Aston Bay (TSXV: BAY; US-OTC: ATBHF) has concluded its 2018 drill campaign at its namesake property on Somerset Island in Nunavut, which includes the Storm copper prospect and the Seal zinc deposit.
The company informed investors on Aug. 30 that cold weather and fog had hampered flight access, complicating logistics and limiting drilling activity to just half of the 6,000-metre drill program it had planned. In total, the company drilled 3,000 metres (nine holes) this year. Assays are pending.
In June, Aston Bay said it expected to drill 6,000 metres at the property to test possible down-dip extensions of zinc-copper mineralization at the Seal and Storm prospects. Drill targets were identified in large part by the extensive gravity surveying done on the property over the past two years.
Aston Bay said it would make adjustments to compensate for those challenges in its 2019 drilling campaign, which it has already begun planning for.
David Broughton, who co-discovered Ivanhoe Mines' (TSX: IVN; US-OTC: IVPAF) Kamoa-Kakula copper deposit, joined Aston Bay as chief geologist in early 2017, shortly after BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP) walked away from a US$40-million option agreement to earn a 75% stake in the company.
BHP spent US$6 million in 2016 drilling some of the property's copper showings, but with little success. Only three of the 12 holes intersected mineralization, with the best intercept returning 8 metres grading 5.5% copper and 22.7 grams silver per tonne.
Shares of Aston Bay fell on the news and are trading at 12 ? per share within a 52-week range of 11 ? and 26 ?. The company has a $14 million market capitalization.