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SPOKANE, WA––November
9, 2007–– Minera Andes Inc. (TSX: MAI and US OTC: MNEAF) is
pleased to announce that the San Jos� mine attained some production
during the third quarter commissioning and start-up of the mine. Currently,
the mining operation is expected to reach full production by year end and
the process plant in commissioning is forecast by Minera Andes to reach
full capacity in first half of 2008. The San Jos� project is operated by Minera
Santa Cruz S.A. ("MSC") is owned 51% by Hochschild Mining plc
and 49% by Minera Andes.
In the third quarter
of 2007, a
stock pile of 60,000 tonnes was in place and the mine processed 27,494
tonnes of ore with an average head grade of 544 g/t silver and 7.2 g/t
gold. A total of 182,000 ounces of silver and 3,290 ounces of
gold were produced in the third quarter during the commissioning phase
and Minera Andes has a 49% interest in this production.
Minera Andes had
completed a NI 43-101 technical report which was the subject of a news
release on September 17th 2007 and which announced that resources at San
Jos� had increased by 62 percent. Surface and underground
exploration, development, and drilling at San Jos� project has continued
to identify additional reserves and resources. Minera Andes has
therefore commissioned AMEC, our independent engineer, to complete a new
NI 43-101 report. The new report is expected to be completed on San
Jos� shortly.
In November 2007, the
board of MSC approved project capital increases of $42.5 million. These
costs are related to the fact that the processing facility at San Jos� is
taking longer than anticipated to reach full capacity requiring $34.1
million in funds to replace the deficit in the planned operating cash
flow and capital costs have increased by $9.2 million due primarily to
plant construction and the processing plant. To fund these costs Minera
Andes has received an MSC cash call and its portion is $15.93 million due
on January 5, 2008. An additional $4.9 million may be due by Minera Andes
if local debt financing for MSC is not available.
Minera Andes is a
gold, silver and copper exploration company working in Argentina. The
Corporation holds about 410,000 acres of mineral exploration land
in Argentina including the co-owned San Jos� silver/gold mine that has
started initial production. Minera Andes is also exploring the Los
Azules copper project in San Juan province, where an exploration program
is underway to define a resource. Other exploration properties, primarily
silver and gold, are being evaluated in southern Argentina. The
Corporation presently has 166,832,517 shares issued and outstanding.
This
news is submitted by Allen V. Ambrose, president and director of Minera
Andes Inc.
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.
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Spokane Office
111 East Magnesium
Rd.,
Spokane, WA 99208 USA
Phone: (509) 921-7322
E-mail: mineraandes@minandes.com
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Vancouver
Office
Suite 911 - 470 Granville St,
Vancouver, BC. V6C 1V5
Phone: (604) 689-7017 / 877-689-7018
E-mail: ircanada@minandes.com
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Caution Concerning
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains certain "forward-looking
statements", including, but not limited to, the statements regarding
the Company's strategic plans, evolution of mineral resources and
reserve, work programs, development plans and exploration budgets at the
Company’s San Jos� Project. The forward-looking statements express,
as at the date of this press release, the Company's plans, estimates,
forecasts, projections, expectations or beliefs as to future events and
results. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and
uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will
prove to be accurate. Therefore, actual results and future events could
differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. In
particular, there can be no assurance that commercial production at the
San Jos� mine will be achieved on a timely basis, or at all, that
production capacity at the San Jos� mine will be successfully increased,
that resources and reserves at the San Jos� mine will be increased or
that Minera Andes will successfully raise the funds necessary to maintain
its interest in the San Jos� mine. Risks and uncertainties that could
cause results or future events to differ materially from current
expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, factors associated with fluctuations in
the market price of precious metals, mining industry risks, risks
associated with foreign operations, the state of the capital markets,
environmental risks and hazards, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral
reserves, dilution risks to it 49% ownership by not being able to
contribute pro-rata to Minera Santa Cruz S.A. cash calls, and other
risks. Minera Andes anticipates raising it 49 percent interest in the
current cash call through the sale of equity. Reference is made to the
risk factors and uncertainties described in the Company’s
continuous disclosure record, a copy of which is available under the
Company’s profile at www.sedar.com. In addition, Minera
Andes’ joint venture partner, a subsidiary of Hochschild Mining
plc, and its affiliates do not accept responsibility for the use of
project data or the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors:
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC") permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC,
to disclose only those mineral deposits with “mineral
reserves” that a company can economically and legally extract or
produce. We use certain terms in this press release, such as
"mineral resources", that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit
us from including in our filings with the SEC.
THE TSX HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
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