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Vancouver, Canada / TheNewswire / January 28, 2016 - Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V: BAY) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has signed an exclusive Letter of Intent ("LOI") with a wholly owned Canadian Subsidiary of BHP Billiton Ltd. ("BHPB") to cooperatively advance the Storm Copper Project ("Storm"). Under the terms of the LOI, BHPB may earn a 75% interest in Storm, with a provision in place to convert into a Joint Venture agreement.
To earn a 75% interest in Storm, the LOI anticipates BHPB spending a minimum of CDN$40 million on exploration at Storm within nine years (including a minimum of CDN$2.5 million within two years) of signing a definitive agreement (the "Definitive Agreement"). Aston Bay will have no required exploration expenses for four years from the date of signing the Definitive Agreement. BHPB and Aston Bay are currently discussing terms of the Definitive Agreement, and are targeting completion during the second quarter of 2016. Aston Bay is to hold a gross overriding royalty ("GOR") of 0.3% on all mineral claims covered by the agreement outside of Aston Bay's area of mutual interest with Commander Resources Ltd. ("Commander").
"We are very pleased to have attracted, as a partner, a top-tier global mining company with a track record of building and operating some of the world's largest copper mines. This new partnership is a testament to the exploration potential at the Storm Copper Project," said Benjamin Cox, Chief Executive Officer of Aston Bay. "Our agreement with BHP Billiton will advance the Storm Copper Project without significant equity dilution for Aston Bay's shareholders, leaving Aston Bay with a meaningful interest in the project."
BHPB has also agreed to pay Aston Bay CDN$325,000 at the time of signing the Definitive Agreement.
The Storm Copper Project, located on Somerset Island, Nunavut, covers a 100km-plus strike length of mineralized showings within stratigraphy favourable for sediment-hosted copper mineralization. Historical drilling focused on the mineralized zones cropping out at surface and included 110 metres (m) of 2.45% copper and 56m of 3.07% copper at the 2750N zone, as well as 49m of 1.79% copper at the 2200N zone. Exploration by Aston Bay has identified a number of coincident conductivity and gravity anomalies that are consistent with regional mineralizing processes that have significance for property-wide exploration. Please visit Aston Bay's website (http://astonbayholdings.com/storm-copper) for more information on the Storm project.
"BHP Billiton's involvement underscores the prospective nature of the Storm project," commented Benjamin Cox. "BHP Billiton brings technical depth and expertise to the project and we are eager to begin exploring the property with their exploration group. Their creative ideas for exploration are innovative and add significant exploration value."
Aston Bay is also in the process of closing its agreement with Commander Resources (TSXV: CMD) after receiving over 60% shareholder approval. When all approvals are received and once shares are issued to Commander in accordance with the agreement, Aston Bay would own 100% of the Storm Copper Project. For more information, see the Company's press release dated December 17, 2015.
Qualified Person
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 Director of and 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 641,415-acre (259,570 hectares) Aston Bay Property located on northwest Somerset Island, Nunavut. The Property hosts the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc prospects, where historic drilling has confirmed the presence of sediment-hosted copper and zinc mineralization.
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.
About BHP Billiton
Further information on BHP Billiton can be found at: bhpbilliton.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. In the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.
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