Ashton Mining Reports Q1, Q2 Losses

Canada’s Ashton Mining announced a loss for the first quarter ended June 30 of $2.6 million from $1.5 million a year earlier. For the six-month period, the loss was $2.1 million from $2 million in the same period of 2004.

Excluding exploration costs written off to operations, corporate costs for the second quarter of 2005 decreased by 26 percent compared to the second quarter of 2004.

Ashton said that during the second quarter, Ashton successfully concluded the most aggressive bulk sampling program in its history. The favorable diamond results from the 664 tons of material collected during an 18-month program confirmed that the Foxtrot property in north-central Quebec is one of the most promising exploration-stage diamond projects in Canada.

In April, a modeled value of $88 per carat was determined for diamonds from four of the six bodies within the Core Area. This estimate exceeds the world average rough diamond price. Ashton said it was encouraged by the recovery of seven diamonds larger than two carats from the Renard bodies and by a 5.66 carat diamond recovered from the Lynx South area this year.

During the rest of this year, potential mining scenarios will be reviewed to determine the next steps to advance the Quebec project. These steps could include the collection of a larger bulk sample in 2006 to further refine the current estimate of the value of the Renard diamonds by recovering a parcel that contains a greater number of large stones.