PRESS RELEASE

from Aston Bay Holdings Ltd (NASDAQ:ATBHF)

Aston Bay and American West Metals Announce Another Discovery and High-Grade Copper Intervals at the Storm Copper Project, Canada

Another new discovery further expands the copper mineralization footprint at Storm:

  • Exploration Reverse Circulation (RC) drill hole SR23-52 has intersected a total of 19m of strong visual copper sulfide mineralization in two zones from 32m downhole, delivering a new discovery in an underexplored area of the Project
  • The discovery is interpreted to be fault related and is located between the high-grade 2750N and 2200N Zones, which are located approximately 1km apart
  • The new copper zone has been named ‘Lightning Ridge'
  • Over 10km of prospective structures have been identified in the immediate area with further potential across the Project tenure

Initial assay results from the summer drilling program at the 2750N and 4100N Zones have returned high-grade near-surface high-grade copper intervals including:

  • Drill hole SM23-02 (4100N Zone diamond drill QA/QC hole) has intersected (hole length):
    • 46m @ 2.2% Cu from 64m, including,
      • 15.6m @ 4.2% Cu from 65m, including,
        • 0.3m @ 42.8% Cu from 67m
  • Drill hole SR23-21 (2750N Zone) has intersected (hole length):
    • 27.4m @ 1.5% Cu from surface, including,
      • 7.6m @ 4% Cu from 7.6m, and,
    • 27.4m @ 1.3% Cu from 30.5m, including,
      • 9.1m @ 2.15% Cu from 33.5m
  • Final assays for the summer drilling program comprising the remaining RC delineation holes and four deep diamond drill holes are expected regularly over the coming weeks

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / September 5, 2023 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") is pleased to report a new near-surface copper discovery as well as excellent drill results that confirm thick, high-grade copper over an expansive and growing footprint at the Storm Copper Project ("Storm" or the "Project") on Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada. The program is being conducted by American West Metals Limited ("American West"), who are the project operator since entering an option agreement with Aston Bay in March 2021

"Discovery strikes again with another new near-surface copper discovery in the excellent exploration work conducted by our partners American West at Storm" stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay.

"The new Lightning Ridge discovery comes on the heels of the Thunder Zone discovery earlier this summer. We see the massive black chalcocite at the surface near the ridge edge south of the 2750N Zone and are pleased that the drill has confirmed that the mineralization continues at depth. As well, the drilling revealed a second copper zone that we believe is concealed beneath the scree at the bottom of the gully.

"Both Lightning Ridge and Thunder point to the exploration potential for additional copper mineralization to potentially add to the near-surface delineation program currently underway. The latest results from both the 2750N and 4100N Zones confirm the continuity of the mineralization and include extremely rich zones up to 43% copper (Figure 1). We are well on our way toward a maiden resource for the near-surface mineralization, with these new discoveries already highlighting the potential for expansion.

"Together with the exciting confirmation of sediment hosted copper mineralization at depth earlier this season, Storm is proving to be a compelling growth story for both near-surface development and deeper breakthroughs. We look forward to additional results from this season, and to continued exploration and discovery."

Figure 1: Drill core from resource diamond drill hole SM23-02 from the 4100N Zone showing chalcocite (dark grey) in dense brecciation, veining and faulting (now rubble). The interval is from approximately 62.85m to 78m downhole and contains an average grade of 6.4% Cu between 65m and 73.3m.

DRILL RESULTS HIGHLIGHT RESOURCE AND EXPLORATION POTENTIAL AT STORM

The first batch of assay results from the summer 2023 resource drilling program have been received which includes all drill holes from the 2750N Zone, and five additional drill holes at the 4100N Zone (assays are still pending for the remainder of the 4100N Zone drilling). The resource drilling has included both Reverse Circulation (RC) and shallow diamond drilling in key areas of the near-surface prospects (Table 1).

The initial assays have defined the highest copper grades to date at the 4100N Zone (Figure 1). The results continue to highlight the resource potential of the 2750N and 4100N Zones with consistent copper grades and good lateral continuity of the known copper mineralization.

A single exploration RC drill hole (Figure 2) has made another discovery of near-surface mineralization in a large, underexplored area between the 2750N, 2200N and Thunder prospects.

The new discovery has been named ‘Lightning Ridge' and is located in an area of outcropping massive chalcocite and large-scale faulting.

These latest results highlight the potential for further expansion of the high-grade, near-surface mineralization within the Storm Project area.

Figure 2: RC Drill chips from RC drill hole SR23-52 from the Lightning Ridge Prospect. The interval is from 125ft (38m) to 155ft (47.2m) downhole. Chalcocite (80% copper) veins and chips are visible as dark grey, with malachite (copper oxide) seen as green.

Hole ID

Prospect

Easting

Northing

Depth (m)

Azimuth

Inclination

Thickness Strong Mineralization (m)

SR23-01

4100N

464991

8174285

137.2

180

-65

28.9

SR23-02

4100N

464990

8174157

140.2

180

-59

21

SR23-03

4100N

465041

8174251

151

178

-65

52.5

SR23-04

4100N

465045

8174166

152.4

179

-69

25.9

SR23-05

4100N

464899

8174146

131.1

180

-66

21.3

SR23-06

4100N

464899

8174261

166.1

180

-69

13.7

SR23-07

4100N

464805

8174203

137.2

180

-71

7.7

SR23-08

4100N

464726

8174286

118.9

180

-69

6.1

SR23-09

4100N

464726

8174206

164.6

180

-69

13.8

SR23-10

4100N

464638

8174315

125

180

-70

12.2

SR23-11

4100N

464667

8174223

140.2

180

-70

18.2

SR23-12

4100N

465115

8174317

149.4

179

-73

10.6

SR23-13

4100N

465051

8174321

175.3

180

-65

29

SR23-14

4100N

464948

8174227

160

180

-65

25.9

SR23-15

4100N

464853

8174167

121.9

180

-65

10.7

SR23-16

4100N

465138

8174247

132.6

180

-70

-

SR23-17

4100N

465139

8174173

129.5

180

-66

19.8

SR23-18

4100N

465186

8174280

182.9

180

-65

9.2

SR23-19

2750N

466176

8172771

70.1

180

-55

7.6

SR23-20

2750N

466231

8172821

97.5

196

-45

13.7

SR23-21

2750N

466277

8172792

59.4

180

-55

54.8

SR23-22

2750N

466230

8172820

114.3

150

-72

25.9

SR23-23

2750N

466276

8172791

79.3

090

-78

7.6

SR23-28

4100N

466184

8174210

149.4

180

-65

12.2

SR23-29

4100N

466233

8174254

132.6

180

-62

3

SR23-30

4100N

466231

8174174

120.4

180

-60

3

SR23-31

4100N

466268

8174115

125

182

-61

32

SR23-52

Lightning

466062

8172544

118.9

360

-45

19

SM23-01

2750N

466203

8172818

100

180

-50

12

SM23-02

4100N

465016

8174253

180

180

-45

46

Table 1: 2023 Resource and near-surface exploration drill hole details.

Visual estimates of mineral abundance should never be considered a proxy or substitute for laboratory analyses where concentrations or grades are the factor of principal economic interest. Laboratory assays are required to determine the presence and grade of any contained mineralization within the reported visual intersections of copper sulfides. Portable XRF is used as an aid in the determination of mineral type and abundance during the geological logging process.

LIGHTNING RIDGE COPPER DISCOVERY

Exploration RC drill hole SR23-52 was drilled to a depth of 119m and completed in a largely untested area of significant outcropping chalcocite (Figures 3 and 4). The drill hole was designed to test an untested airborne VTEM target in an area with a single, shallow historical drill hole (ST97-06 2.6m core length @ 6.83% Cu from 35.4m), midway between the high-grade 2750N and 2200N Zones.

The VTEM target was successfully tested and resulted in 44m of visual copper sulfides with a total 19m of strong visual copper sulfides (Table 2). The copper sulfide mineralization consists of dense breccia and vein-hosted chalcocite within two broad zones of mineralization (Figure 5). The upper zone of sulfide is particularly strong and is interpreted to be the source of the VTEM anomaly.

The Lightning Ridge area is located to the south of the 2750N Zone, and across the main E-W gully. Outcropping massive chalcocite is visible on the steep slope near the gully ridge line and in boulders at the base of the scree slope. Its proximity to the gully and the style of mineralization is strongly suggestive that the mineralization is fault-related and steeply dipping, similar to the high-grade 2750N and 2200N Zones.

Five significant, fault-related and widely spaced copper prospects have now been confirmed by drilling in the southern graben area. All of these discoveries are located at, or close to surface and have only been tested to a depth of approximately 100

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