SPOKANE, Wash., Feb. 11, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Minera Andes Inc. (TSX Venture Exchange:MAI) (OTCBB:MNEAF) is pleased to announce that a drilling program of up to 3,000 meters has commenced at the Huevos Verdes East area discovered last year during exploration at the San Jose project in Santa Cruz province, southern Argentina. The zone of high-grade gold/silver mineralization identified at Huevos Verdes East is being drilled by joint venture partner, Mauricio Hochschild & Cia. Ltda. ("MHC").
The exploration drilling program underway at the Huevos Verdes East area is located on a parallel trend about 2 kilometers to the northeast of the developing high-grade gold/silver resource at Huevos Verdes. This mineralized zone was discovered last year in three holes drilled "blind" on a geophysical target in a basalt covered area at San Jose project where 32 km of vein trends are currently identified on the property. The zone is defined by the three discovery holes drilled in the center of a 3 km-long geophysical anomaly. The Huevos Verdes East trend itself is currently known to be 6 km long. The best drill intercept in the three holes drilled last year averages 1.57 opt (53.75 g/t) gold and 50 opt (1,711.6 g/t) silver over 1.04 meters. This hole, SJD-31, was drilled at a 50 degree angle and encountered the vein intercept at a depth of 246 meters down the hole.
The first hole in this year's program, SJD-33, is being drilled at 50 degree angle to a depth of about 350 meters, parallel to and beneath the discovery holes, SJD-21 and SJD-31, to test for continuity of the vein at greater depth. Initial observations from MHC personnel indicate that approximately 2 meters of vein was encountered in hole SJD-33 some 50 meters down dip from the vein intercept in hole SJD-31. Additionally, two other previously unknown 0.6 meter wide veins were intercepted higher up the drill hole. Assay results are pending.
Allen Ambrose, President of Minera Andes, said "Minera Andes' management is very pleased with the continuing development of new areas of mineralization at the San Jose project and we look forward to reporting the progress at Huevos Verdes East."
Minera Andes is a mining exploration corporation that is involved with approximately 10 projects on about 198,000 hectares (about 489,000 acres) of mineral exploration land in Argentina. The properties primarily contain gold, silver and copper mineralization targets. The Corporation is presently pursuing the further development of its co-owned gold/silver discovery property in Santa Cruz province, and is prospecting in other Argentine provinces. The Corporation presently has 59,740,865 issued and outstanding common shares.
For further information, please contact: Art Johnson at the Spokane office, or Krister A. Kottmeier, investor relations -- Canada, at the Vancouver office. Visit our Web site: www.minandes.com.
Spokane Office Vancouver Office 111 East Magnesium Rd., Suite A 1000-355 Burrard Street Spokane, WA 99208 USA Vancouver, B.C. V6C 2G8 Phone: (509) 921-7322 Phone: (604) 689-7017; 877-689-7018 E-mail: mineraandes@minandes.com E-mail: ircanada@minandes.com
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT -- Although Minera Andes believes many of its properties have promising potential, its properties are in the early stages of exploration. None have yet been shown to contain proven or probable mineral reserves. There can be no assurance that such reserves will be identified on any property, or that, if identified, mineralization may be economically extracted. In addition, Minera Andes' joint venture partner, Mauricio Hochschild & Cia. Ltda., does not accept responsibility for the use of project data or in the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
CAUTIONARY NOTE TO U.S. INVESTORS CONCERNING ESTIMATES OF INFERRED RESOURCES:
This news release uses the term "Inferred Resources." We advise U.S. investors that while this term is recognized and required by Canadian regulations, the SEC does not recognize it. "Inferred Resources" have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an "Inferred Resource" will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian rules estimates of "Inferred Resources" may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies. U.S. INVESTORS ARE CAUTIONED NOT TO ASSUME THAT PART OR ALL OF AN "INFERRED RESOURCE" EXISTS, OR IS ECONOMICALLY OR LEGALLY MINABLE.
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