Ashton Mining of Canada Inc.: Second Kimberlite Discovered During Alberta Program.

Business Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2003

Robert T. Boyd, President and CEO of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. ("Ashton") (TSX:ACA) is pleased to report the discovery of a second kimberlite on the Buffalo Hills property in north-central Alberta during the 2003 winter program. The new kimberlite, designated K300, is one of three electromagnetic ("EM") anomalies that were drilled during the program. As announced on January 29, 2003, drilling on the first anomaly resulted in the discovery of K296.

The two discoveries bring to 38 the total number of kimberlites identified by Ashton and its Alberta joint venture partners to date. Drill data for K296 and K300 are summarized below:

K296 and K300 Drill Data

----------------------------------------------------------------------
                                          Drill Intersections (metres)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Kimber-      Surface      Drill  Location   Glacial  Mudstone  Kimber-
 lite     Dimensions       Hole  of drill    Over-               lite
               of EM  (vertical)     hole   burden
             Anomaly
----------------------------------------------------------------------
K296     400 x 400 m      296-1 Centre of   0 - 30   30 - 50  50 - 62
                                 anomaly                      (note 1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          296-2   100 m     0 - 47   47 - 55  55 - 248
                                 north of
                                  296-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          296-3   120 m     0 - 40   40 - 53; 53 - 108
                                 south of           108 - 195
                                  296-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------
K300     300 x 300 m      300-1 Centre of   0 - 25   25 - 41; 41 - 89
                                 anomaly             89 - 199
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          300-3   100 m     0 - 24   24 - 35; 35 - 95
                                 north of            95 - 175
                                  300-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
                          300-2   100 m     0 - 43   43 - 196
                                 south of
                                  300-1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note 1: Drill hole terminated at 62 m due to drilling problems

K6 Kimberlite

The recently completed 2003 winter program also entailed further investigation of the K6 kimberlite which was discovered in 1997. K6 is interpreted to be approximately 600 m x 250 m and is located 500 metres southeast of the K252 kimberlite. K6 has continued to attract the attention of the joint venture because of its large size and proximity to K252. In 2001, a 22.8 tonne mini-bulk sample from K252 returned an estimated diamond content of 55 carats per hundred tonnes ("cpht"), the highest reported to date for a kimberlite in Alberta.

The gravity peaks at the north and south ends of K6 are located approximately 500 metres apart. Geophysical and petrographic studies of K6 suggest that distinct northern and southern kimberlite vents may be present. Mini-bulk samples totaling 19.7 tonnes were collected from the northern vent in 1997 and 2002. A total of 1.42 carats of diamonds greater than 0.8 mm, including a 0.76 carat yellow diamond, was recovered from the 19.7 tonnes of material. These results gave the cumulative sample an estimated diamond content of 7.2 cpht. Because the southern vent had not been adequately tested for diamonds, one vertical hole was drilled into the centre of the southern gravity anomaly as part of the current program. Kimberlite was intersected beneath 50 metres of overburden and the hole was terminated in kimberlite breccia at a depth of 251 metres.

Material from K296, K300 and K6 will be tested for diamonds by caustic dissolution at Ashton's North Vancouver laboratory with results expected in the second quarter.

The joint venturers on the Buffalo Hills property and their approximate beneficial interests are Ashton (ACA.TSX) 45 percent, Pure Gold Minerals Inc. (PUG.TSX) 10 percent, and EnCana Corporation (ECA.TSX), 45 percent.

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.