Aston Bay Announces Board Changes

Company nominates ESG and northern‑focused mining executive Ryan VanEngen, MSc., to Board of Directors; Jessie Liu‑Ernsting not standing for re‑election as she takes on additional leadership responsibility

TORONTO, ON / ACCESS Newswire / July 22, 2026 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV:BAY)(OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") announces that long tenured director Jessie Liu‑Ernsting has advised the Company that she will not stand for re‑election to the Board of Directors at the upcoming annual general and special meeting of shareholders, as she takes on additional responsibilities with her employer.

"On behalf of the Board and our shareholders, I want to sincerely thank Jessie for her years of service to Aston Bay," said Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Aston Bay. "Her capital markets insight and disciplined governance have supported our efforts to add value through exploration discovery, and we wish her every success in her new position."

The Company is pleased to announce that Ryan VanEngen, MSc., has been nominated to join the Board of Directors, subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming meeting. Mr. VanEngen will serve as an independent director.

"Ryan brings more than two decades of hands‑on experience in northern mining jurisdictions, including Nunavut, with a proven track record of successfully navigating permitting, Indigenous relations and complex regulatory processes. His deep ESG and environmental management expertise, combined with his familiarity with High Arctic operations and critical mineral projects, will significantly strengthen Aston Bay's governance as we continue to advance our northern copper and zinc assets toward development."

About Ryan VanEngen, MSc.

Ryan VanEngen is a senior environmental executive and mining professional with over 20 years of experience navigating regulatory compliance, environmental permitting, and ESG strategy across Canada. He brings deep specialized expertise in northern jurisdictions, particularly Nunavut, where he has a proven track record of de‑risking district‑scale mineral exploration and mining projects.

As the Founder and CEO of Sustainable Solutions Consulting Group (2SG Inc.), Mr. VanEngen provides strategic regulatory guidance to junior exploration companies and major producers, including ATHA Energy Corp., Centerra Gold and Agnico Eagle Mines. His deep understanding of the Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB), territorial regulatory frameworks, and community engagement makes him an expert at moving northern assets through baseline studies into successful project permitting.

Previously, Mr. VanEngen spent 12 years at Agnico Eagle Mines, serving as Environmental Permitting Lead and Environmental Superintendent. In these roles, he successfully managed the licensing, community consultation, and permitting for major assets such as the Whale Tail Pit Project, Meadowbank Mine permitting and the Meliadine Mine, while overseeing multi‑million‑dollar budgets and supporting Inuit Impact Benefit Agreements (IIBAs). He is also a part‑time professor of Environmental Management in Mining (Min 330H) at the University of Toronto in the Department of Civil and Mineral Engineering.

Mr. VanEngen holds a Master of Science in Aquatic Toxicology and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Guelph. His combined expertise in High Arctic operations, Indigenous relations, and regulatory risk mitigation provides strong strategic governance for companies advancing critical mineral assets in northern Canada.

Options award

Aston Bay advises that it has granted incentive stock options exercisable to acquire 3,100,000 common shares of the Company to certain officers, directors, employees and consultants associated with the Company at an exercise price of $0.05 per share. The options have a five-year term and will vest one-third on the date of grant, and one-third on each of the first and second anniversaries of the date of grant.

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", "plan", 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 cause 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 these 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
thomas.ullrich@astonbayholdings.com
(416) 456-3516

Sofia Harquail, IR and Corporate Development
sofia.harquail@astonbayholdings.com
(647) 821-1337

SOURCE: Aston Bay Holdings Ltd.