Mr. Thomas Ullrich reports

ASTON BAY HOLDINGS CLOSES FIRST TRANCHE OF NON-BROKERED PRIVATE PLACEMENT

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. has closed the first tranche of the non-brokered private placement, which was previously announced on Dec. 12, 2017. Conditional acceptance of the offering was received from the TSX Venture Exchange on Dec. 19, 2017.

Pursuant to the first tranche of the offering, which was closed early to capture flow-through tax effects for the 2017 year, the company has issued, subject to final approval of the exchange, 3,975,000 flow-through shares at a price of 16 cents per FT share, for aggregate gross proceeds of $636,000. All shares acquired by the placees under the first tranche of the offering are subject to a hold period until April 29, 2018, in accordance with applicable Canadian securities legislation.

In connection with the closing of the first tranche of the offering, Aston Bay has paid a cash finder's fee of $1,080 to Haywood Securities Inc., representing 6 per cent of the proceeds raised from two subscriptions by two parties introduced by the finder. The company has also paid a cash finder's fee of $11,880 to Gravitas Securities Inc., representing 6 per cent of the proceeds raised from two subscriptions by two parties introduced by the second finder. Finders' fees were paid in accordance with agreements made between the company and the finders.

Non-flow-through units and FT shares continue to be available as part of the offering. Each unit, priced at 15 cents per unit, will consist of one common share of the company and one-half of one warrant. Each warrant will entitle the holder thereof to acquire an additional non-flow-through common share of the company at an exercise price of 20 cents per warrant for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance. Each FT share, priced at 16 cents per FT share, will consist of one common share in the company.

Proceeds from this offering will be used for a planned 2018 drill program on the Aston Bay property, for advancing the Storm copper and Seal zinc projects, and for general corporate purposes.

About Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.

Aston Bay Holdings is a publicly traded mineral exploration company exploring for large, high-grade, sediment-hosted copper and zinc deposits in Nunavut, a mining-friendly Canadian jurisdiction. Aston Bay is 100-per-cent owner of the 1,024,345-acre (414,537 hectares) Aston Bay property located on western Somerset Island, Nunavut. The Aston Bay property hosts the Storm copper project and the Seal zinc deposit, with historical drilling confirming the presence of sediment-hosted copper and zinc mineralization.

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