MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT
Wednesday 2 April, 2008

Argent Minerals finds silver lining in stock market cloud

Silver-focused explorer Argent Minerals Limited has defied the current bleak market, successfully raising $4 million in an IPO to fund an advanced exploration program for its tenements in the Lachlan Fold Belt in New South Wales.

Argent will list on the ASX tomorrow, Thursday 3 April under the ASX code ARD.

Argent plans to immediately start an advanced exploration program as part of its Farm-in and Joint Venture agreements with Golden Cross Operations, involving an estimated expenditure of $2.7 million over the first 18 months.

Argent is farming in to three projects in the Lachlan Fold Belt, a well mineralised region that hosts major gold and base metal mines which include Cadia/Ridgeway, North Parkes and Cowal.

According to Argent’s Executive Chairman Kerry McHugh, the successful IPO is a tribute to the advanced state of their exploration tenements, including JORC resources, and rekindled investor interest in silver.

“The silver price has been as high as US$20.50 per ounce in recent weeks and is currently approaching US$17 per ounce. Three years ago the price was only US$7 per ounce,” Mr McHugh said.

“The exploration program will include advancing Argent’s Kempfield silver/lead/zinc/barite project that has JORC defined resources of over 11 million ounces of silver (3.7 million tonnes at 93g/t) of which 74% are measured or indicated.

“As part of our agreement with Golden Cross Operations, Argent can earn a 70% interest in Kempfield, Sunny Corner and West Wyalong by spending $4.5 million in exploration over the coming six years,” he said.

Sunny Corner was the site of the first major silver mine in Australia, producing around three million ounces of silver at a grade in excess of 13ozs/tonne. Drilling by Golden Cross Resources Limited in 2004 produced intersections including 28m at 1.32%Cu, 6.45% Pb, 12.86% Zn, 0.54g/t Au and 109g/t Ag.

“Argent will undertake a VTEM survey in the coming months to identify extensions to the old mines in the area and any deeper undiscovered deposits that may exist,” Mr McHugh said.

West Wyalong was mined in the 1890s for high grade gold, with reefs typically running more than 2ozs/tonne. Recent drilling by Argent intersected 2m at 19.1 g/t gold from 106m in a previously undrilled part of the tenement and 4m at 6.11g/t at Mallee Vale, adjacent to an old shaft.

“The Company will undertake follow-up drilling on these targets,” Mr McHugh said.

“Our shareholders will receive exposure to potential exploration success in the search for silver, lead, copper, and gold on tenements that either have a history of significant mining activity, such as Sunny Corner and West Wyalong – or, in the case of Kempfield, have an existing JORC resource.

At Kempfield, Argent will also undertake additional metallurgical tests to determine column leach recoveries of silver. This test-work will form the basis of a study into a project to heap leach the Kempfield oxide resources.

“In recent years the price of all of these metals has risen appreciably,” he said.

Argent’s major shareholder is RAB Special Situations (Master) Fund Limited which has a 17% interest in the Company.

www.argentminerals.com.au

For more information:

Kerry McHugh

Executive Chairman

Argent Minerals Limited

P: 0404 465 154

Caroline Thomson

Purple Communications

P: 08 9485 1254

M: 0410 479 489

E: cthomson@purplecom.com.au

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