Ashton Mining of Canada Inc.: Renard 4 Mini-Bulk Sample Returns Encouraging Diamond Counts.

Business Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 29, 2002

Robert T. Boyd, President and CEO of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton" or the "Corporation") (TSX:ACA), is pleased to report that a 4.81 tonne sample collected from the Renard 4 kimberlitic body has an estimated diamond content of 64.7 carats per hundred tonnes ("cpht"). Renard 4 is situated on the Foxtrot property currently under exploration by Ashton and its joint venture partner, SOQUEM INC. ("SOQUEM"), in the Otish Mountains region of north-central Quebec.

The 4.81 tonne sample from Renard 4 consisted of 4.53 tonnes of material as described in the Corporation's October 4, 2002 news release plus an additional 0.28 tonnes of material selected from one of the two discovery holes drilled in early April. The sample is comprised of two geologic units. One unit was encountered near the surface in the northwestern portion of the body and consisted primarily of brecciated country rock with approximately 30 percent macrocrystic kimberlitic material. The remainder of the sample consisted of kimberlitic breccia with lesser amounts of macrocrystic material.

The material was processed through the dense media separation plant at Ashton's North Vancouver laboratory. As shown in the table below, the sample returned a total of 3.11 carats of diamonds larger than 0.85 mm using a square aperture screen, giving the 4.81 tonne sample an estimated diamond content of 64.7 cpht. Larger, more representative samples are required to determine the diamond grade of the Renard 4 body.

Summary of Diamond Results - Renard 4
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                          Sample    Diamonds
Geologic                  Weight    Recovered      Diamond
Unit                     (tonnes)  (greater than   Content
                                    0.85 mm)
                                   (carats)        (cpht)
----------------------------------------------------------
Brecciated country rock   0.70      0.38            54.3
----------------------------------------------------------
Kimberlitic breccia       4.11      2.73            66.4
----------------------------------------------------------
Total                     4.81      3.11            64.7
----------------------------------------------------------

A 0.28 carat diamond was recovered from the brecciated country rock while the three largest diamonds recovered from the kimberlitic breccia weighed 0.32, 0.29, and 0.26 carats. Two of these diamonds are pale brown and two are colourless.

Data from the five holes drilled to date suggest that Renard 4 has approximate minimum surface dimensions of 140 m x 60 m. However, additional drilling is required to define the true dimensions of the body.

These results demonstrate the need for further investigation of Renard 4, including additional delineation drilling and the collection of a larger sample. The exact nature of the work will be determined during the preparation of the 2003 winter program. An analysis of all data generated on the Foxtrot property to date, including the forthcoming results from the 1.8 and 4.3 tonne mini-bulk samples from Renard 2 and 3 respectively, will be completed in this process.

Ashton and SOQUEM have been exploring for diamonds in Quebec since 1996. The 50:50 joint venture currently holds more than 380,000 hectares of highly prospective mineral permits in north-central Quebec including the 153,00 hectare Foxtrot property which hosts the eight diamondiferous Renard kimberlitic bodies. In September 2002, the Association des Prospecteurs du Qubec named the joint venture "Prospector of the Year" in recognition of these discoveries.

SOQUEM is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SGF Minerals Inc., a subsidiary of Socit Gnrale de Financement du Qubec ("SGF"). The mission of the SGF is to carry out economic development projects in cooperation with partners and in accordance with accepted requirements of profitability.

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