continue to work closely with our partners, the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority, as we follow the plan agreed with them, and move steadily forward, and towards our common goal of establishing new gold mines at Hamama and Rodruin.”
The Hamama West project has an indicated resource of 137,000 ounces of gold equivalent and an inferred resource of 341,000 ounces AuEq. The uppermost oxide and transitional component of the Hamama West deposit (the oxide gold cap) comprises an inferred resource of 106,000 ounces AuEq.
Metallurgical testwork has indicated average gold recoveries of 75.6% and 72.7% from oxide and transitional mineralization types respectively, using standard heap leach processing technology. Aton plans to initially mine the outcropping oxide gold cap of the deposit, which is mineralised directly from surface, as a low capex/opex starter open pit mining operation, with a heap leach processing facility. The Hamama West oxides will provide early cash flow, and will represent the first stage of phased mine development at the Abu Marawat Concession.
The program was designed to primarily test the oxide gold cap of the Hamama West mineral resource estimate with the specific objective of upgrading the confidence of the existing inferred resource. A total of 6,620m was drilled for the program, predominantly at the Hamama West zone. Three holes were completed, for 297 metres, at the Western Carbonate zone, approximately 400 metres west of Hamama West.
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.