Vancouver, British Columbia – July 9, 2013 - Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V: BAY) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") today announced that it has commenced the 2013 field program at the Storm Property located on Somerset Island in Nunavut Territory. Crews were mobilized to the property beginning on July 2, 2013, and exploration work is expected to be carried out over a two-week period.
The goal of the 2013 field program for the Storm Copper prospect is to obtain a better understanding of the mineralization previously identified as well as to prioritize untested targets for future drilling. The Company's focus at the Seal Zinc prospect will be the acquisition of data that may contribute to the development of a possible maiden resource as recommended in the NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report on the Exploration History and Current Status of the Storm Project, Somerset Island, Nunavut, dated October 31, 2012, which has been electronically filed with regulators by Aston Bay and is available for viewing under Aston Bay's profile on SEDAR.
"We are eager to get the 2013 field program underway," said Bruce Counts, COO of Aston Bay. "The work that we conduct this year will provide critical information to assessing the potential of the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc prospects."
"We have a unique opportunity to overlay the modern time domain electromagnetic (VTEM) survey with historical data we licensed earlier this year," added Benjamin Cox, President and CEO of the Company. "One goal of the summer 2013 program is to be able to solidify management's technical understanding of these projects."
Storm Copper Prospect
The Storm Copper prospect hosts several strata-bound zones of copper mineralization located approximately 20 kilometres (km) inland from Aston Bay and the Seal Zinc prospect. It is intended that work on the Storm prospect in 2013 may include the following:
Shoulder Sampling
1. Sampling of the historic drill core adjacent to sections previously analyzed to broaden the results footprint of the mineralized bodies. The sampling is necessary for any future resource estimations that might be contemplated, and it is hoped that the identification of broad halos of low-grade mineralization might improve the understanding of the mineralized zones.
Rock and Soil Sampling
1. Rock and soil samples will be collected over prospects identified in the 2011 VTEM survey and identified in the reworking of historic ground geophysical survey data, with the goal of establishing priority drill targets for the 2014 season.
Seal Zinc Prospect
The Seal Zinc prospect is a strata-bound zone of zinc mineralization that is located within 300 metres of tidewater at Aston Bay, on the northwest coast of Somerset Island. Work on the Seal prospect in 2013 may include the following:
Metallurgical and Core Sampling
1. Surface and Core samples will be collected along the strike of the exposed Seal mineralization for the purpose of metallurgical testing and for additional information that could be used in a possible maiden resource estimate that might be contemplated in future.
The content of this news release and the technical information that forms the basis for this disclosure has been prepared under the supervision of Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., who is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and a consultant to Aston Bay.
About Aston Bay Holdings:
Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V: BAY) is a publicly traded mineral exploration company focused on the 250,000 acre Storm Property located on northwest Somerset Island, Nunavut. The property hosts the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc prospects. Aston Bay holds the right to earn or buy up to a 100% undivided interest in the Storm Property from Commander Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: CMD).
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
Benjamin Cox, Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: (360) 262-6969
For further information about Aston Bay Holdings Ltd or this news release, please visit our website at www.astonbayholdings.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.