News

Aston Bay Holdings Signs Early Works Agreement With Bhp Billiton Ltd.

March 23, 2016

Vancouver, Canada – March 23, 2016 – Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V: BAY) (“Aston Bay” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that it has signed an Early Works Agreement, which augments the previously announced Letter of Intent with a wholly owned Canadian Subsidiary of BHP Billiton Ltd.

The Early Works Agreement advances and provides the framework for funding by BHP Billiton of certain permitting, procurement and logistics activities by Aston Bay in preparation for a Summer 2016 exploration program that includes some drilling. Negotiations with respect to a proposed Definitive Agreement are ongoing. See the Company’s news release of January 28, 2016 for more information.

“This agreement provides a platform for advancing the 2016 exploration agenda in parallel to the negotiation process for the Definitive Agreement,” said Benjamin Cox, CEO of Aston Bay. “We are pleased to be working with BHP Billiton in the planning process.”

Qualified Person

The content of this news release and the technical information that forms the basis for this disclosure has been prepared under the supervision of Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., who is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 and a Director of and Consultant to Aston Bay.

About Aston Bay Holdings

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSX-V: BAY) is a publicly traded mineral exploration company focused on the 395,118-hectare (976,357-acre) Aston Bay Property located on northwest Somerset Island, Nunavut. The Property hosts the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc prospects, where historic drilling has confirmed the presence of sediment-hosted copper and zinc mineralization.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Benjamin Cox, Chief Executive Officer

Telephone: (360) 262-6969

For further information about Aston Bay Holdings Ltd or this news release, please visit our website at www.astonbayholdings.com.

About BHP Billiton

Further information on BHP Billiton can be found at: bhpbilliton.com.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will”, “would”, “may”, “could” or “should” occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company’s management on the date the statements are made. In the event that management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

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