Stornoway Diamond Corporation is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. that provides for a transition in the Board of Directors of Ashton. These changes follow from Stornoway's recent acquisition of approximately 72.7% of the outstanding common shares of Ashton under its takeover bid for all of the shares of Ashton.

Upon the expiry of Stornoway's takeover bid, the Board of Directors of Ashton shall be comprised of six directors being: Eira M. Thomas, Brian C. Irwin, David DeWitt, Marcel de Groot, David Watkins and G. Bernard Coulombe. Messrs. Watkins and Coulombe are currently directors of Ashton. Ms. Thomas is currently President, CEO and a Director of Stornoway.

As an initial transition step, Stephen J. Jopling resigned from the Board of Directors of Ashton. Concurrently, the Ashton Board has appointed Mr. Brian C. Irwin and Mr. David DeWitt as directors, effectively immediately.

At the request of the Board of Directors of Ashton, Mr. Boyd will continue to act as President and CEO on an interim basis in order to facilitate an orderly transition to a President and CEO to be selected by the new Board of Directors.

Both Ashton and Stornoway thank the departing directors for their service to Ashton and their many contributions to its development and success.

Catherine McLeod-Seltzer, Chairman of Stornoway, said "We are pleased to be working cooperatively and constructively with Ashton's Board of Directors and management to ensure the transition process is smooth. Together, we have assembled a strong new Board of Directors for Ashton, which combines mining, legal and accounting backgrounds. The new Board of Directors recognizes the strength and depth of Ashton's management and technical teams and looks forward to working closely with them to advance and maximize the value of Ashton's assets. We also expect that the new Board of Directors will work closely with and rely on Robert T. Boyd and his knowledge about Ashton and its assets, including in particular the Renard Project."

On behalf of the Board
STORNOWAY DIAMOND CORPORATION
/s/ "Eira Thomas"
Eira Thomas
President