Ashton Mining of Canada Inc.: Artemisia Mini-Bulk Sample Yields Macrodiamonds.

Business Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2002

Robert T. Boyd, President and CEO of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. (TSE:ACA)("Ashton" or "the Corporation"), is pleased to report diamond results for the mini-bulk sample collected from the Artemisia kimberlite during the fall 2001 field program.

Situated on the Kim property in the north Slave craton region of Nunavut, the Artemisia kimberlite was discovered by drilling in September 2001. The discovery hole was located at the interpreted center of the body and terminated in kimberlite at a depth of 169 metres. Microdiamond results from samples of drill core and surface exposures were reported on November 1, 2001 and January 18, 2002. Geologic mapping suggests that Artemisia is at least 150 m by 140 m in size.

A mini-bulk sample weighing 1,157 kilograms was collected from talus and outcrop at three separate sites located 60 m northeast, 71 m west and 48 m southeast of the discovery hole drill collar. The sample was processed through the dense media separation plant at Ashton's North Vancouver laboratory and returned a total of 0.20 carats of diamonds larger than 0.8 mm using a square aperture screen. These results give the sample an estimated diamond content of 17.3 carats per hundred tonnes. The largest diamond recovered was a colourless octahedral aggregate measuring 2.25 x 1.75 x 1.35 mm. The next two largest stones are whole colourless crystals and measure 2.05 x 1.93 x 1.00 mm and 2.05 x 1.38 x 1.20 mm, respectively. These data suggest that larger stones may be present.

This mini-bulk sample was small in size and consisted only of material collected from surface exposures of talus and outcrop. Accordingly, a larger, representative sample of five to ten tonnes will be collected from Artemisia by core drilling during the 2002 winter exploration program.

The Corporation holds its interest in the Kim property under the Slave Regional Joint Venture with Pure Gold Minerals Inc. (PUG:TSE). Ashton holds an approximate 90 per cent interest in the joint venture, and is the operator of all programs.

Brooke Clements, Professional Geologist and Ashton's Vice President, Exploration, is responsible for the design and conduct of the exploration programs, and the verification and quality assurance of analytical results.