March 8th, 2011, VANCOUVER, B.C.



– ASHBURTON VENTURES INC.
(ABR-TSX:V) (ARB-FRANKFURT)  (“Ashburton”
or the “Company”)

is
pleased to announce that the 2011 work program has begun for its Deep Creek
Project, located 112 kilometres north of Elko, Nevada. The $1.4M budget
includes expansion of the claim position, detailed structural mapping, airborne
geophysics, and drilling sixteen core holes for a total of 2,900 meters (9,600
ft.). The objectives of the program are to locate additional zones of gold
mineralization southward along the Range Front Structure, and to test the depth
extent of high grade gold veins in the Upper Vein and Waterfall Vein areas (see news release, January 18, 2010).

Claim
staking activities were conducted in February to cover additional areas of
interest that were identified through review of historical data, and have now
been concluded. A total of 150 claims have been staked, bringing the total land
position to roughly 1,214 contiguous hectares (~3,000 acres).

Additional
structure cell mapping was also conducted in February, though outcrop exposure was
limited by variable snow cover. Structure cell mapping was implemented to
identify areas along the Range Front Structure where greater zones of
hydrothermal alteration may be encountered, as well as areas where the structure
may intersect the gold-bearing veins to the east. The Range Front Structure has
received the bulk of historical drilling on the property, with an estimated
reserve of 477,000 ounces of gold in 7.5 million tons and resource of 70,000
ounces of gold in 1.1 million tons (at a weighted average grade 0.06 ounces per
ton with a 0.02 ounce per ton cutoff). Both the reserve and resource estimates
are historical and a qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify
either the historical reserve or the historical resource estimate as current
mineral resources, therefore these historical reserves should not be relied on
and do not have currently demonstrated economic viability (see news release, January 18, 2010).

Surface
outcrop sampling continues for the Upper Vein and Waterfall Vein areas, to
assess the gold carrying capacity of the veins along strike. With over 640
meters of strike length, only 200 meters of the Upper Vein has been sampled continuously
on surface, with 35 meters of length consistently over 10 g/t of gold to date. Sampling
is still early stage at the recently discovered Waterfall Vein, with a length
of 200 meters but only three samples collected to date, with two assaying at
25.5 and 20.5 g/t Au. The ‘Thirteen-Five’ vein located 60 meters west of the
Waterfall Vein is of undetermined length has only one assay of 13.5 g/t Au collected
to date (see news release, January 18,
2011).

Permitting
for road and pad construction for the drilling program has been filed with the
BLM, with 16 core drill holes planned for a total of 2,900 meters (~9,600 ft). In
addition to the Range Front Structure, drilling for 2011 will emphasize the
Upper Vein and Waterfall Vein Areas, proving out the known veins at depth, and
testing for additional veins not seen at surface including potential
northeast-trending structures. Drilling will also test for the extension of the
vein systems beneath Tertiary volcanics to the southeast. Bids from several
drilling companies are being received with drilling to start early in Q2, or
sooner if weather permits.

Bids
have also been received for an airborne magnetic/electromagnetic survey of the
property. Roughly 1,600 line kilometers are planned, with the objective to
identify regional structures, lithologic contacts, and areas of alteration and
mineralization beneath volcanics and alluvial cover.

The
technical contents of this release were approved by Dr. Tom McCandless, P.Geo.,
Vice President, Exploration for Ashburton and a qualified person as defined by
National Instrument 43-101.

Ashburton
Ventures is a junior exploration company actively seeking mineral opportunities
for the benefit of all its stakeholders. More information on the Deep Creek
project can be found at
www.ashburtonventures.com
.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Michael England, President


For further
information contact:

Telephone:
(604) 683-3995



Forward-Looking Statement:
Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information that
involves inherent risk and uncertainty affecting the business of Ashburton
Ventures Inc. Actual results may differ materially from those currently
anticipated in such statements. Neither the 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.