Aston Bay and American West Metals Announce 8% Copper Intersected at the Storm Copper Project, Nunavut

• Additional thick and high-grade near-surface copper intervals intersected at the 4100N Zone with numerous intervals over 5% Cu and a peak value of 8% Cu
• Drill hole SR23-13 has intersected:
• 29m @ 1.2% Cu from 62.5m, including,
  • 3m @ 5% Cu from 86.9m, including,
    • 1.5m @ 8.2% Cu from 86.9m
• Drill hole SR23-14 has intersected:
• 25.9m @ 1.3% Cu from 61m, including,
  • 9.1m @ 2.1% Cu from 76.2m, including,
    • 3m @ 3.7% Cu from 82.3m
• Drill hole SR23-07 has intersected:
• 10.7m @ 1.3% Cu from 76.2m, including,
  • 4.6m @ 2.9% Cu from 76.2m, including,
    • 1.5m @ 6.5% Cu from 76.2m
• Drill hole SR23-09 has intersected:
• 10.6m @ 1% Cu from 67.1m, including,
  • 4.6m @ 2% Cu from 71.6m
• Copper mineralization remains open laterally in all directions
• These results continue to expand the volume of the near-surface mineralization and provide further support for the exploration potential of the large gravity anomaly located below the 4100N Zone

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 22, 2023 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV:BAY) (OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") reports significant new drill results from the spring reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at the Storm Copper Project ("Storm" or the "Project") on Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada. The program was conducted this April and May by American West Metals Limited ("American West"), who are the project operator since entering an option agreement with Aston Bay in March 2021.

"We continue to receive impressive results from the RC program conducted at Storm by our partners America West Metals," stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay. "The high grades, up to 8% copper in these results and higher elsewhere at Storm, speaks to the quality of the mineralized system, while its apparent continuity and consistency demonstrates a significant increase in the known near-surface high-grade mineralization.

"The 4100N Zone sits directly above the largest of several geophysical targets recently delineated at Storm, adjacent to faults that may have served as conduits for the mineralizing fluids. Our exploration model suggests that the 4100N Zone may be the uppermost of a series of stacked mineralized zones. This would be a game-changing discovery, and we eagerly look forward to testing this hypothesis in the upcoming summer drill program."

HIGH GRADES AND THICK INTERVALS CONTINUE

Assay results have been received and interpretation has been completed on drill holes SR23-07, SR23-08, SR23-09, SR23-13, SR23-14, and SR23-15. The drill holes are located within the central part of the 4100N Zone and have been prioritized to allow resource modeling on drill sections with complete data sets.

The drilling results continue to demonstrate consistent copper grades and excellent lateral continuity of the known copper mineralization. The mineralization is open along most sections and is defined by broad intervals of vein and fracture-style chalcocite, bornite and lesser chalcopyrite hosted within a distinct, horizontally extensive dolomite.

Multiple very high-grade lenses are located within the broader zones of mineralization, and these targets and further expansion of the mineralized footprint will be a focus for follow-up drilling in this zone.

Table 1: 2023 program drill hole details and copper mineralization summary. The "Copper Mineralized Interval" data is based on laboratory assays (in bold) and visual estimates.

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.

DRILL HOLE SR23-07 DETAILS

SR23-07 was drilled to a downhole depth of 137.2m and is located on drill section 464,800E (Figure 2), the same section as historical drill holes ST97-14, ST99-56, and ST99-54.

SR23-07 intersected two horizontal zones of strong vein and fracture-style copper sulfide mineralization hosted within fractured dolomite. The grade and mineralogy are identical to that of the historical drill holes and confirm the excellent lateral continuity of the mineralization along this section.

Tables 2 - 7 below summarise the significant intersections in drilling. Intersections are expressed as downhole widths and are interpreted to be approximately 90-100% of true width. A cut-off grade of 0.5% copper is used to define a significant intersection and is based on mineralogy, mineralization habit and expected beneficiation performance.

Table 2: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-07 (>0.5% Cu)

DRILL HOLE SR23-08 and SR23-09 DETAILS

SR23-08 and SR23-09 were drilled along section 464,725E (Figure 3). The drill holes were completed to a downhole depth of 118.9m and 164.6m respectively and were designed to test the continuity of the mineralization between the thick intervals of copper encountered within historical drill holes ST00-61 and ST00-62.

Both drill holes intersected wide zones of vein and fracture-style copper sulfide mineralization hosted within fractured dolomite. Higher-grade zones of mineralization (>2% Cu) are contained within the broader intervals of >1% copper sulfide mineralization.

The mineralization on drill section 464,725E remains open to the north.

Table 3: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-08 (>0.5% Cu)

Table 4: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-09 (>0.5% Cu)

DRILL HOLE SR23-13 DETAILS

Drill hole SR23-13 was completed on the same section (465,050E) as drill holes SR23-03 and SR23-04 (Figure 4). The drill hole is located to the north of SR23-03 (67m (core length) @ 1.1% Cu) and was drilled to a downhole depth of 175.3m.

The drill hole confirmed the extension of the thick mineralization to the north and intersected a broad interval of strong copper sulfide mineralization with three higher-grade bands. The lower 1.5m thick band consists of very dense chalcocite veining and averages 8.2% Cu.

Importantly, SR23-13 remains open to the north in an area with significant EM anomalism.