Aton Resources takes first step to secure mining licence in Egypt

Aton Resources (TSXV: AAN) has taken the initial step towards securing a mining licence for its 100% owned Abu Marawat concession located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, where numerous gold and base metal exploration targets have been identified to date.

On Thursday, the company lodged a submission to the Egyptian Mineral Resources Authority (EMRA) detailing and defining the "commercial discoveries" at its Hamama West and Rodruin projects, two of the gold occurrences at Abu Marawat.

Aton is aiming to develop the next Egyptian gold mines at Abu Marawat, located approximately 200 km north of Centamin's world-class Sukari gold mine, currently the only one in the country.

Its Hamama project, located to the west of the concession, has an NI 43-101 indicated mineral resource of 137,000 ounces gold equivalent and an inferred resource of 341,000 oz. gold equivalent. Rodruin represents a prospect area that was fast-tracked to exploration by Aton following its discovery in 2017.

The submission to EMRA, according to the company, represents the first step in a formal process mandated by the Egyptian government to maintain the company's rights to explore for and develop deposits. It also expected to culminate in the anticipated issuance of an exploitation lease at Abu Marawat.

"A lot has changed since April 2020 when we were granted a three-year extension to the exploration licence at Abu Marawat," said Tonno Vahk, interim CEO. "It has certainly been a long and winding road, but today marks a very important step, as it represents the first stage in the process that we anticipate will lead to the mining licence at Abu Marawat."

Over the coming weeks, Aton will work closely with EMRA to review and agree upon these "commercial discoveries" through a process defined by the Abu Marawat concession agreement, and once this has been done, the parties will settle on which areas to be included in the mining licence.

Once agreement has been reached on these areas, they will be automatically converted into an exploitation lease, or leases, without the issuance of any additional legal instruments or permissions, the company said.

Shares of Aton Resources shot up 25.6% to trade at $0.24 apiece by 12:30 p.m. EDT, just one cent off its 52-week high. The Vancouver-based company has a market capitalization of $13.4 million.

THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED ON MINING.COM.