Aston Bay Signs Definitive Agreement to Option the Epworth Sediment Hosted Copper-Silver-Zinc-Cobalt Project, Nunavut, Canada; Dr. Elizabeth Turner Joins Advisory Board
Expanding Aston Bay's large-scale high-grade copper portfolio
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 24, 2024 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) (the "Company" or "Aston Bay") is pleased to announce that on April 23, 2024, it entered into a definitive agreement (the "Agreement") with Emerald Geological Services ("EGS") pursuant to which it has been granted an option (the "Option") to acquire an undivided 80% beneficial interest in a property owned by EGS in Nunavut, Canada (the "Property") (see March 1, 2024 Aston Bay press release). In addition, the Company is excited to announce the appointment of Dr. Elizabeth Turner to the Company's Technical Advisory Board.
Highlights
Mineralization at Epworth is similar in style to the mineralization in deposits of the Central African Copper Belt and Aston Bay's Storm Copper Project
Over 74-kilometre ("km") long trend of sediment-hosted style stratiform copper ("Cu"), silver ("Ag"), zinc ("Zn") and cobalt ("Co") mineralization
Chalcocite boulders at surface yield up to 61.2% Cu with 5600 grams per tonne ("g/t") Ag in select rock grab samples from over 300 historic samples
Recent prospecting rock grab samples yielded up to 37.8% Cu, 27.4% Zn, 1100 g/t Ag, 3.0 g/t gold ("Au") and 1700 ppm Co
$3 million total expenditure over four years to acquire an 80% interest with no yearly minimums
Airborne electromagnetic ("EM") geophysical program planning is underway for late spring 2024
Land Use Permit granted, mapping program planned for summer 2024, with late summer drill program contemplated
Dr. Turner brings a wealth of experience in sediment-hosted copper deposits and the geology of northern Canada
"We are pleased to sign the definitive agreement for the Epworth Property," stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay, "and we are very excited to have Dr. Elizabeth Turner join our Technical Advisory Board. Dr. Turner has extensive knowledge earned walking the ground in over three decades of fieldwork in northern Canada and more recently in central Africa. As well, her academic focus on the controls on sedimentary-rock-hosted mineralization makes her a formidable source of knowledge to add to our accomplished group of technical advisors and associates.
"The high-grade copper, silver and zinc mineralization at Epworth is in a style typical of the Central African Copper Belt that boasts several large, high-grade deposits. We also have similar mineralization at our Storm Project and look to leverage that knowledge and experience with our expanded team to make new discoveries at Epworth."
Bruce MacLachlan from Emerald Geological Services added, "EGS is delighted to be moving forward with a motivated and experienced partner which shares our goal of making critical mineral discoveries in Canada, and which has already had success in doing so. After the last few field seasons we believe more than ever in the potential of the Epworth property to host significant deposits, and we are eager to get boots on the ground in the coming season."
Dr. Elizabeth Turner Appointed to Technical Advisory Board
Dr. Elizabeth Turner joins Aston Bay's Technical Advisory Board on account of her expertise in the spatial and geological controls on sedimentary-rock-hosted ore deposits. Her expertise in ore-hosting sedimentary systems, ore-forming fluids and events, carbonate and siliciclastic lithofacies and diagenesis, stratigraphy, basin analysis, and hydrothermal systems is founded in >30 years of remote field research in Proterozoic and Paleozoic sedimentary basins in northern Canada and central Africa, together with extensive micro-analytical studies on the nature and evolution of ore-forming fluids, and controls imposed by ore-hosting rocks.
Dr. Turner has published extensively on sedimentary-rock-hosted ore systems in northern Canada (including the Storm Cu deposit and Polaris Zn district of which it is part, and the Nanisivik Zn deposit) and Central African Copperbelt (including both the polymetallic carbonate-hosted Kipushi deposit and siliciclastic-hosted Kamoa-Kakula Cu deposits in central Africa). Dr. Turner has a PhD in Geology from Queen's University, and a BSc in Geology and BA in Languages from the University of Toronto. Prior to joining the faculty at Laurentian University, she worked for Canada-Nunavut Geoscience Office. Dr. Turner was the 2020 recipient of the Geological Association of Canada's Robinson Medal for career achievement in Precambrian Geology.
Epworth Property Definitive Agreement
Terms of the Definitive Agreement
Under the terms of the Agreement, Aston Bay can earn an 80% undivided interest in the Property by spending a minimum of $3 million on qualifying exploration expenditures ("Expenditures") over a four-year period. Aston Bay also agreed to make a cash payment of $50,000 to EGS on the business day following the date of the Agreement. EGS shall be the operator during the term of the Agreement, but the parties shall also establish a technical committee to approve all Expenditures. The technical committee will be composed of two members, one appointed by each of Aston Bay and EGS, with Aston Bay to have a casting vote.
The Agreement provides for an 80 / 20 joint venture (the "JV") to be formed between the parties upon Aston Bay earning its interest in the Property. The Agreement is binding, but it also provides that it will be replaced by a definitive agreement and such agreement will contain the terms of the agreement that will govern the JV. Pursuant to that agreement, EGS will have a carried interest until the JV completes a bankable feasibility study in respect of the Property, with EGS's contributions to the JV to be credited against future revenue from the Property. After completion of a bankable feasibility study, EGS shall be diluted in the event it does not contribute its proportionate share and its interest will be converted into a 2% net smelter return if its interest is diluted to below 10%. Aston Bay shall have a right to repurchase 50% of such royalty for $1.5 million during the two-year period after commencement of commercial production from the Property.
Location
The Epworth Property is located approximately 80 km southeast of the village of Kugluktuk (formerly Coppermine) in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada (Figure 1). The property is approximately 70 km from tidewater to the north. Logistical access is provided by float plane and helicopter from Kugluktuk and the city of Yellowknife 500 km to the south. Recent staking has significantly expanded the size of the property covering 15 claims over 8,320 hectares (Ha) (20,559 acres) to now consisting of 51 claims covering an area of 71,135 Ha (175,778 acres) over a trend approximately 74 km in strike length and 14 km in lateral extent (Figure 2).
Figure 1: Location of the Epworth Property, Nunavut, Canada.
Figure 2: Epworth Property claim block with select rock grab and lake sediment samples. From over 300 rock grab samples, 51 samples yielded over 1% Cu, 29 samples yielded over 30 g/t Ag and 15 samples yielded over 1% Zn. Noted historical diamond drill intersections are from a total of 130 m of drilling in three diamond drill holes on the property.
Geology
The Epworth Project is part of a broad platform-type clastic carbonate sequence belonging to the early Proterozoic Coronation Supergroup that extends from the north shore of Takijuq Lake to the Coronation Gulf for over 130 km. Polymetallic sulphide mineralization occurs as disseminations in the matrix of coarse clastic quartzites or as concordant zones of cherty replacements within permeable dolomite. The mineralization assemblage, stratigraphy, diagenetic evolution and rift-related tectonic setting of the Coronation Supergroup compares favourably to the African Copperbelt that hosts large (>100mt) high-grade (3-4% Cu) sediment-hosted stratiform copper deposits.
History