Mr. Thomas Ullrich reports

ASTON BAY ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF 2018 SUMMER DRILLING PROGRAM

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. has released the results of its 3,135-metre, nine-hole 2018 summer exploration drilling program at its Aston Bay property located on Somerset Island, Nunavut. The property is underlain by Paleozoic carbonate rocks prospective for high-grade copper and zinc mineralisation, with demonstrated affinities to the nearby past-producing Polaris zinc mine.

The program comprised seven holes at the Storm copper prospect and two along strike from the Seal zinc deposit. Targets were based primarily on interpreted gravity gradiometry anomalies proximal to known mineralization at Storm and Seal. Unusually challenging weather reduced the planned meterage for this drill season and several anomalies remain untested. The majority of the drill holes were relatively shallow at approximately 300 metres or less.

VTEM (versatile time domain electromagnetic) and gravity gradiometry delineate copper mineralization at Storm

At Storm, hole AB18-09 targeted a 200-by-200-metre VTEM anomaly coincident with the western flank of a gravity anomaly, about 2.2 kilometres along strike from the 2750N zone. A historical drill hole, ST97-15, was drilled northward to intersect local copper mineralization (three m grading 1.5 per cent copper) on what Aston Bay's modelling interpreted as the flank of the VTEM anomaly. Drill hole AB18-09 was drilled southward and intersected significant copper in variably brecciated dolomudstone of the Allen Bay formation from 39 to 83 metres downhole, primarily as fracture-controlled chalcocite with lesser to minor chalcopyrite, native copper and cuprite. Significant results within the 44 m copper mineralized zone include:

• From 39.0 to 40.5 m, 1.5 m grading 4.39 per cent Cu and 9.76 grams per tonne silver;
• From 62.5 to 83 m, 20.5 m grading 0.56 per cent Cu;
• Including from 74.0 to 76.0 m, 2.0 m grading 2.54 per cent Cu.

These results demonstrate the continued effectiveness of VTEM, in conjunction with modelled gravity gradiometry, in detecting shallow copper sulphides. The remaining holes at Storm intersected local pyrite mineralization, primarily in Allen Bay dolomudstones. The origin of these targeted gravity gradiometry anomalies remains unclear: Variations in bulk rock density, topography and depth to target are possible explanations being investigated in advance of targeting and drill planning for the 2019 season. Density data obtained from this year's core drilling will be instrumental in improving the targeting. Numerous gravity targets in the vicinity of the about-five-kilometre-long Storm graben remain untested, and drilling to date has been shallow relative to the prospectivity for stratiform mineralization at depth.

Gravity target yields new zinc-mineralized zone south of Seal

At Seal, only two holes were completed due to challenging weather conditions and an initial focus on Storm targets. Nonetheless, drilling was successful in discovering an interpreted extension of the Seal mineralized system approximately 1.2 km southward along strike, in the northernmost part of the Seal South area and adjacent to tidewater. Drill hole AB18-06B targeted the extreme northern end of an 800 m long positive gravity gradiometry anomaly coincident with local subcropping sphalerite-pyrite mineralization. After passing through locally weakly mineralized sandstone and dolomite of the lower Ship Point formation, host to the Seal deposit, the drill hole intersected significant sphalerite mineralization between 109.5 m and 136.0 m within moderately to strongly altered pseudobreccia, pyrite/marcasite and rubbly dolostone and limestone of the Turner Cliffs formation. Results include:

• From 125.0 to 131.0 m, 6.0 m grading 0.67 per cent Zn;
• Including from 127 to 129 m, 2.0 m grading 1.11 per cent Zn.

As at Seal, the mineralized pseudobreccia in AB180-06B is considered analogous to pseudobreccia present at the Polaris deposit, where it occurs as a lateral hydrothermal alteration equivalent to ore. The discovery of mineralized pseudobreccia at Seal South in the Turner Cliffs formation is interpreted as a favourable indicator of hydrothermal alteration and the potential for additional stratiform zinc mineralization in vicinity of Seal.

The last hole of the 2018 Seal program, AB18-08, was collared 100 m southeast along strike from AB18-06B. It intersected, at a similar position in the Turner Cliffs formation, a one m zone of sphalerite mineralization from 132.0 to 133.0 m grading 0.16 per cent Zn, within a broader zone of weak mineralization. Core recoveries in the zone were poor, only 38 per cent in the specified interval.

The remaining approximately 700 m strike length of the S12 gravity anomaly is untested and is a promising drill target for 2019. Four additional priority anomalies, S13 to S16, occur in close proximity to the Seal deposit and also are untested, as are several other anomalies at Seal North (see Aug. 1, 2018, press release).

"Aston Bay is very encouraged by the discovery of zinc mineralization coincident with Polaris-type pseudobreccia spatially associated with the S12 gravity anomaly at Seal South, at this early stage of testing the multiple anomalies in the vicinity of the Seal deposit," commented Dr. David Broughton, chief geologist. "Results at Storm will provide impetus for continued improvement of geophysical modelling, and refinement of drill targets for the 2019 season."

"These results demonstrate that we now better recognize the signature of both copper and zinc mineralization in our data," stated Thomas Ullrich, chief executive officer. "We are eager to apply these insights to drilling throughout this large and prospective property."

Qualified person

As per National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Michael Dufresne, MSc, PGeol, PGeo, a director of and a consultant to Aston Bay, is the qualified person for the company and has prepared, validated and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release. The company strictly adheres to CIM best practices guidelines in conducting, documenting and reporting its exploration activities on the Storm project.

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 North America. Aston Bay is 100-per-cent owner of the 1,024,345-acre (414,537-hectare) Aston Bay property located on western Somerset Island, Nunavut. The Aston Bay property hosts the Storm copper project and the Seal zinc prospect, with historical drilling confirming the presence of sediment-hosted copper and zinc mineralization. The company has also entered into an agreement to acquire exclusive rights to an integrated geophysical, geochemical and geological dataset over a 1.2-million-acre (500,000-hectare) area located in central Virginia, United States.

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