Spokane,
Washington - June 6, 2008 - Minera Andes Inc. (TSX: MAI; US OTC: MNEAF) is pleased to report assay
results from the remaining core holes drilled during the 2007-2008
exploration field season at the Los Azules porphyry copper project. The
best intercept is from hole AZ-08-37A which encountered 112 meters of
0.98 % copper within a larger zone of 217 meters of 0.77 % copper. This
hole represents the largest interval of primary copper mineralization
identified on the property to date, it extends the known mineralization
an additional 400 m to the north and is the deepest hole drilled to date
on the property by Minera Andes further confirming the limits of the
copper system have not been defined.
Drill Hole
|
TD
(m)
|
Intersection
From
To
(m)
(m)
|
Interval*
(m)
|
Total
Copper
(%)
|
AZ-08-34
includes
|
451.8
|
148
148
|
451.8
262
|
303.7
114
|
0.44
0.57
|
AZ-08-35
Includes
|
earlier
|
news
|
release
|
|
|
AZ-08-36
Includes:
|
387.8
|
104
|
182
|
78
|
0.42
|
AZ-08-37
|
229.1
|
114
|
143.95
|
29.5
|
0.52
|
AZ-08-37A
includes
|
541
|
324
382
|
541
494
|
217
112
|
0.77
0.98
|
AZ-08-38
|
341.3
|
115
|
304
|
106.9
|
0.37
|
AZ-08-39
|
Failed to
|
reach
|
target
|
depth
|
|
AZ-08-40**
|
146.5
|
104
|
146.5
|
40.9
|
0.69
|
AZ-08-40B**
|
204.75
|
124.2
|
162.2
|
38
|
0.56
|
AZ-08-41
|
400.15
|
133
133
|
369
285
|
236
152
|
0.40
0.47
|
AZ-08-42
|
Failed to
|
reach
|
target
|
depth
|
|
AZ-08-43
|
137.35
|
67
|
131
|
64
|
0.69
|
AZ-08-44
includes
|
413.05
|
164
322
|
348
344
|
184
22
|
0.21
0.41
|
*True thickness of
the copper mineralization is undetermined.
**Hole abandoned in
copper mineralization and failed to reach targeted depth.
A total of 5,438.34
meters were drilled in 15 vertical core holes during the 2007-2008 field
season to complete Stage I of the exploration program discussed in Minera
Andes News Releases dated November 14 and December 11, 2007. In this
recent drilling holes AZ-08-39 and 42 failed to reach the copper target
due to difficult drilling conditions and hole AZ-08-40, and its redrilled
extension AZ-08-40B, only partially penetrated the copper target
bottoming in copper mineralization. AZ-07-37 and -37A were drilled 400
meters north of the currently defined copper mineralization (see attached
map, holes AZ-06-17 and AZ-07-30). AZ-07-37 was drilled to a depth of
229.1 meters before being abandoned due to poor drilling conditions. The
hole was re-drilled as AZ-07-37A and encountered primary copper
mineralization occurring as chalcopyrite and bornite from 324 meters to
the end of the hole at 541 meters. Drill holes AZ-08-34, -38,-40, and
-40B extended the drilled area to the east and indicate that medium to
high grade copper mineralization is present to the eastern limit of
drilling. Hole AZ-08-41 has expanded copper mineralization to the west of
the known copper mineralization. Hole AZ-08-44 was drilled east of the
high-grade copper mineralization intersected in hole AZ-08-37A and
encountered only low grade copper mineralization, but may have been
abandoned due to bad ground prior to reaching the deep mineralization
encountered in hole AZ-08-37A. Holes AZ-08-36 and 43 further establish
the continuity of mineralization in the core of the copper target.
Allen Ambrose,
president of Minera Andes said "This field season's program has delivered
exceptional copper results at Los Azules and the size of the target has
expanded throughout the drilling program. Drill hole AZ-07-37A is
exciting in that it shows our copper system is open to the north and has
significant potential for target expansion. Our team of engineering
consultants is completing a resource estimate and the necessary work on a
NI 43-101 Preliminary Assessment (scoping study) that will include an
economic analysis of the project."
The exploration
program at Los Azules is designed to define an inferred resource and
provide sufficiently detailed engineering and technical information to
allow the completion of an economic scoping study (a Preliminary
Assessment as defined by NI 43-101) of the property by the fourth quarter
of this year.
Minera Andes is
advancing the Los Azules project under an option agreement (see news
release dated November 14, 2007) with Xstrata Copper, one of the
commodity business units within Xstrata plc (London Stock Exchange: XTA.L
and Zurich Stock Exchange: XTRZn.S). The scope and size potential of the
project increased dramatically in 2006 when the Minera Andes drilling
discovered a near surface high-grade area of copper mineralization, when
AZ-06-19 encountered 221 meters of mineralization averaging 1.62% copper
that was 200 meters from hole AZ-06-20 containing 173 meters of 1%
copper. Drilling in several holes ended in copper mineralization,
including two holes that bottomed in high-grade copper over 1%.
During the last few
years, more than half the drilling to define a copper resource has been
completed and drilling this field season was over the known area of
leachable (chalcocite) and sulfide (chalcopyrite) copper mineralization
as currently defined. The area drilled covers approximately 2.5
kilometers by 0.9 kilometers within the enriched copper target currently
identified at Los Azules that is about 3.3 kilometers long and 0..9
kilometers wide. Holes were drilled at a nominal grid spacing of 200
meters east-west and 400 meters north-south. Where needed, select infill
holes were drilled on the 200 meter north-south grid lines.
Most of the recent
drilling has focused on the northern half of the mineralized copper
target. The holes are being drilled to a depth of approximately 350-500
meters. This drilling tested a known area of leachable (chalcocite) and
sulfide (chalcopyrite) copper mineralization currently defined by 40
drill holes.
All results have been
reviewed by Brian Gavin, Minera Andes' vice president of exploration, an
appropriately qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
All samples were collected in accordance with industry standards. Splits
from the drill core samples were submitted to Alex Stewart Assayers,
Argentina, S.A., in Mendoza, Argentina, for sample pulp preparation and
to ALS Chemex Laboratories.
Minera Andes is a
gold, silver and copper exploration company working in Argentina. The
Corporation holds about 304,000 acres of mineral exploration land in
Argentina including the 49% owned San Jos� silver/gold mine that has
recently commenced production. As discussed above, Minera Andes is
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 189,402,435 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.
Spokane Office
111 East Magnesium Rd.,
Spokane, WA 99208 USA
Phone: (509) 921-7322
E-mail: mineraandes@minandes.com
|
Vancouver Office
Suite 911 - 470 Granville St,
Vancouver, BC. V6C 1V5
Phone: (604) 689-7017 / 877-689-7018
E-mail: ircanada@minandes.com
|
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
reserves, work programs, development plans and exploration budgets at the
Company's San Jos� Project. Investors should be aware that the
introduction of new technology such as ILR can create added risk in
achieving metallurgical performance. 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 and other risks. We refer readers 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.
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, because these terms are common
usage in Canada and form part of our Canadian filing requirements.
THE TSX HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
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