ASHTON REITERATES STORNOWAY BID INADEQUATE DESPITE B.C. SECURITIES COMMISSION DECISION
The B.C. Securities Commission today denied the request of Ashton Mining of Canada Inc. to cease-trade Stornoway Diamond Corporation’s unsolicited bid for Ashton.
John Cole, Chair of the Ashton Board, said: ”We are pleased that our application to the Commission compelled Stornoway and Rio Tinto to amend the lock-up agreement to ensure fair treatment for Ashton’s minority shareholders with respect to the $2 million guaranteed payment. More importantly, today’s decision does not change the fact that Stornoway’s offer is financially inadequate, and not in the best interests of Ashton’s minority shareholders.”
Ashton is continuing to seek out strategic alternatives for the Corporation and in the meantime, shareholders are urged not to tender their shares into the Stornoway bid.
Ashton Mining of Canada Inc., the leader in Canadian diamond exploration.
Ashton is widely recognized as the leading and pre-eminent explorer in the Canadian diamond industry. The Corporation enjoys an outstanding record of discoveries and a diversified portfolio of promising projects that cover the spectrum from early stage reconnaissance to advanced evaluation. At present, Ashton’s most ambitious project is in Quebec, where a $29 million program is currently underway to collect a 10,000 tonne bulk sample from three of the highly diamondiferous Renard kimberlites. The processing of an initial 6,000 tonnes of this material is expected to yield at least 6,000 carats of diamonds. These diamonds will be valued during the first half of 2007 in preparation for a pre-feasibility study.
Ashton’s competitive advantages include the extensive diamond exploration experience and the acknowledged expertise of its key personnel, as well as the Corporation’s comprehensive diamond processing and laboratory facilities in North Vancouver, B.C. Integral to Ashton’s exploration programs, these facilities include a five tonne per hour dense media separation plant, an X-ray sorter unit, a caustic dissolution circuit and a fully-equipped indicator mineral and diamond observation laboratory
For further information, investors please contact:
Robert Boyd, President and CEO (604) 983-7750
contact@ashton.ca
Mike Westerlund Manager, Investor Relations (604) 983-7750
contact@ashton.ca
Media please contact:
Longview Communications Josh Pekarsky
(604) 694-6030
Longview Communications Louise Weston
(604) 694-6033
