Ashton Mining of Canada Inc.: Foxtrot Winter Program Completed; Kimberlitic Dyke Discovered.Business Editors VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 2004 Robert T. Boyd, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton")(TSX TSX Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE before April, 2002) TSX Transfer from Stack Pointer to Index TSX True Space Extension :ACA ACA - Application Control Architecture ), is pleased to report the completion of the winter portion of the 2004 bulk sampling and exploration program being conducted by Ashton and its joint venture partner, SOQUEM INC. ("SOQUEM"), on the Foxtrot foxtrot one of the two artificial gaits of the five-gaited horse. A four-beat gait midway in speed between a walk and a trot. There is a great deal of similarity with several other gaits such as amble, fadge, slow pace, stepping pace, running walk, jog, hound jog. property in north-central Quebec. The Foxtrot property hosts the Renard cluster of nine kimberlitic bodies and the Lynx lynx, name given to several related small, ferocious members of the cat family. All have small heads, tufted ears, and heavy bodies with long legs and short tails. All are primarily terrestrial, although they are able to climb trees. kimberlitic body. Bulk Sample - Renard 2, 3, 4, and 65 As reported on January 19, 2004, the 2004 program includes the collection of a cumulative bulk sample of at least 600 tonnes from the Renard 2, 3, 4, and 65 kimberlitic bodies utilizing both core and reverse circulation ("RC") drilling. These four bodies are situated within a 0.5 square kilometre Square kilometre (U.S. spelling: square kilometer), symbol km², is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of surface area, the square metre, one of the SI derived units. 1 km² is equal to:
The winter drilling focused on the portions of Renard 2, 4 and 65 which are partly overlain o·ver·lain v. Past participle of overlie. by shallow lakes, and resulted in the collection of a cumulative sample of approximately 220 tonnes. Eight RC holes 27 cm in diameter returned kimberlitic material with a calculated weight of approximately 180 tonnes. In addition, approximately 40 tonnes of material was collected by drilling 27 core holes with a cumulative length of 5700 metres. A map that illustrates the 2004 bulk sample drilling is available on Ashton's website at http://www.ashton.ca/images/renardmaps/renarddrill.jpg. Renard 4 At Renard 4, 15 vertical core holes were drilled on a 20-metre grid pattern to an average depth of 210 metres. In addition, three RC holes were drilled within two metres of three of the core holes. Each of the holes terminated in kimberlitic material. The three RC holes and nine of the core holes were drilled from the frozen surface of the lake that covers the eastern portion of the body. Two of the core holes were drilled at the interpreted eastern edge of the body. Initially, these holes encountered granitic gneiss gneiss (nīs), coarse-grained, imperfectly foliated, or layered, metamorphic rock. Gneiss is characterized by alternating light and dark bands differing in mineral composition and having coarser grains than those of schist. to depths of 72 and 104 metres before terminating in kimberlitic material at depths of 210 and 216 metres respectively. These results suggest that the body is open to the east at depth. The 15 core holes returned approximately 21 tonnes of kimberlitic material. The sample collected from the RC holes has a calculated weight of approximately 70 tonnes. Renard 65 At Renard 65, 11 vertical core holes spaced approximately 20 metres apart were drilled to an average depth of 210 metres. Five RC holes were also drilled, each within two metres of a core hole drilled during the winter program. All of the holes terminated in kimberlitic material except for one core hole that terminated in country rock breccia breccia: see conglomerate. breccia Coarse sedimentary rock consisting of angular or nearly angular fragments larger than 0.08 in. (2 mm). Breccia commonly results from processes such as landslides or geologic faulting, in which rocks are fractured. . Four of the core holes and two of the RC holes were drilled from the frozen surface of a shallow lake that overlays the central portion of the body. Kimberlitic material from the 11 core holes yielded a sample of approximately 17 tonnes. The calculated weight of kimberlitic material from the five RC holes is approximately 110 tonnes. Renard 2 One vertical core hole was drilled on the portion of Renard 2 overlain by a small lake. The hole terminated in kimberlitic material at a depth of 219 metres and resulted in the recovery of approximately two tonnes of kimberlitic material. Sample Processing The 40 tonnes of drill core will be processed for diamonds at Ashton's North Vancouver North Vancouver, city (1991 pop. 38,436), SW British Columbia, Canada, on Burrard Inlet of the Strait of Georgia, opposite Vancouver, of which it is a suburb. Shipbuilding, woodworking, and the shipping of grain, lumber, and ore are the chief industries. laboratory utilizing a recently acquired five tonne per hour dense media separation ("DMS (1) (Document Management System) See document management. (2) (Defense Messaging System) An X.500-compliant messaging system developed by the U.S. Dept. of Defense. ") plant. The joint venture expects to process the material collected by RC drilling at a commercial facility that offers a larger DMS plant. The results from these samples are expected late in the second or early in the third quarter. Completion of 2004 Bulk Sampling Program The remaining portion of the bulk sample will be collected during the summer portion of the 2004 program that is expected to commence in July. The additional material will be collected using both large diameter drill core and RC drilling. Mini-bulk Sample -- Renard 9 Two vertical and seven angle core holes were drilled at Renard 9, one of two kimberlitic bodies within the Core Area that were not the subject of mini-bulk sampling before 2004. Each of the holes terminated in country rock or country rock breccia. The drill data suggest that Renard 9 varies in width from 25 to 55 metres, has a strike length of at least 160 metres and is open to the north and south. A significant portion of the kimberlitic material recovered from Renard 9 is diluted di·lute tr.v. di·lut·ed, di·lut·ing, di·lutes 1. To make thinner or less concentrated by adding a liquid such as water. 2. To lessen the force, strength, purity, or brilliance of, especially by admixture. by abundant country rock xenoliths. The nine holes are expected to yield at least five tonnes of kimberlitic material that will be processed by DMS at Ashton's North Vancouver laboratory. Target Drilling and Geophysical Surveys Geophysical survey refers to the systematic collection of geophysical data for spatial studies. Geophysical surveys may use a great variety of sensing instruments, and data may be collected from above or below the Earth's surface or from aerial or marine platforms. The winter portion of the 2004 program also included further evaluation of the Foxtrot property by target drilling and geophysical surveys. Lynx Anomaly As reported on February 12, 2004, the joint venture has identified a 2.5 km wide indicator mineral dispersion dispersion, in chemistry dispersion, in chemistry, mixture in which fine particles of one substance are scattered throughout another substance. A dispersion is classed as a suspension, colloid, or solution. situated approximately 2 km west of the Renard cluster (the "Lynx Anomaly"). In late 2003, the Lynx body, an east-dipping zone of kimberlitic dykes, was discovered by drilling within the Lynx Anomaly. In addition, kimberlitic material was identified on surface at three locations within the Lynx anomaly. At one of these locations, approximately 100 metres southwest of the Lynx body, 3.87 tonnes of cobbles cob·ble 1 n. 1. A cobblestone. 2. Geology A rock fragment between 64 and 256 millimeters in diameter, especially one that has been naturally rounded. 3. cobbles See cob coal. tr. and boulders were collected. After processing by DMS, this material returned 4.63 carats of diamonds greater than 0.85 mm using a square aperture An orifice. It often refers to an opening in which light is allowed to pass in optical systems such as cameras and lasers. See f-stop and numerical aperture. screen giving the sample an indicated diamond content of 1.2 carats per tonne. During the winter program, two additional drill holes situated in the vicinity of the discovery holes intersected the Lynx dyke complex. The body is now interpreted to be a zone of dykes with a strike of 345 degrees that dips to the east at approximately 50 degrees. This zone varies in width from 3.4 to 9.4 metres. Intersections of kimberlitic material within each hole drilled to date represent approximately 30 to 60 percent of the dyke zone. The longest single intersection of the dyke in each hole ranged from 1.1 to 2.7 metres. During the winter program, the joint venture investigated a geophysical ge·o·phys·ics n. (used with a sing. verb) The physics of the earth and its environment, including the physics of fields such as meteorology, oceanography, and seismology. target within the Lynx Anomaly situated approximately 1.2 kilometres north-northwest of Lynx along the interpreted strike of the body. Kimberlitic cobbles were identified in late 2003 approximately 150 metres southwest of this target. Two inclined holes with an azimuth azimuth (ăz`əməth), in astronomy, one coordinate in the altazimuth coordinate system. It is the angular distance of a body measured westward along the celestial horizon from the observer's south point. of 270 degrees were drilled at this location from the same setup, the first at an inclination inclination, in astronomy, the angle of intersection between two planes, one of which is an orbital plane. The inclination of the plane of the moon's orbit is 5°9' with respect to the plane of the ecliptic (the plane of the earth's orbit around the sun). of 50 degrees and the second at 55 degrees. The first hole intersected a 3.9 metre wide zone at a depth of 130 metres containing approximately 35 percent kimberlitic dykes. The largest intersection was approximately 1.2 metres wide. The second hole intersected a 6.8 metre wide zone at a depth of 123 metres containing approximately 20 percent kimberlitic dykes. The cumulative intersection of kimberlitic dykes in the second hole was approximately 1.4 metres. The longest single intersection was 45 cm. These intersections do not adequately explain the geophysical and indicator mineral anomalies observed at surface. Further work is required to interpret the strike and dip Strike and dip refer to the orientation or attitude of a geologic feature. The strike of a stratum or planar feature is a line representing the intersection of that feature with the horizontal. of the dyke zone. At the present time it is not known whether this discovery and the Lynx body represent a continuous or related dyke system. The summer portion of the 2004 program will include further work to more fully understand the extent of the kimberlitic intrusions within the Lynx Anomaly. Additional Exploration During the winter program, the joint venture completed 7,000 line kilometres of airborne geophysical surveys and 400 line kilometres of ground geophysical surveys on the Foxtrot property. Seven additional geophysical anomalies outside of the Renard cluster and Lynx Anomaly were investigated by drilling. No additional kimberlitic material was intersected. The Foxtrot property hosts a number of high priority indicator mineral anomalies that remain unexplained unexplained Adjective strange or unclear because the reason for it is not known Adj. 1. unexplained - not explained; "accomplished by some unexplained process" . They include two dispersions associated with kimberlitic pebbles and cobbles located six kilometres to the north and three kilometres southeast of the Renard cluster respectively. In the coming months, the joint venture intends to prioritize pri·or·i·tize v. pri·or·i·tized, pri·or·i·tiz·ing, pri·or·i·tiz·es Usage Problem v.tr. To arrange or deal with in order of importance. v.intr. additional drill targets by evaluating the geophysical data acquired during the recently completed field season together with the indicator mineral data. The summer portion of the 2004 program will commence in June and will include prospecting, geological mapping, indicator mineral sampling, ground geophysical surveys and target drilling. SOQUEM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGF SGF Svenska Golfförbundet (Swedish Golf Federation) SGF Société Générale de Financement (Quebec, Canada) SGF Smart Game Format SGF Simulated Gastric Fluid Mineral inc., a subsidiary of Societe generale de financement du Quebec ("SGF"). The mission of the SGF, as an industrial and financial holding company, is to carry out economic development projects, especially in the industrial sector, in cooperation with partners and in accordance with accepted requirements for profitability that comply with the economic development policy of the Government of Quebec. Ashton is the operator of the joint venture's exploration programs. Brooke Clements, Professional Geologist and Ashton's Vice President, Exploration, is responsible for their design and conduct, and for the verification and quality assurance of analytical results. ANNUAL AND SPECIAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS THURSDAY, MAY 6, 2004 The 2004 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. will be held at 3:00 p.m. (Pacific Daylight Time) on Thursday, May 6 in the Vancouver Room on the 2nd Floor of the Metropolitan Hotel, 645 Howe Street, Vancouver, B.C. All shareholders and other interested individuals are cordially invited to attend. |
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