Ashburton Ventures Inc. - Canadian Junior Exploration

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ASHBURTON ACQUIRES BULLION HILLS

Released June 2nd, 2009

June 2, 2009, VANCOUVER, B.C. – ASHBURTON VENTURES INC. (ABR-TSX:V) (“Ashburton” or the "Company”) announces it has acquired an option to earn a 100% interest in the “Bullion Hills” gold property in the Tintina Gold Belt of Alaska, from Royal Pretoria Gold Ltd., a private Alaskan
Corporation. The Tintina Gold Belt hosts a number of major lode gold deposits such as Kinross’s Fort Knox (4.5Moz), Sumitomo’s Pogo (5 Moz) and NovaGold’s Donlin Creek (30 Moz).

The 470 hectare (1162 acre) property is located about 240 kilometers (150 miles) by road northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, in the historic Circle Mining district. Since its discovery in 1893, the Circle district has produced over one million ounces of placer gold from streams and creeks. The Bullion Hills property is drained by Ketchum Creek, Portage Creek and Bottom Dollar Creek all of which have had recorded historical placer gold production.

Bullion Hills is a proximal, intrusion-related gold property. The mid-Cretaceous Tombstone Suite granite intrudes Paleozoic Yukon-Tanana Terrane metasediments (schists, gniesses and quartzites). Gold mineralization is hosted in low sulphide quartz veins and quartz veinlet stockworks in faults and shear zones both within the granite (similar to Kinross Fort Knox deposit) and the metasediments (similar to Sumitomo’s Pogo). Bullion Hills has geologic similarities to the recent lode gold discovery (spatial association to gold placers and mid- to latecretaceous
intrusions) by Underworld Resources (UW: TSXV) on their White Gold Project announced May 26, 2009. White Gold lies within the portion of the Tintina Gold Belt of the Yukon, Canada, and is also the source of placer gold-bearing streams draining from it.

Upon TSX approval Ashburton Ventures will immediately embark on a ``Phase 1`` drilling program of approximately 620 meters (2000 feet) of HQ core. The drilling is expected to commence in mid-June. The property is fully permitted to drill and a drilling contract has been signed with Altar Drilling Inc.

Drill targets have been selected based on historic surface sampling geochemical results. The primary target is designed to test the “Two Bit Granitic Pluton” which is exposed on the property. Chip sampling across 11 meters (36 feet) of exposed bedrock returned 1.05 grams per ton Au, including three (3) meters of 2.54 grams per ton Au. Coarse visible gold can be panned from pulverized quartz veinlets within the granite intrusion and from coarse residual soil (grus) lying directly on top of the intrusion. The secondary targets are high-grade quartz veins and stockworks within the metasediments. Surface samples of float and rubble have returned gold values up to 0.934 ounces per ton.

Ashburton believes the potential exists at Bullion Hills for the discovery of either a large-tonnage, intrusionhosted gold deposit similar to the Kinross Fort Knox gold deposit at Fairbanks, or a high-grade vein type gold deposit similar to Sumitomo’s Pogo deposit.

Terms of the deal call for cumulative cash payments totaling $245,000 USD, 220,000 common shares of Ashburton plus 2.5% NSR which can be bought down by 1% for $1,000,000.

The technical contents of this release were approved by Ashburton director and qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Marvin Mitchell, P.Eng. This transaction is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Michael England"
___________________________
Michael England, President

For further information contact:
Telephone: (604) 683-3995
Facsimile: (604) 683-3988
Email: [email protected]

Neither TSX Venture Exchange 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.