Encouraging drilling results for Lynx, North Anomaly and Hibou dykes

Robert T. Boyd, President and CEO of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton" or the "Corporation") is pleased to report that Ashton and its 50:50 joint venture partner, SOQUEM INC., have discovered a new kimberlitic dyke at the Southeast Anomaly on the Foxtrot property in north-central Quebec. During the recently completed winter program, the joint venture also demonstrated, through a 25-hole drill program at Lynx South, the continuity of the Lynx dyke over a distance of one kilometre. Concurrently, the joint venture more than doubled the previous estimated strike length of the North Anomaly dyke and continued investigation of the Hibou dyke system to identify potential sites for trenching.  

Southeast Anomaly

The new kimberlitic dyke at the Southeast Anomaly is situated approximately three kilometres southeast of Renard 3. It was discovered by drilling three holes at different angles from a single setup within the boundaries of the anomaly. The drilling resulted in three dyke intersections whose average estimated true thickness is 1.5 metres. The drill program was terminated before additional drilling could be completed because of adverse weather conditions. 

The new dyke was intersected approximately 240 metres southeast of one of several kimberlitic boulder occurrences announced on August 11, 2005. A 150.6 kg sample of boulder material collected from one of these sites, which lies within the Southeast Anomaly, was recently analyzed by caustic dissolution at Ashton's North Vancouver laboratory. The results are summarized below.

Caustic Dissolution Diamond Results - Southeast Anomaly Boulder Sample

The joint venture has not yet determined the origin of the boulder, which is potentially related to an undiscovered kimberlitic body. During the summer 2006 field season, the joint venture plans to conduct further geophysical surveys in the area surrounding the dyke and the diamondiferous boulder collection site to rank new drill targets in order of priority. This work is intended to investigate the extent of the newly discovered dyke and to determine if additional kimberlitic sources are present.

Lynx Dyke

Located approximately two kilometres west of the Renard cluster, the Lynx dyke system is a 3.7 kilometre long zone of continuous or semi-continuous dykes having a north-northwest strike. As announced on March 20, 2006, 31.8 tonnes of material collected from three trenches excavated within the dyke returned 37.5 carats of diamonds, for an estimated diamond content of 118 carats per hundred tonnes.

The diamond content and width of the dyke at the two trench sites at Lynx South, the southernmost kilometre of the Lynx system, were particularly encouraging. Given these results, the joint venture drilled 25 core holes at 24 sites at Lynx South during the winter 2006 program. The holes at 23 of the sites were drilled in a surface grid pattern approximately 100 metres apart. The objective was to better define the three-dimensional extent of the dyke system over an area approximately one kilometre in strike length and 200 to 350 metres down-dip from its interpreted surface expression. The estimated true thickness of the kimberlitic intersections ranged from 1.3 to 3.1 metres.  

To date, 45 holes have been drilled within this area over one kilometre of strike length. The weighted average of the estimated true thickness of kimberlitic material for drill intersections from the 35 setups and two trench locations is 1.8 metres. The interpreted eastern dip of the dyke ranges from 25 to 35 degrees. 

A single deep hole drilled from a setup located approximately 550 metres east of the interpreted surface expression of the Lynx South dyke intersected 0.2 metres of kimberlitic material at a vertical depth of 205 metres, which coincides with the approximate interpreted down-dip extension of the dyke. Additional drilling is required to explain the relationship between this narrow intersection and the consistently wider intersections up-dip on the dyke.

An image of the Lynx South area showing the drill collar locations and the interpreted thickness of the dyke is available on Ashton's website at http://www.ashton.ca/projects_quebec_map_lynx_south.html

The winter drilling and the diamond results to date encourage the joint venture to continue investigation of the potential of the Lynx dyke system to host a substantial quantity of diamonds and therefore positively impact an evaluation of the economic potential of the Renard cluster. The potential of the area is further exemplified by two new kimberlitic dyke intersections of 1.2 and 0.6 metres. They were discovered by drilling two holes from a single setup 100 metres west of the interpreted surface expression of Lynx during the recently completed winter program. This dyke is believed to be related to the Lynx system.

North Anomaly Dyke

The North Anomaly dyke is located five kilometres north of the Renard cluster of kimberlitic bodies and was discovered in 2005. As reported on December 21of that year, a 56.5 kg sample of kimberlitic material collected from this dyke was analyzed by caustic dissolution and returned 662 diamonds larger than 0.100 mm using a square mesh screen.

During the recently completed winter drill program, the dyke was intersected by three core holes drilled at different angles from a single setup. The 2005 and 2006 drill data now suggest that the dyke has a north-northwest strike length of at least 490 metres, an average thickness of approximately one metre and a dip of 15 to 20 degrees to the west-southwest. The dyke remains open to the north and south and down-dip and requires further work to determine its full extent and potential diamond content.

Hibou Dyke

Discovered in 2005, the diamondiferous Hibou dyke is located 1.3 kilometres west of the Renard cluster. During the recently completed winter program, the joint venture drilled eight core holes at four sites near the interpreted surface expression of the dyke. Kimberlitic material was intersected at each of the four sites and in six of the holes, with the maximum intersection measuring 3.5 metres. The drill data will be analyzed to identify possible future trench sites for the collection of additional samples to determine the diamond content of the Hibou dyke more accurately.

Other Exploration

During the winter program, six new targets were drilled elsewhere on the Foxtrot property. Kimberlitic intersections of ten and one centimeters were encountered at sites 900 metres north and 1300 metres southwest of the North Anomaly dyke, respectively.

Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. and SOQUEM INC.

Ashton's prime objective is the discovery or acquisition of diamond prospects capable of rapid advancement to development and production. The Corporation is recognized as one of the leading explorers in the Canadian diamond industry. Ashton's competitive advantages include the significant exploration experience of its key personnel as well as its extensive in-house diamond laboratory facilities in North Vancouver.

SOQUEM INC. is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Société générale de financement du Québec ("SGF"). The mission of the SGF, an industrial and financial holding company, is to undertake economic development projects in the industrial sector in cooperation with partners and in compliance with the economic development policies 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 a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Clements is responsible for the design and conduct of the Corporation's exploration programs and for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results.

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