TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / October 11, 2023 / The latest assay results for the Lightning Ridge Prospect and the 2200N Zone confirm thick, high-grade intersections of copper that further expand the footprint of near-surface copper mineralization at Storm.

HIGHLIGHTS

Lightning Ridge:

• Drill hole SR23-52 at Lightning Ridge has intersected:
  • 15.2m @ 2.3% Cu from 30.5, including,
    • 1.5m @ 4.5% Cu from 32m, and,
    • 1.5m @ 4.5% Cu from 44.2m
  • 15.2m @ 2.1% Cu from 77.7m, including,
    • 1.5m @ 7.6% Cu from 77.7m
• The Lightning Ridge results confirm the presence of high-grade copper in a previously unexplored area between the 2200N and 2750N Zones and highlight the outstanding exploration and growth potential.
• The prospective structures that host the high-grade copper mineralization newly discovered at the Thunder and Lightning Ridge Prospects extend laterally for more than 10km and remain largely untested by drilling.

2200N Zone:

• Drilling during 2023 has returned assays with high-grade copper commencing close to surface, including:
  • Drill hole SR23-50 has intersected:
  • 29m @ 1.5% Cu from 4.6m, including,
    • 6.1m @ 2.9% Cu from 4.6m, and,
    • 6.1 @ 3% Cu from 25.9m
  • 3m @ 2.8% Cu from 53.3m

The successful exploration and resource definition drilling of the near-surface copper mineralization, together with regional targets within a dominant landholding of more than 2,200 sq km, underscore the camp-scale copper mining opportunity emerging at Storm.

Emerging copper camp:

The successful resource definition drilling of the near-surface copper mineralization, together with regional targets within a dominant landholding of more than 2,100 sq km, underscore the camp-scale copper discovery and mining opportunity emerging at Storm.

"Once again, Storm is delivering impressive results with high-grade, near-surface copper mineralization and confirmation of a new discovery," stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay. "The new, thick, high-grade zones at Lightning Ridge point to the discovery potential at Storm and highlight the potential for discovery to add significant volumes of potentially economic near-surface copper mineralization at Storm.

"Combined with the confirmation of copper mineralization from new drilling at the 2200N Zone, the Storm project is demonstrating the potential for a camp-scale copper discovery and mining opportunity."

Figure 1: Massive chalcocite boulders exposed in the gully below the Lightning Ridge Prospect. The continued addition of new high-grade copper zones is significantly adding to the camp scale potential of the near-surface mineralization at Storm. The boulders are massive chalcocite (a copper sulfide mineral containing approximately 79.8% Cu with a thin weathering rind of green malachite (copper carbonate)).

Drilling results continue to expand the large-scale sediment-hosted copper system at Storm - a system that outcrops at the surface and has also been confirmed at a depth of 300m by diamond drilling in 2023.

The extensive near-surface, high-grade copper and deeper copper occurrences are interpreted to have been formed by the same fluids and mineralization processes. The confirmation to date of high-grade copper over an area of more than 15km², together with more than 80km of underexplored prospective stratigraphy including high-priority gravity targets, underscores the regional, multi-km scale potential of this copper system.

Resource and exploration drilling in 2023 has been successful in confirming the continuity of the near-surface deposits over a significant lateral extent. The near-surface deposits are being assessed for their potential to support a potential low-cost, fast-tracked open pit mining operation with very low capital expenditure and low operating costs.

Preliminary test work on mineralization from the near-surface copper zones has already produced a potential direct shipping product with grades up to 53% Cu. Studies for a potential mining operation at Storm are underway, including resource modeling and estimation, beneficiation test work, environmental assessment, and operation logistics.

LIGHTNING RIDGE COPPER PROSPECT

Exploration drilling of high-priority electromagnetic (EM) anomalies and key geological features during 2023 has further expanded the footprint of the near-surface, high-grade copper mineralization at Storm.

The recent Lightning Ridge and Thunder discoveries (see September 26, 2023, Aston Bay press release) continue to highlight the effectiveness of EM as a targeting tool and the correlation of EM anomalies with semi-massive and massive copper sulfides (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Plan view of the Storm area showing the known copper prospects and interpreted copper mineralization footprint (defined by drilling, MLEM and VTEM) for the near-surface discoveries, and drilling overlaying topography.

DRILL HOLE SR23-52 DETAILS

Exploration Reverse Circulation (RC) drill hole SR23-52 was drilled to a depth of 119m and completed in a largely untested area of significant outcropping chalcocite (Figure 1 and Table 1). The drill hole was designed to test an airborne VTEM target in an area with a single, shallow historical drill hole (ST97-06 2.6m* @ 6.83% Cu from 35.4m), midway between the high-grade 2750N and 2200N Zones.

Table 1: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-52 (>0.5% Cu).

Figure 3: Geological section view at 466,060E showing drill hole SR23-52 details, the interpreted mineralization envelopes, and outcropping chalcocite locations. Stated drill hole intersections are all down hole length, and true width is expected to be 60% of stated length.

The VTEM target was successfully tested and resulted in the intersection of two main zones of high-grade copper mineralization for a combined interval thickness of 30.4m (See Table 1; true width is expected to be 60% of stated length). The copper sulfide mineralization consists of dense breccia and vein-hosted chalcocite.

The Lightning Ridge area is located to the south of the 2750N Zone and across a large 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 (Figure 3). Its proximity to the gully and the style of mineralization is strongly suggestive that the mineralization is fault-related and steeply dipping, as is seen at the high-grade 2750N and 2200N Zones.

Five significant, fault-related copper prospects have now been identified 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 vertical metres. Further exploration will look to explore deeper and along strike of the vast fault network in the area. Approximately 10km of prospective structures have been identified in the southern graben area alone.

2200N ZONE - EXPANDING THE NEAR-SURFACE COPPER FOOTPRINT

The 2200N Zone is located in the Southern Storm Graben area and is located approximately 600m to the south of the 2750N Zone (Figure 2). The area is characterised by extensive outcropping copper gossans over several hundred metres of strike.

The high-grade 2200N zone is interpreted to have a similar genesis to the 2750N, 3500N, Thunder and Lightning Ridge copper zones. All of these copper mineralized areas are structurally controlled and located along the major faults of the large graben system, which is an important metal and fluid source for the mineralization.

DRILL HOLE DETAILS

Drill holes SR23-24, SR23-25, SR23-26, SR23-27, SR23-49, SR23-50 and SR23-51 have been successfully completed within the 2200N Zone during 2023. These drill holes were the first to be drilled into the 2200N Zone by American West and were planned to infill key areas and examine the copper zone to test the orientation of the mineralization and major faults in the area. All drill holes have intersected copper sulfides.

Drilling has defined a series of discrete, fault-related, high-grade copper sulfide zones within a broad matrix of minor veining and brecciation. The mineralized package is interpreted to be sub-vertical in nature and offset in places by faulting. The copper mineralization is chalcocite dominant with extensive exposure at surface. The mineralization is open at depth and east-west along strike.

Historical drill holes at the 2200N Zone includes 6.4m* @ 7.38% Cu from surface and 22.35m* @ 1.56% Cu from 22.9m downhole (ST97-03), and 5.1m* @ 11.8% Cu from surface (ST97-02).

Figure 4: Plan view of the 2200N Zone showing interpreted copper mineralization footprint (defined by drilling), historical and recent drilling details, overlaying regional geology. Stated drill hole intersections are all down hole length, and true width is expected to be 50% to 100% of stated length.

Most of the drill holes completed at the 2200N Zone during 2023 were designed to develop a better understanding of the geometry and controls of the copper mineralization. This strategy led to a range of different drill hole orientations and with multiple drill holes using the same drill collar locations (Figure 4).

Drill holes SR23-24 and SR23-36 were completed to the north of the main 2200N Zone and were planned to test the potential for parallel lenses to the north of the E-W orientated fault system. The drill holes intersected minor veinlets of fracture-controlled copper sulfides and require follow-up drilling.

Drilling at the 2200N Zone has now defined near-surface, high-grade copper mineralization over an east-west strike of 450m. Follow-up drilling will be designed to infill and explore for mineralization along strike and at depth.

Tables 2 - 9 below summarise the significant intersections in drilling. Intersections are expressed as downhole widths and are interpreted to be approximately 50-100% of true width. A cut-off grade of 0.2% copper is used to define a significant intersection and is based on copper mineralogy, mineralization habit and expected beneficiation and processing performance.

Table 2: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-24 (>0.2% Cu).

Table 3: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-25 (>0.2% Cu).

Table 4: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-26 (>0.2% Cu).

Table 5: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-27 (>0.2% Cu).

Table 6: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-48 (>0.2% Cu).

Table 7: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-49 (>0.2% Cu).

Table 8: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-50 (>0.2% Cu).

Table 9: Summary of significant drilling intersections for drill hole SR23-51 (>0.2% Cu).

PLANNED PROGRAM

• Assays for the remaining drill holes for the 2023 program are still pending and will be received over the coming weeks.
• Assays for rock and gossan samples from the Tempest area are also pending and due over the coming weeks.
• Ore sorting, beneficiation, and process optimization studies on a range of mineralization types from the 2750N and 4100N Zones are in progress.
• Resource modeling and estimation work for the Storm Project is continuing.
• A report on the Storm Project summer environmental program is being compiled.
• Logistics and exploration planning for the 2024 exploration program has commenced.

Table 10: 2023 drill program details.

About the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc-Silver Projects, Nunavut

The Nunavut property consists of 173 contiguous mining claims covering an area of approximately 219,257 hectares on Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada. The Storm Project comprises both the Storm Copper Project, a high-grade sediment-hosted copper discovery (intersections including 110m* @ 2.45% Cu from surface and 56.3m* @ 3.07% Cu from 12.2m) as well as the Seal Zinc Deposit (intersections including 14.4m* @ 10.58% Zn, 28.7g/t Ag from 51.8m and 22.3m* @ 23% Zn, 5.1g/t Ag from 101.5m). Additionally, there are numerous underexplored and undrilled targets within the 120-kilometre strike length of the mineralized trend, including the Tornado copper prospect where 10 grab samples yielded >1% Cu up to 32% Cu in gossans. The Nunavut property is now the subject of an 80/20 unincorporated joint venture with American West (see "Agreement with American West" below for more details).

Storm Discovery and Historical Work

High-grade copper mineralization was discovered at Storm in the mid-1990s by Cominco geologists conducting regional zinc exploration around their then-producing Polaris lead-zinc mine. A massive chalcocite boulder found in a tributary of the Aston River in 1996 was traced to impressive surface exposures of broken chalcocite mineralization for hundreds of metres of surface strike length at what became named the 2750N, 2200N, and 3500N zones. Subsequent seasons of prospecting, geophysics and over 9,000 m of drilling into the early 2000s confirmed a significant amount of copper mineralization below the surface exposures as well as making the blind discovery of the 4100N Zone, a large area of copper mineralization with no surface exposure.

Following the merger of Cominco with Teck in 2001 and the closure of the Polaris Mine, the Storm claims were allowed to lapse in 2007. Commander Resources staked the property in 2008 and flew a helicopter-borne VTEM survey in 2011 but conducted no additional drilling. Aston Bay subsequently entered into an earn-in agreement with Commander and consolidated 100% ownership in 2015. Commander retains a 0.875% Gross Overriding Royalty in the area of the original Storm claims.

In 2016 Aston Bay entered into an earn-in agreement with BHP, who conducted a 2,000-station soil sampling program and drilled 1,951m of core in 12 diamond drill holes, yielding up to 16m* @ 3.1% Cu. BHP exited the agreement in 2017 and retains no residual interest in the project. Aston Bay conducted a property-wide airborne gravity gradiometry survey in 2017 and drilled 2,913m in nine core holes in the Storm area in 2018 yielding a best intercept of 1.5m* @ 4.39% Cu and 20.5m* @ 0.56% Cu.

Agreement with American West

As previously disclosed, Aston Bay entered into an Option Agreement dated March 9, 2021 (the "Option Agreement") with American West Metals Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tornado Metals Ltd. (collectively, "American West") pursuant to which American West was granted an option (the "Option") to earn an 80% undivided interest in the Project by spending a minimum of CAD$10 million on qualifying exploration expenditures ("Expenditures"). The parties amended and restated the Option Agreement as of February 27, 2023 to facilitate American West potentially financing the Expenditures through flow-through shares but did not change the commercial agreement between the parties.

The Expenditures were completed during the 2023 drilling program and American West exercised the Option in accordance with the terms of the Option Agreement, as amended. American West and Aston Bay will form an 80/20 unincorporated joint venture and enter into a joint venture agreement. Under such agreement, Aston Bay shall have a free carried interest until American West has made a decision to mine upon completion of a bankable feasibility study, meaning American West will be solely responsible for funding the joint venture until such decision is made. After such decision is made, Aston Bay will be diluted in the event it does not elect to contribute its proportionate share and its interest in the Project will be converted into a 2% net smelter returns royalty if its interest is diluted to below 10%.

Recent Work

American West completed a fixed loop electromagnetic (FLEM) ground geophysical survey in 2021 that yielded several new subsurface conductive anomalies. A total of 1,534m were drilled in 10 diamond drill holes in the 2022 season, yielding several impressive near-surface intercepts including 41m* @ 4.1% Cu as well as 68m of sulfide mineralization associated with a deeper conductive anomaly.

In April 2022, results of beneficiation studies demonstrated that a mineralized intercept grading 4% Cu from the 4100N area could be upgraded to a 54% Cu direct ship product using standard sorting technology. Further beneficiation studies are ongoing.

In April 2023, American West embarked on a spring delineation drilling program using a helicopter-portable RC drill rig as well as conducting gravity and moving loop electromagnetic (MLEM) ground geophysical programs.

The summer 2023 program conducted further delineation drilling of the near-surface high-grade copper zones to advance them toward maiden resource estimates by late 2023 or early 2024. Diamond drilling tested new high-priority gravity targets and environmental baseline studies will be initiated.

*Stated drill hole intersections are all core length, and true width is expected to be 60% to 100% of core length.

QA/QC Protocols

The analytical work reported on herein was performed by ALS Global ("ALS"), Vancouver Canada. ALS is an ISO-IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015 accredited geoanalytical laboratory and is independent of Aston Bay Holdings Ltd., American West Metals Limited, and the QP. Drill core samples were subject to crushing at a minimum of 70% passing 2 mm, followed by pulverizing of a 250-gram split to 85% passing 75 microns. Samples were subject to 33 element geochemistry by four-acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) to determine concentrations of copper, silver, lead, zinc, and other elements (ALS Method ME-ICP61a). Overlimit values for copper (>10%) and were analyzed via four-acid digestion and ICP-AES (ALS Method Cu-OG62).

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. and American West Metals Limited followed industry standard procedures for the work carried out on the Storm Project, incorporating a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program. Blank, duplicate, and standard samples were inserted into the sample sequence and sent to the laboratory for analysis. No significant QA/QC issues were detected during review of the data. Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. and American West Metals Limited are not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery, or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein.

Qualified Person

Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

About Aston Bay Holdings

Aston Bay is a publicly traded mineral exploration company exploring for high-grade copper and gold deposits in Virginia, USA, and Nunavut, Canada. The Company is led by CEO Thomas Ullrich with exploration in Virginia directed by the Company's advisor, Don Taylor, the 2018 Thayer Lindsley Award winner for his discovery of the Taylor Pb-Zn-Ag Deposit in Arizona. The Company is currently exploring the high-grade Buckingham Gold Vein in central Virginia and is in advanced stages of negotiation on other lands with high-grade copper potential in the area.

The Company and its joint venture partners, American West Metals Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tornado Metals Ltd. (collectively, "American West") have agreed to form a 20/80 unincorporated joint venture and enter into a joint venture agreement in respect of the Storm Project property, which hosts the Storm Copper Project and the Seal Zinc Deposit. Under such agreement, Aston Bay shall have a free carried interest until American West has made a decision to mine upon completion of a bankable feasibility study, meaning American West will be solely responsible for funding the joint venture until such decision is made. After such decision is made, Aston Bay will be diluted in the event it does not elect to contribute its proportionate share and its interest in the Storm Project property will be converted into a 2% net smelter returns royalty if its interest is diluted to below 10%.

About American West Metals Limited

AMERICAN WEST METALS LIMITED (ASX: AW1) is an Australian clean energy mining company focused on growth through the discovery and development of major base metal mineral deposits in Tier 1 jurisdictions of North America. Our strategy is focused on developing mines that have a low-footprint and support the global energy transformation. Our portfolio of copper and zinc projects in Utah and Canada include significant existing resource inventories and high-grade mineralization that can generate robust mining proposals. Core to our approach is our commitment to the ethical extraction and processing of minerals and making a meaningful contribution to the communities where our projects are located.

Led by a highly experienced leadership team, our strategic initiatives lay the foundation for a sustainable business which aims to deliver high-multiplier returns on shareholder investment and economic benefits to all stakeholders.

For further information on American West, visit: www.americanwestmetals.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this news release, including those regarding entering into the joint venture and each party's interest in the Project pursuant to the agreement in respect of the joint venture, management objectives, forecasts, estimates, expectations, or predictions of the future may constitute "forward-looking statement", which can be identified by the use of conditional or future tenses or by the use of such verbs as "believe", "expect", "may", "will", "should", "estimate", "anticipate", "project", "plan", and words of similar import, including variations thereof and negative forms. This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect, as of the date of this press release, Aston Bay's expectations, estimates and projections about its operations, the mining industry and the economic environment in which it operates. Statements in this press release that are not supported by historical fact are forward-looking statements, meaning they involve risk, uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Aston Bay believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which apply only at the time of writing of this press release. Aston Bay disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by securities legislation.

For more information contact:

Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer
thomas.ullrich@astonbayholdings.com
(416) 456-3516

SOURCE: Aston Bay Holdings Ltd