January
7, 2010




, VANCOUVER, B.C.



–
ASHBURTON VENTURES INC.


(ABR-TSX:V)
(“Ashburton” or the “Company”)

is

pleased to announce the results from the second phase
of this past summer’s soil sampling program on their 100% owned River Au
prospect in the Yukon Territory adjoining ground held by Underworld Resources
in the White Gold District.

The first phase
of the Ashburton work was completed by a crew from Aurora Geosciences out of
Whitehorse in July and August of 2009.  Reconnaissance soil lines were surveyed
across the company’s block of 21 Au claims adjacent to ground held by
Underworld and ten kilometers north-northeast of Underworld’s Golden
Saddle discovery. 
Samples
were collected every 50 meters on lines spaced 300 meters apart.  Multiple gold
soil anomalies, apparently paralleling the mapped geology, were detected on
three adjacent soil lines with analyses ranging up to 90 ppb Au.

A second phase
of soil sampling at the River Au prospect by the Aurora crew tripled the
sampling density to 50-meter centers on lines spaced 100 meters apart in the
areas of the earlier anomalies.  The in-fill sampling detected several new
anomalies ranging up to 95 and 150 ppb Au and expanded the anomalous area to
the north and south.  A trend of gold anomalies ranging from 25 to 150 ppb Au
has now been detected on most of ten parallel lines across some 1100 meters of
northerly slope.  Individual lines have gold anomalies across as much as 150
meters of sampling, suggesting that multiple structures may be responsible for
the soil anomalies.

Following a
detailed review of the latest results over the winter, a trenching program is
anticipated for the 2010 summer followed by a drilling program in the later
summer. 

Work on the
Ashburton Au claims in the White Gold District is being directed by David
Hedderly-Smith, Ph.D., P.G.  Dr. Hedderly-Smith has done work in similarly aged
rocks in east central Alaska, 100 kilometers to the northwest, off and on since
the 1970s.  He is an advisor to Ashburton, a Qualified Person as defined by
N.I. 43-101, and has approved the information in this press release. 

Ashburton
Ventures is a junior exploration company actively seeking mineral and energy
opportunities for the benefit of all its stakeholders.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD                                                     

___________________________

Michael England, President


For further information
contact:

Telephone: (604) 683-3995



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.