Robert T. Boyd, President and CEO of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton"), is pleased to announce that drill results from the Foxtrot property have confirmed that the Renard 5 and 6 kimberlitic intrusions constitute a single body having a minimum surface area of 1.5 hectares.

Situated in the Otish Mountains region of north-central Quebec, the Foxtrot property is held 50:50 by Ashton and its joint venture partner, SOQUEM INC. ("SOQUEM"). Including the recent drilling at Renard 5 and 6, 40 holes have now been drilled on the property during the current winter program which will continue until spring breakup, expected in late April.

Delineation Drilling and Mini-bulk Sampling

The current program includes delineation drilling and mini-bulk sampling of Renard 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. These bodies are all located within a core area of the Foxtrot property that measures approximately 50 hectares. On April 10, 2003, Ashton reported that Renard 2, 3 and 4 have approximate minimum surface dimensions of 0.6, 0.3 and 1.0 hectares respectively.

Renard 5 and 6

Previous results from geophysical surveys and drilling indicated that Renard 5 and 6 were oriented along a north-south axis and separated by a distance of approximately 100 metres. As announced in 2002, a 364 kg sample from Renard 5 returned a 0.92 carat diamond and a 457 kg sample from Renard 6 returned a 0.26 carat diamond.

During the current program, seven holes were drilled from two setups within the known perimeters of the two bodies, and five angle holes were drilled perpendicular to and across the north-south axis from setups located outside the bodies. The resulting data indicate that Renard 5 and 6 are joined and constitute a single body having an approximate average width of 60 metres over a minimum strike length of 280 metres. These results give the body an approximate surface area of 1.5 hectares. The combined body remains open to the south. It is overlain by approximately seven metres of overburden and by a shallow lake that covers about 0.4 hectares of the body.

An estimated 12 tonnes of kimberlitic material have been collected from the 12 holes drilled into Renard 5 and 6 and additional drilling is planned during the current program.

Exploration Drilling

During the current program, four geophysical targets associated with lakes have been drilled. As announced on April 10, 2003, Renard 9 was discovered during this portion of the program. Additional geophysical targets that coincide with indicator mineral anomalies will be subjected to detailed follow-up work and drilling this summer.

The joint venture currently holds more than 380,000 hectares of highly prospective mineral permits in north-central Quebec, including the 153,000 hectare Foxtrot property where nine kimberlitic bodies have now been confirmed.

SOQUEM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGF Minerals Inc., a subsidiary of Société Générale de Financement du Quebec ("SGF"). The mission of the SGF is to carry out economic development projects in Quebec in cooperation with partners and in accordance with accepted requirements of profitability.

Ashton is the operator of the joint venture's exploration programs. Brooke Clements, Professional Geologist and Ashton's Vice President, Exploration, is responsible for their design and conduct, and for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results.

For further information, please contact:          

Robert T. Boyd        -or-          Ariel Bowers            -or-         visit our website:
President and CEO                     Investor Relations                      www.ashton.ca
(604) 983-7750                         (604) 983-7750                         investor@ashton.ca