Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. reported assay results that confirm the discovery of sediment hosted copper system at depth, as well as high-grade results from one of the new near-surface discoveries at the Storm Copper Project ("Storm" or the "Project") on Somerset Island, Nunavut. The drill holes were part of a program conducted by American West (as defined below) as operator of the Project pursuant to the Option Agreement (as defined below). High-grade potential of sed-hosted copper system confirmed: Diamond exploration drill holes ST23-01, ST23-02 and ST23-03 were part of four holes completed during the 2023 season to confirm the sediment-hosted copper model, with each of the holes designed to test different geophysical and structural targets (Figure 2).

The drill holes are widely spaced between 600m and 2km apart. Results from the fourth hole, ST23-04, are pending. Significantly, all drill holes have intersected copper sulfide mineralization up to 24m thick at the same stratigraphic level, with grades up to 2.7% Cu (ST23-02) indicating the potential of the system to host high-grade mineralization.

The copper mineralization and geology within the drill holes is highly similar and suggests that the stratigraphy of the deeper mineralized system is laterally very extensive. The Storm area shows clear geological similarities to many of the world's major sediment-hosted copper systems, including the deposits of the Kalahari Copper Belt (Botswana) and Central African Copper Belt (DRC, Zambia). These copper deposits typically have metre scale thicknesses and kilometre scale strikes of the ore zones.

display:table-caption;caption-side:bottomFigure 2: Plan view of the Storm area showing the gravity data, fixed loop electromagnetic plates, near-surface mineralization footprint, major faults, and diamond deep drill hole locations. DRILL HOLE ST23-01 DETAILS: In addition to intersecting the sediment-hosted system at depth, ST23-01 has intersected strong copper intervals within the near-surface 4100N Zone with assays returning: 7.2m* @ 2.2% Cu from 58.1m, including, 0.9m* @ 12.8% Cu from 58.1m 1.9m* @ 1% Cu, 0.8% Zn from 75.6m 6.8m* @ 1.2% Cu from 80.7m ST23-01 was drilled to a downhole depth of 416m and intersected two main zones of copper mineralization (Figure 4). The drill hole was designed to test the northern extent of the high-grade 4100N Zone, and to test the large gravity anomaly at depth, below the near-surface copper mineralization.

The first zone of copper mineralization encountered within ST23-01 is located near-surface within the 4100N Zone and consists of 16.9m of very strong breccia and fracture-hosted chalcocite and minor chalcopyrite (Figure 4) over three major intervals from 58.1m downhole. This mineralization is typical of the near-surface copper mineralization at the 4100N Zone and indicates that the mineralization remains open to the north. display:table-caption;caption-side:bottomFigure 3: Chalcopyrite (brassy) in vugs and veinlets in drill hole ST23-01 from approximately 342m downhole.

The deeper zone of mineralization was intersected at 332m downhole, is 15m thick and consists of mosaic breccia and replacement-style chalcopyrite cement. Assays up to 0.48% Cu (at 342m downhole - Figure 3) confirm the presence of chalcopyrite. Sphalerite (up to 0.6% Zn) is present within the lower part of the sequence.

Mineralization at Storm is clearly zoned, with a core of chalcocite mineralization grading into zones bornite±covellite, then chalcopyrite, pyrite and into an outer sphalerite±galena zone, reflecting progressive reduction of the metal-bearing fluids by interaction with hydrocarbons in the permeable zones of the rock.