Aston Bay Announces Strategic Partnership for the Storm Copper Project, Nunavut, Canada Offtake and funding deal to advance development and exploration activities
Aston Bay Announces Strategic Partnership for the Storm Copper
Project, Nunavut, Canada
Offtake and funding deal to advance development and exploration activities
TORONTO, Ontario, April 9, 2025 – Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV: BAY) (OTCQB: ATBHF) ("Aston Bay"
or the "Company”) is pleased to announce that its Storm Copper Project (“Storm” or the “Project”)
joint venture partners American West Metals Ltd ( “American West”) has entered into a strategic
partnership and funding agreement with Ocean Partners Holdings Ltd ( “Ocean Partners” or “ OP”)
for the development of Storm including financing of up to 80% of the initial capital for development
of the Project.
In addition, Taurus Mining Royalty has agreed to advance the second tranche of the Royalty payment
(see June 24, 2024, Aston Bay news release).
The Storm Copper Project is a 20/80 unincorporated joint venture between Aston Bay and American
West, the Project operator . Aston Bay maintain s a free carried interest until a decision to mine is
made upon completion of a bankable feasibility study.
Highlights:
• Strategic Partnership with Ocean Partners . Aston Bay’s joint venture partner ,
American West Metals, has entered into a partnership and funding agreement with
Ocean Partners Holdings Ltd – a global metal trading, technical advisory, and financing
company – for the development of the Storm Copper Project. Terms of the binding heads
of agreement include:
▪ Project Financing – OP will provide up to 80% of initial capital for the
development of the Project via a senior secured loan facility, subject to a
bankable feasibility study and formal documentation
▪ Offtake – OP will enter into a binding offtake agreement ( “Offtake Agreement”)
which secures OP 100% of the offtake of copper and silver products from the
Project for the near -surface copper mineralization at Storm ; subject to this
agreement, OP will subscribe to a US$2m financing in American West
▪ Technical and copper market advisory. The American West/OP strategic
alliance will work together to optimise and advance the development activities to
define the best outcomes for the Project
• US$3.5m Royalty funding brought forward. Taurus Mining Royalty has agreed to advance
the US$3.5m second tranche of the Royalty payment, with payments to be made this month.
Aston Bay will be allocated 20% of the funding from the royalty payment (C$0.996 million)
with no restriction on the use of proceeds. The remainder of the royalty payment is allocated
to American West to advance the Storm Project.
▪ New funds to be used to advance the Storm Copper Project, including:
▪ An expansion of exploration activities , including drilling at near -mine and
regional exploration targets
▪ Pre-Feasibility Study ( “PFS”) and permitting activities to advance the
development of the Storm Project
▪ Securing of key, long-lead processing and mining equipment
Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer of Aston Bay, commented:
“We are thrilled to announce this strategic partnership and funding package for the Storm Copper
Project. Ocean Partners is an experienced global leader in ore -sorting and direct shipping ore
(“DSO”) copper project development; they bring both funding and the technical know -how to
advance the project. The partnership speaks to the quality of the project and the American
West/Aston Bay joint venture team, validation of the Project, and highlights a low -risk pathway to
potential development.
“Taurus’ release of the second tranche of the royalty payment also speaks to their strong belief in the
development and growth potential at Storm. The funding from both Ocean Partners and Taurus will
be used by American West in a dual strategy of aggressive exploration coupled with project
development during 2025. This is a significant milestone for the Project and Aston Bay.”
About Ocean Partners
Ocean Partners offers a complete range of trading services for miners, smelters, refiners, and metal
consumers around the world. Working closely with global partners, Ocean Partners offer customized
risk management solutions while linking clients to unique market opportunities.
Ocean Partners operates worldwide via strategic offices, agencies, and partnerships. The Ocean
Partners team h as extensive backgrounds in mining, geology, metallurgy, and finance which
includes significant experience within the DSO markets.
Strategic Partnership Key Terms
The American West/Ocean Partners strategic partnership represents a significant step in securing
the future of Storm and highlights the Project’s position as an emerging potential producer of high-
quality copper and silver raw materials.
The long-term agreement with OP follows an extensive due diligence process and further highlights
Storm as a viable, low-risk, highly ESG-credentialed copper-silver growth story. OP has a successful
track record of funding base metals projects utili zing ore -sorting to produce a commercial DSO
product, which will be valuable to enhancing the technical aspects of the development work at
Storm.
The key terms of the Ocean Partners binding Heads of Agreement are set out below:
1. US$2 million Private Placement in American West
Funds will be advanced to American West for the issue of ordinary shares subject to certain terms
and conditions.
2. Project Debt Financing
Ocean Partners will work together with American West to arrange funding for the development of the
Storm Project. OP will provide up to 80% of the initial development capital for the Storm Copper
Project subject to, amongst other things, the delivery of a bankable feasibility study and American
West making a final investment decision in respect of the Project. .
3. Offtake Agreement
Ocean Partners are granted exclusive right to 100% of copper and silver products from the near-
surface copper mineralization at Storm as currently outlined by American West.
American West and Ocean Partners will work together to optimise the economics and product
specifications for the Project. Pricing for the offtake will be based on market terms usual for
transactions of this type.
The offtake agreement recognizes the high quality of the proposed Storm copper-silver products and
OP’s belief in the development potential of the Project.
Royalty Payment Tranche Brought Forward
Taurus has agreed to advance the second tranche of the US$12.5 million royalty package entered
into in 2024. No further conditions are required to be met for the second tranche to be paid.
The amount of US$3.5m will now be advanced by Taurus this month, with American West to receive
US$2.8m and Aston Bay Holdings US$0.7m with no use of proceeds restriction for Aston Bay.
For further details of the royalty package, see see June 24, 2024, Aston Bay news release.
Use of Funds
The funds from the Royalty and Private Placement will be used explicitly for exploration and
development activities at the Storm Copper Project, including:
- Exploration along the 110km copper belt, including the drilling of regional targets such as the
Blizzard and Tornado Prospects.
- Expansion of the known resources.
- Resource definition at the Cirrus Deeps, Cyclone Deeps, The Gap, Hailstorm, Squall, and other
high-grade copper Prospects.
- PFS activities, including further metallurgical testing and process optimi zation, geotechnical
drilling, project engineering, and costing studies.
Qualified Person
Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., is a Qualified Person as defined by the NI 43 -101
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and has reviewed and approved the scientific and
technical information in this press release.
About Aston Bay Holdings
Aston Bay is a publicly traded mineral exploration company exploring for high -grade critical and
precious metal deposits in North America.
The Company is currently exploring the Storm Copper Property and Cu-Ag-Zn-Co Epworth Property
in Nunavut. The Company is also in advanced stages of negotiation on other lands with high -grade
precious and critical metals potential in North America
The Company and its joint venture partners, American West Metals Limited and its wholly -owned
subsidiary, Tornado Metals Ltd. (collectively, “ American West ”), have formed a 20/80
unincorporated joint venture in respect of the Storm Project property, which hosts the Storm Copper
Project and the Seal Zinc Deposit. Under the unincorporated joint venture , Aston Bay shall have a
free carried interest until American West has made a decision to mine upon completion of a
bankable feasibility study, meaning American West will be solely responsible for funding the joint
venture until such decision is made. After such decision is made, Aston Bay will be diluted in the
event it does not elect to contribute its proportionate share and its interest in the Storm Project
property will be converted into a 2% net smelter returns royalty if its interest is diluted to below 10%.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Statements made in this news release, including those regarding entering into the joint venture and
each party’s interest in the Project pursuant to the agreement in respect of the joint venture,
management objectives, forecasts, estimates, expectations, or predictions of the future may
constitute “forward-looking statement”, which can be identified by the use of conditional or future
tenses or by the use of such verbs as “believe”, “expect”, “may” , “will”, “should”, “estimate”,
“anticipate”, “project”, “pl an”, and words of similar import, including variations thereof and
negative forms. This press release contains forward -looking statements that reflect, as of the date
of this press release, Aston Bay’s expectations, estimates and projections about its operations, the
mining industry and the economic environment in which it operates. Statements in this press release
that are not supported by historical fact are forward -looking statements, meaning they involve risk,
uncertainty and other factors that could ca use actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by such forward -looking statements. Although Aston Bay believes that the
assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not
be placed on t hese statements, which apply only at the time of writing of this press release. Aston
Bay disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by securities
legislation.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its regulation services provider (as that term is defined in policies of the
TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
For more information contact:
Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer
(416) 456-3516
Sofia Harquail, IR and Corporate Development
(647) 821-1337