Robert T. Boyd, President and CEO of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton"), is pleased to report the diamond results for the 17.83 tonnes of drill core that forms part of a 139 tonne bulk sample collected from the Renard 65 kimberlitic body. The sample was collected during the winter portion of the $18 million 2004 program undertaken by Ashton and its joint venture partner, SOQUEM INC. ("SOQUEM"), on the 200,000 Foxtrot property in north-central Quebec.

Renard 65 is a north-south oriented linear body having an estimated surface area of 1.5 hectares, an approximate strike length of 280 metres and an average width of 60 metres. To date, Renard 65 has returned three of the six largest stones recovered from the Renard cluster including the plus-four carat stone reported on June 26, 2003.

Including Renard 65, the Renard cluster consists of nine diamondiferous kimberlitic bodies, six of which are situated within a 50 hectare "Core Area". A principal objective of the 2004 program is the collection of a cumulative 600 tonne bulk sample from four of these bodies, Renard 2, 3, 4 and 65.

The 17.83 tonne sample of drill core from Renard 65 was collected from eleven holes. Ten were drilled to a depth of approximately 210 metres and one was drilled to a depth of 249 metres. Seven of the holes were terminated in kimberlitic material. The other four holes exited kimberlitic material at depths ranging from 181 to 201 metres and terminated in country rock breccia at 210 metres.

By volume, the 17.83 tonne sample represents approximately 13 per cent of the total amount of material collected from Renard 65 in 2004. The core drilling provided geological control for the approximately 121 tonnes of material collected by reverse circulation ("RC") drilling and contributed to the total quantity of material recovered.

After processing through Ashton's five tonne per hour dense media separation ("DMS") plant in North Vancouver, the 17.83 tonnes of material returned 4.05 carats of diamonds larger than 1.18 mm using a square aperture screen. These results gave the sample an estimated diamond content of 23 carats per hundred tonnes ("cpht"). The two largest diamonds recovered were a colourless, clear dodecahedron weighing 0.88 carat and a colourless, clear octahedron weighing 0.67 carat. 

The table below summarizes the DMS results generated to date for drill core collected from Renard 65.

DMS Diamond Results for Drill Core from Renard 65 - 2002, 2003 and 2004

Note 1: These results include the plus-four carat diamond originally reported on June 26, 2003. If the four carats attributed to this stone are excluded, the estimated diamond content of the 18.44 tonnes of material is 33 cpht.

These results are considered consistent with those derived from the material processed in 2002 and 2003. The difference is primarily attributable to the plus-four carat stone. Also contributing to the difference is the larger aperture size of the screen used to recover the diamonds from the most recent sample.

The joint venture anticipates that the 121 tonnes of material collected from Renard 65 by RC drilling will provide the basis for a more definitive estimate of the diamond content of the body. As announced on July 5, 2004, this material has been processed by DMS. Post-processing treatment and analysis of the resulting concentrates are now underway in North Vancouver. Diamond results are expected within the next month.

As announced on April 12, 2004, the joint venture also collected approximately 91 tonnes of kimberlitic material from Renard 4 during the winter portion of the program. Diamond results from the Renard 4 sample are now expected in October.

SOQUEM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGF Minéral inc., a subsidiary of Société générale de financement du Québec ("SGF"). The mission of the SGF, as an industrial and financial holding company, is to carry out economic development projects, especially in the industrial sector, in cooperation with partners and in accordance with accepted requirements for profitability that comply with the economic development policy of the Government of Quebec. 

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-     Brooke Clements                          -or-          visit our website:
President and CEO               Vice President, Exploration                                www.ashton.ca
(604) 983-7750                       (604) 983-7750                                        investor@ashton.ca