Aton Resources announced that it requested and has been granted a three-year extension to the final exploration period of its exploration license at its Abu Marwat concession, according to a press release.

The company elaborated that this will enable it to continue its exploration activities in the concession until finalizing the regulations and amendments to Egypt’s mining law which aims at attracting more investors to the mining sector.

Moreover, the company said that this will allow it to migrate to the new system from its existing agreement and benefit from the improved terms.

The president and CEO of Aton, Mark Campbell said that “We are very pleased with this recent development, as it will allow us to carry on with an aggressive three year work program that we have planned for our targets such as Rodruin and Abu Gaharish, as well as at Hamama West while allowing us to negotiate with the Egyptian authorities a transition from the existing PSA regime to the new tax, rent and royalty regime.”

It is worth noting that Aton Resources announced on February 12 that the Egyptian Mineral Resource Authority (EMRA) approved its application to get exploration license at Hamama area in the Eastern Dessert and its retained exploration areas within the Abu Marawat concession for 20 years with the option of extension for ten more years. An anonymous source at EMRA said that it is still reviewing the economic feasibility study for concession exploitation and the final approval should be obtained by several governmental agencies.