Aton Resources Inc. updates investors on the results of recently completed phase 2 diamond drilling programme at the Semna gold mine project, located within the retained exploration areas of the Company's Abu Marawat Concession in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The Semna prospect is located approximately 27km east-northeast of the Hamama West deposit and 13km north-northeast of the Rodruin deposit, and is accessed via desert tracks from either Hamama, Rodruin or the Abu Marawat deposit to the north. The Semna area has a long history of gold mining, and was exploited between 1904 and 1906 by two British companies, which worked the Main Vein on two underground levels.

More recently the area has been extensively worked by illegal artisanal miners, who have now been removed from the site. During 2023 Aton completed a first phase of revere circulation percussion ("RC") drilling at Semna completing 21 holes for a total of 3,662m. This programme yielded excellent results with mineralised intersections including 50.07 g/t Au over a 6m interval (hole SMP-016), 28.36 g/t Au, 28.4 g/t Ag and 1.15% Cu over a 4m interval (hole SMP-003), 11.98 g/t Au over a 16m interval (hole SMP-018), 10.61 g/t Au, 24.0 g/t Ag and 1.20% Cu over a 9m interval (hole SMP-019), and 5.73 g/t Au over a 14m interval (hole SMP-017).

The RC drilling confirmed the presence of significant coarse gold in the Semna mineralisation. Subsequent metallurgical testwork undertaken by Aton returned very positive results with gold recoveries in excess of 97% from 2 representative bulk samples of the Semna mineralisation. Gold was also recovered to 2 gravity concentrates at rates of 56.4% and 62.2%, again indicating a significant component of coarse gold in the Semna mineralisation.

The testwork indicated that the Semna mineralisation is amenable to treatment by both conventional CIL, and gravity concentration-leach processing options. 21 drill holes, SMD-021 to SMD-048, were completed at the Semna prospect, for a total of 4,701m metres during the recently completed phase 2 diamond drill programme, with most of the holes drilled at HQ size. The programme was primarily designed to test for mineralisation in the MVZ-EX zone which appears to strike in an east-northeasterly direction to the east of the old British mine workings, where it is buried beneath wadi sediments.

Other holes tested the depth extension of the Main Vein zone ("MVZ") which was exploited underground in the 1900's, and the Eastern Adit Vein. Full collar details of the holes are provided in Appendix A. Half core samples were routinely assayed for gold, silver and copper, with samples from the first 5 holes of the programme also assayed for lead and zinc. 12 holes (SMD-021 to SMD-027, SMD-041 to SMD-044, and SMD-048) were drilled, generally on a north-northwesterly orientation to test the MVZ-EX. Of these holes 3 were designed to twin RC holes, with SMD-024 twinning RC hole SMP-018, and SMD-043 twinning SMP-017.

Hole SMD-041 was drilled at PQ size to twin the HQ size diamond hole SMD-024, as well as RC hole SMP-018. 13 holes (SMD-028 to SMD-040) were drilled to test the down-dip extension of the MVZ, under the old underground workings, including 1 hole SMD-038, which was designed to twin RC hole SMP-004. A further 2 shallow holes (SMD-045 and SMD-046) were drilled to test the down-dip extension of the Eastern Adit Vein which was previously exploited from a British-era adit, and also more recently by artisanal miners.

Hole SMD-047 was abandoned at a shallow depth, as it had been collared on the wrong azimuth. 12 holes were drilled to test the MVZ-EX zone. Several of these holes returned significant high grade mineralised intersections, including 11.69 g/t Au, 19.1 g/t Ag and 1.38% Cu over a 5.19m interval, from 126.35m downhole depth, and 21.53 g/t Au over a 1.50m interval, from 147.20m (both from hole SMD-048, 15.05 g/t Au, 8.7 g/t Ag and 0.47% Cuover a 2.55m interval, from 100.45m (hole SMD-025), 3.16 g/t Au over a 13.96m interval, from 57.42m, including 27.90 g/t Au over 1.37m, from 68.94m (hole SMD-043), 3.49 g/t Au over a 7.97m interval, from 135.83m, including 8.10 over 3.13m, from 135.83m (hole SMD-027), and 16.77 g/t Au over a 1.55m interval, from 64.3m (hole SMD-044).

The easternmost hole in the programme, SMD-023, also returned an intersection of 5.64 g/t Au over a 1.8m interval from 167.60m. The mineralisation at Semna is orogenic in style, and is interpreted as being associated with an array of structures, presumed to have formed in dilational zones, accompanied by shearing and weak to moderate phyllic wall rock alteration. The mineralised structures appear to be localised between and offset by a series of north-northeast striking fault structures.

The mineralisation on the MVZ-EX zone is associated with multiple mineralised quartz veins, which apparently anastomose and pinch and swell, and is associated with locally strong phyllic wall rock alteration. Historically the MVZ mineralised zone has been described as being up to 6m in thickness, and in hole SMD-048 strongly mineralised quartz was intersected over an interval of 3.62m. The diamond drilling has indicated that the gold mineralisation is almost always associated with the milky white quartz veins, with gold appearing to be distributed both within the quartz veins themselves, and also in altered selvages and wall rock adjacent to the veins, as was mapped in the underground workings.

The diamond drilling has also confirmed the presence of multiple quartz veins in the MVZ-EX zone, which appear to largely sub-parallel, over a true width of approximately 20m. Generally the mineralisation at Semna is predominantly gold only, with the gold being coarse and nuggety, however the sheared veins do locally contain significant quantities of semi-massive chalcopyrite, confirming observations from the RC drilling programme. Significantly higher grades of gold mineralisation typically occur in these zones of semi-massive chalcopyrite, for example in holes SMD-048, SMD-025 and SMD-027, and are associated with elevated levels of silver and copper although this relationship is not absolute.

Lead and zinc are generally absent, although strong sphalerite was logged in a short interval in hole SMD-042, with a single 0.82m length sample returning assays of 14.8% Zn and 128 g/t Ag, as well as 2.99 g/t Au.