3 September 2024
TORONTO, Ontario, September 3, 2024 – Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company”) is pleased to provide an update on drilling activities and geophysical surveys at the Storm Copper Project (“Storm” or the “Project”) on Somerset Island, Nunavut. The exploration program is being conducted by American West Metals Limited (“American West”), who is the operator of the Project. Aston Bay and American West have formed a 20/80 unincorporated joint venture in respect of the Storm Project property, with Aston Bay maintaining a free carried interest until a decision to mine upon completion of a bankable feasibility study.
Drilling Highlights
Exploration drilling and Moving Loop Electromagnetics (MLEM)
Drilling of an MLEM anomaly in an untested area south of the Thunder Prospect has intersected strong visual copper sulfides from approximately 181.4m downhole – this new discovery is named ‘Squall’
The deep-searching 400m loop MLEM survey is currently underway at Tornado where it has identified two EM anomalies spatially coincident with outcropping copper
Drilling of the 1,300m x 500m EM anomaly below the Cirrus Deposit is in progress with the diamond hole planned to a depth of 600m
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.
Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer of Aston Bay, commented:
“The outstanding results keep coming in from the exploration program conducted by our partner American West at Storm. The drilling, which has exceeded the planned 20,000m of drilling, continues to expand the known areas of copper mineralization with more RC and diamond drill holes underway.
“In addition, we have made another significant copper discovery, named “Squall,” by drilling a blind MLEM geophysical target. This is the second discovery from drilling MLEM anomalies this year. Both discoveries are in the little-explored Southern Graben area where there is no outcropping copper mineralization, spotlighting both the growth potential for a resource at Storm and confirming the effectiveness of MLEM in pointing the way to copper discoveries.
“The diamond drill has just started spinning on a new MLEM target located below the Cirrus deposit. The configuration of this large 1,300m x 500m anomaly suggests a potentially mineralized horizon with feeder faults as predicted by the geological model and as seen elsewhere at Storm. With the positive hit rate drilling EM targets at Storm, we eagerly anticipate seeing this core.
“Exploration activities at the Tornado, Blizzard, and Tempest areas are also yielding very compelling targets, with additional work, including drilling, underway.”