Aton Resources has announced the final results of its Phase 2 diamond drilling program at its advanced Rodruin gold exploration project, located in Abu Marawat Concession in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.
According to the company’s statement, these results are for the 16 holes from ROD-118 to ROD-133. The statement said that “eight holes were completed in the Aladdin’s Hill and Aladdin’s Hill NE areas, with results including 4.39 g/t Au and 4.5 g/t Ag over an interval of 11.85m from 29.45m downhole depth (ROD-120) and 3.72 g/t Au and 5.8 g/t Ag over 5.5m from 26.3m (ROD-122), both associated with oxidized phyllic alteration zones”.
It added that mineralization associated with gossanous carbonates at Aladdin’s Hill returned intervals of 63.2m grading 0.69 g/t Au and 6.6 g/t Ag (ROD-123) and 18.7m grading 1.27 g/t Au and 6.5 g/t Ag (ROD-124), both from surface. ROD-124 also returned an intersection of 41.6m grading 4.36% Zn and 0.29 g/t Au from 74.7m.
An additional eight holes were also drilled at the Central Buttress Zone, the GF Zone and the South and North Ridges which returned mineralized intersections including 3.14 g/t Au and 4.2 g/t Ag over an interval of 8.6m from surface (ROD-128) at the GF Zone, and 0.77 g/t Au and 7.0 g/t Ag over an interval of 27.5m, also from surface (ROD-127), at the Central Buttress Zone.
On this occasion, Tonno Vahk, Aton’s CEO, said “We are very happy with the results from the Phase 2 diamond drilling program at Rodruin, with virtually every single hole in the program intersecting mineralization. We believe that we now have a sufficient drill density to meet the primary objective of the program which was to enable us to delineate a maiden oxide mineral resource at Rodruin, which we expect to be readily amenable to exploitation using very low strip ratio open pit mining methods, and will enable us to secure the mining license at Abu Marawat. But more than that we have really flagged up the future potential of the Rodruin deposit with some very impressive sulphide intercepts. The metallurgical samples collected from both Rodruin and Hamama were forwarded to Wardell Armstrong International in the UK before the New Year, and the test work programs are proceeding well, with encouraging preliminary results.”
“Our immediate focus in the field is now on the short additional drilling program which started at Hamama in mid-January with a view to adding potential incremental oxide resources at Hamama East, as we work towards maiden and revised mineral resource estimates and delineating “commercial discoveries” at Rodruin and Hamama by mid-2023. We have also started further mapping and sampling programs on some of our excellent regional targets including Abu Gaharish, Semna and Bohlog, in advance of new RC drilling programs on these prospects, which we plan to start after Ramadan. So Aton continues to move ahead simultaneously on numerous fronts, as we look to secure the mining license at Abu Marawat later this year, and to finally start to realize the enormous potential of the Concession for our shareholders, and all our stakeholders in Egypt,” added Vahk.
