TSX-V-listed gold exploration and mining company Aton Resources has recently carried out further sampling and mapping programmes over several regional targets at the company’s Abu Marawat Concession-retained exploration areas in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.

This ongoing exploration programme has so far resulted in 258 selective grab and non-selective surface channel samples collected from the Black Gaharish, Bohlog, Kab Amira, Semna and Zeno prospect areas within the concession.

A further seven blank and duplicate quality assurance and quality control samples were also submitted for analysis.

Aton confirmed that 38 samples were collected from the Black Gaharish prospect area, returning assays including 29.9 g/t gold and 9.46 g/t gold, while seven samples were collected from the Bohlog prospect area, returning assays including 183 g/t gold and 14.65 g/t gold. In the Kab Amira prospect area, 112 samples were collected, returning assays including 67.4 g/t gold, 44.9 g/t gold and 29.8 g/t gold.

Additionally, 42 samples were collected from the Semna regional prospect area, returning assays including 125 g/t gold, 36.3 g/t gold and 32.5 g/t gold, while 59 samples were collected from the Zeno regional prospect area, returning assays including 45.1 g/t gold, 26.9 g/t gold and 24.5 g/t gold.

“This is another set of excellent surface sampling results, which yet again demonstrate the potential of the Abu Marawat Concession, including the newly identified Kab Amira area, and the very widespread development of gold mineralisation at surface across the areas that have been retained for further exploration,” Aton CEO Tonno Vahk said on June 19.

Meanwhile, the Phase 2 diamond drilling programme has been completed at the Semna prospect, with 28 holes completed for a total 4 701 m drilled.

Aton said it had also now completed a programme of surface sampling and started an about 3 000 m programme of shallow and horizontal diamond drilling at the Abu Marawat deposit, designed to test a highly prospective and previously undrilled area.

“We are proceeding with our exploration programmes on the retained exploration areas, with the clearly defined objective of bringing them into the exploitation lease within the next four years. We have now returned to the Abu Marawat deposit for the first time since 2012, and where we will be drilling potentially high-grade areas outside the existing NI 43-101 resource which were not drilled previously due to the difficulty of access in steep terrain,” Vahk said.

He added that the company was enthused by the recent identification of new mineralised structures at surface in the area where drilling will take place.

“Now that the joint venture company [between Aton and the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority named] Abu Marawat Gold Mines, which will operate the Hamama and Rodruin exploitation lease, has been established, we will be pushing ahead with the development of the Hamama West gold mine, which will be the first mine that we plan to develop on the Abu Marawat Concession,” Vahk said.