SPOKANE, Wash., Sept. 22, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- Minera Andes Inc. (TSX Venture Exchange:MAI) (OTCBB:MNEAF) is planning to further test a potentially large copper/gold porphyry mineralized system in San Juan province, Argentina. The undrilled target at Los Azules is situated adjacent to a property where drilling has discovered significant intervals of porphyry copper mineralization in several holes drilled through a leached cap into secondary and primary mineralization.
The hydrothermal system at Los Azules is an altered area approximately 5 km by 8 km surrounding a core mineralized porphyry target that is about 1 km by 3 km in size. The target straddles the Minera Andes property boundary where drilling on the adjacent property has revealed copper grades and thicknesses that increase toward the Minera Andes ground and contain up to 0.55% total copper and 2.1gm silver over 143 meters in holes that end in mineralization. Surface sampling on the Minera Andes porphyry target reveals gold values ranging from nil to 0.3 grams gold in a stockwork zone that is leached. The Minera Andes target remains to be tested by drilling. Work is expected to begin in the 2003-2004 field season.
The 100 percent-owned Los Azules project is 3,495-hectares (8,633 acres) and was discovered by Minera Andes' geologists through regional exploration in the Andes. The project is situated in Argentina near the Argentina/Chile border between two prolific mineral belts that straddle the border and is held as an application for a exploration permit(cateo). To the north of the property, the El Indio gold belt is host to multi-million ounces of gold, and includes significant gold discoveries such as Veladero, Sancarron, Pascua and El Indio-El Tambo. Adjacent to the west of the property is the El Teniente copper belt, host to the world class El Tenniente copper mine of Codelco which currently produces about 7 billion pounds of copper annually from the worlds largest underground mine (see Figure 1).
Exploration
Minera Andes' geologists discovered the Los Azules property through regional exploration and prospecting using Landsat imaging, mapping and sampling. The acquired land position covers approximately half of a large area of hydrothermal alteration typically associated with mineralized systems. Exploration drilling in 1998 on the northern property boundary by Battle Mountain Gold ("BMG") discovered significant copper intervals (see table below). As exploration drilling progressed south towards Minera Andes' property boundary, copper grades and thickness generally increased. This is due to a change in mineralogy from a pyritic halo into a zone of increasing chalcopyrite indicative of the typical zonation in a porphyry copper system. These results from the adjacent property, along with altered and leached stockwork zones with surface gold anomalies on Minera Andes' ground, point to an attractive untested porphyry target situated on Minera Andes' ground.
BMG drilled 18 holes on the adjacent target. The three best mineralized copper intervals were located in close proximity to the Minera Andes Los Azules target. Reverse-circulation holes LA04-98, LA06-98, LA08-98 were drilled 1,200 meters, 600 meters, and 220 meters north, respectively, of the BMG-Minera Andes boundary, with all holes open at depth (see Figure 2). These holes encountered a barren leached zone from the surface to about 70 to 100 meters followed by an enriched copper oxide zone and then a mixed oxide-sulfide zone to the end of the hole. The holes contain significant copper intervals along with the silver credits listed below.
Drill Total Depth Interval Intercept Total Cu* Ag Hole (m) (m) (m) (%) (g/t) ==================================================================== LA04-98 250 117-250 133 0.47 2.2 -------------------------------------------------------------------- LA06-98 61-250 189 0.44 2.0 Includes: 250 157-50 93 0.64 2.8 -------------------------------------------------------------------- LA08-98 77-220 143 0.55 2.1 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Includes: 220 103-220 117 0.61 2.3 * Copper oxide plus copper sulfide Note: Holes bottomed in mineralization
BMG also completed an airborne magnetics survey over the entire Los Azules target area. This work also validates the porphyry target on the Minera Andes ground. Currently the exploration target, which contains surface gold and molybdenite anomalies, is defined by an area 1,000 meters by 1,500 meters in size.
The tentative exploration program planned for Los Azules includes a diamond drill exploration program to further define and refine the limits of the potassic alteration core and the economic limits of the copper-gold-silver mineralization at Los Azules.
Allen Ambrose, president of Minera Andes, said, "Los Azules is a large primary porphyry copper system that remains untested on the Minera Andes ground. Work on our ground and the adjacent drilling verify the high quality of this exploration target that we plan to aggressively pursue this field season in addition to our gold/silver joint venture at the San Jose project where underground and surface exploration progresses toward a production decision next year."
Results from the BMG and Minera Andes' exploration programs were reviewed by Brian Gavin, Minera Andes' vice president, exploration, and Allen Ambrose, president, who are an appropriately qualified persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
Minera Andes is a mining exploration corporation that is involved with approximately 10 projects on about 198,000 hectares (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 37,475,864 issued and outstanding 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 3303 N. Sullivan Road 1000-355 Burrard Street Spokane, WA 99216 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.
Drilling data presented along with some technical information in this news release are from an internal report provided to Minera Andes Inc. by Battle Mountain Gold under the terms of a joint venture agreement
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