TORONTO, ON — January 15, 2026 — Leads & Copy — Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) has announced results from its 2025 summer field program at the Epworth sediment-hosted copper-silver-zinc-cobalt-gold project in Nunavut, Canada.
The program, conducted 80 kilometers southeast of Kugluktuk, led to the discovery of 17 new base and precious metal showings. Highlights include high-grade copper and silver, with up to 29.2% Cu and 217 g/t Ag in grab samples from chalcocite veins at the Greenback Showing. Copper-gold mineralization was also identified, with assays reaching up to 5.42% Cu and 1.89 g/t Au, and 3.73% Cu and 2.08 g/t Au in disseminated sediment-hosted styles of mineralization.
The results included strong zinc-lead results, with up to 10.1% Zn and 17.8% Pb, along with elevated cobalt values up to 379 ppm Co. The mineralization is spatially associated with MobileMT conductors, which the company believes supports a robust sediment-hosted copper system and potential for significant buried mineralization.
According to Aston Bay, the results will further de-risk and refine targets for a planned 2026 drill program, testing both high-grade veins and large-scale stratiform copper-silver-cobalt mineralization.
Prospecting and mapping identified 17 new base and/or precious metal showings spatially associated with Mobile Magnetotelluric geophysical anomalies. Select grab samples yielded up to 29.2% Cu with 217 g/t Ag, 5.42% Cu with 1.89 g/t Au, 3.73% Cu with 2.08 g/t Au, as well as up to 10.1% Zn, 17.8% Pb and 766 ppm Co.
CEO Thomas Ullrich stated that he was extremely pleased to discover multiple base and precious metal showings during the 2025 mapping and prospecting program in the southern portion of the property.
Ullrich added that the strongly mineralized zones indicate an efficient mineralizing system. Their location immediately above the large geophysical conductors defined by the MobileMT survey suggests a link to potentially more mineralization hidden in the subsurface.
Copper, zinc and gold mineralization have been discovered in the rarely outcropping Recluse Group rocks, the proposed source of the geophysical anomalies, supporting the theory that those conductors may represent a potentially significant amount of mineralization yet to be discovered in the subsurface.
Bruce MacLachlan from Emerald Geological Services, vendor of the Epworth Property, believes that the discovery of these multiple new base and precious metal showings on the Epworth Project highlights the huge potential of this land package and its underexplored nature. He added that every field program brings them closer to unlocking that potential as they increase their understanding of the geology and mineralization.
The 2025 field program included seven crew members from Emerald Geological Services spending four weeks working at two float-plane-supported campsites on the property. Field work focused on the southern half of the property, where the 2024 property-wide MobileMT geophysical survey identified both deep, lower-frequency conductors (up to 900 m below surface) and near-surface, higher-frequency conductive anomalies. This area was only sparsely prospected before the new geophysical data were received.
The conductors are postulated to correspond to pyritic and graphitic layers in the shales of the Recluse Group, which may act as a trap for metal-bearing fluids. Exploration also focused on the dolomites of the Lower Rocknest Formation and the clastic sedimentary rocks of the Upper Odjick Formation, which are known to host sediment-hosted copper mineralization such as that found in the Central African Copper Belt.
Of 309 select grab samples, 22 yielded ≥1% Cu, 22 samples yielded > 5 g/t Ag, 16 samples yielded >1% Zn, and 7 samples yielded >0.5 g/t Au. Of the styles of mineralization encountered in the 2025 field program, the highest copper and silver values were returned from vein-hosted copper mineralization in Lower Rocknest dolomite, present at the Greenback, Greenback North, BC, Kid and Expert Showings, with Greenback returning 29.2% Cu with 217 g/t Ag in chalcocite veinlets. The Greenback Showing is similar in character to the Payback Cu-Ag showings in the northern part of the property, which originally returned up to 61% Cu and 5600 g/t Ag (Payback South Showing, see March 1, 2024, Aston Bay news release). Both are spatially associated with diabase dikes and with MobileMT conductance anomalies.
Disseminated mineralization in Upper Odjick clastic rocks yielded significant copper and gold values at the Expert and Clastic Showings, with up to 5.42% Cu and 1.89 g/t Au at Expert and up to 3.73% Cu and 2.08 g/t Au at Clastic. Numerous new showings of >1% zinc-lead mineralization hosted in Lower Rocknest dolomites were discovered, including the Expert, Trio, Val, Bob, 3BD, KN, JM North and MT Showings. The best zinc value of 10.1% was obtained from the 3BD Showing from subcrop.
Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer
thomas.ullrich@astonbayholdings.com
(416) 456-3516
Sofia Harquail, IR and Corporate Development
sofia.harquail@astonbayholdings.com
(647) 821-1337
Source: Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.
