SPOKANE,
WASHINGTON – October 25, 2007 – Minera Andes Inc. (TSX: MAI
and US OTC: MNEAF) has accepted an offer letter from Macquarie Bank
Limited (“Macquarie Bank”, Australian Stock Exchange, ASX:
MBL) to provide a loan facility of US$10 million. The main purpose
of the facility will be to provide additional funding to Minera Andes for
its 49% portion of the costs of the exploration, sustaining capital, cost
overruns and expansion related costs of the San Jos� silver/gold project that
entered its production commissioning phase in the third quarter of 2007.
The US$10 million
debt facility provided by Macquarie Bank is subject to completion of
documentation. The funds from the facility have been delivered and
Toronto Stock Exchange approval received. The debt financing is for part
of Minera Andes’ share of the October cash call for costs of mine
construction, expansion of the exploration program which will include
drilling new targets, expanding the reserves and resources, and for
general working capital. In addition, since this facility is an extension
of a previously used debt facility with Macquarie Bank, we realize a
significant savings in cost to document and complete the loan.
Allen Ambrose,
president of Minera Andes, said: "As the San Jos� project is continuing
to grow in size and scope, making adjustments in the mine plan now allows
us to make significant cost savings of the operations down the
road. The Macquarie Bank bridge facility provides us with
additional funds to complete our objectives."
The commercial terms
of the loan include a facility fee of 1.75% of the principal amount of
the loan and interest of Libor plus 2.75% p.a., currently totaling
approximately 7.79% p.a. In addition, Minera Andes has issued share
purchase warrants acquiring 4,066,390 Common Shares of Minera Andes at an
exercise price of C$2.41 per share. The warrant exercise price was
calculated at a 20 percent premium to the volume weighted average of
Minera Andes’ common stock determined from the ten business days
prior to October 22, 2007. The warrants issued are exercisable
until September 30, 2009 the same term as the loan. The warrants
and the underlying common shares will have a hold period until February
25, 2008. A success fee of US$100,000, being one percent of the principal
amount of the facility, is payable to Xystus Limited for assisting with
the structuring and negotiation of the loan facility.
Macquarie Bank Limited is a diversified international provider of
specialist investment banking, trading and financial services with over
11,000 employees in 24 countries. Headquartered in Sydney,
Australia, Macquarie Bank listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1996
and is ranked as one of Australia’s top 20 companies by market
capitalization.
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 166,767,517 shares issued and outstanding.
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
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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
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, 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. 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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