Aton Reports New Results From Metallurgical Testing on Abu Marawat Oxide, Transition and Sulphide Mineralisation
Technical De-risking at Abu Marawat Meets Growing Debt Wall as Aton Pivots Toward Production
The news release dated January 5, 2026, provides preliminary metallurgical testwork results for the Abu Marawat polymetallic deposit in Egypt. Testing covered oxide, transitional, and sulphide mineralization. Key technical takeaways include gold extraction rates between 69.8% and 90.7% via whole ore leaching. The study confirms the ability to produce saleable copper and zinc concentrates from sulphide ores. Furthermore, the implementation of SART (Sulphidisation, Acidification, Recycling and Thickening) processing demonstrated over 97% precipitation of copper, zinc, and silver from cyanide solutions, which allows for cyanide regeneration and significantly improves the economics of processing high-copper gold ores. This follows a December 23, 2025, update reporting high-grade drill results at the Semna project, including 3.65 g/t gold over 25 metres.
The metallurgical results are materially positive as they provide a clear processing flowsheet for a complex polymetallic deposit. In mining, high-grade hits are meaningless if the metallurgy is "refractory" or unrecoverable; these results prove that Abu Marawat can be processed using conventional methods (flotation and leaching) plus SART. - Gold Recoveries: The 69.8% to 90.7% range is acceptable for this type of deposit, though the lower end suggests some variability that needs management. - Cost Efficiency: The SART process is a game-changer for this project because it addresses high cyanide consumption caused by soluble copper, potentially lowering operating costs (OPEX) significantly. - Strategic Shift: The news confirms the company is moving from pure exploration into the development phase, with an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) imminent.
Aton Resources is focused on the Abu Marawat Concession in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. The concession covers 255 square kilometres and includes several key targets: - Hamama West: The most advanced project, moving toward a PFS and planned production in 2027. - Abu Marawat: A polymetallic deposit with a 2012 inferred resource of 2.9Mt @ 1.75 g/t Au, now being updated. - Semna: A high-grade orogenic gold target showing significant strike and depth continuity. - Rodruin: A large polymetallic discovery. Aton is attempting to become the second international gold producer in Egypt after Centamin (Sukari mine).