Dolores On Schedule For Gold And Silver Production

VANCOUVER, BC - Minefinders Corporation, President and CEO, Mark Bailey reported that its 18,000 tonne per day Dolores open pit mine, in Chihuahua Mexico, is on schedule and on budget to produce gold and silver in the third quarter of 2007.

Recent progress in the rapid advancement of all facets of the Dolores mine development includes the following:

Completion of a final comprehensive surface rights agreement with all interested parties that provides full and unrestricted access to all areas within the claim group and access roads for 30 years.
Receipt of all required permits for construction and mine operations, including, most recently, the explosives permit.
Completion of all detailed engineering for mine construction.
Completion of financings in 2006 to secure approximately US$160 million through: the placement, in April, of 11 million common shares at CDN$8.50 each; and the placement, in November, of US$85 million in 4.50% unsecured convertible notes. The Company is fully funded for the US$132 million capital cost to bring the Dolores mine into commercial production, and has additional working capital available for ongoing exploration at Dolores and at its other projects.
The purchase and delivery, or fixed scheduling thereof, of all primary mining, crushing, and processing equipment for the Dolores mine, including the following. All equipment is new and rolling stock is inclusive of tires and spares:

Haultrucks - six HD785 100 tonne Komatsu trucks and two HD785 water trucks with tanks have been delivered to the Texas laydown site. A remaining nine trucks are scheduled for delivery.
Dozers - two D375A Komatsu dozers, one D61 Komatsu and one D155AX Komatsu, has arrived to the Cuauhtemoc laydown site, in Mexico.
Loaders - all loaders two WA900 Komatsu and one WA600 have arrived and are secure at the laydown sites.
Shovels - the first of two shovels, PC3000 Komatsu has shipped and the second shovel to arrive in mid-March.
Crusher Equipment - the four HP-800 cone crushers have arrived at the laydown site and imported into Mexico. The C-160 jaw crusher is in route. \
Generators - all (six 1.8 megawatt) primary generators have been purchased and delivered to Mexico City has been shipped. Seven other generators of various sizes are already on site.
Merrill Crowe Plant and Smelter - 75% of components have been delivered to the laydown sites, including building, filter presses, pumps and furnace.
Other Mining Equipment - ancillary equipment that has now been purchased includes: a 60 ton crane, a WA470 tire handler, three bobcat loaders, light plants, fuel truck, small backhoe and trackhoe, two 16H Cat equivalent graders, one 14G Cat equivalent grader, and numerous support trucks, tires, and other site equipment.

Site construction activity includes the following:

Earthworks - the Merrill Crowe pad, primary crusher pad, and tertiary crusher pad sites have been prepared and turned over to the concrete contractor. Concrete foundations are progressing on schedule. Work continues on the pad for the shop/office area.
Main Access Road - the new 92 kilometer access road to the mine site has been completed.
Leach Pad - the construction contract has been finalized.
Camp - camp construction is well underway with the first buildings complete and additional housing units being completed every two weeks.
Village - the relocation of the small Dolores village is underway. Homes are being constructed in the new village area for residents that wish to remain.

Dolores site construction is under management of the Company's Mexican operating subsidiary and Ausenco Americas LLC. Crusher, conveying and stacking facilities were designed and will be constructed by Terra Nova Technologies Inc. Merrill Crowe and smelting plants were designed and will be constructed by Lyntek Inc. Earthworks are being carried out by Rosales Construction and leach pad construction will be undertaken by ICSA, of Mexico. Other contractors are working on the camp and ancillary facilities.

Results from the 2006 exploration and condemnation drilling programs are being collated into an updated resource block model that will be completed and reported by the end this month. Assay results from previously-unreported 2006 drilling are pending and will be reported shortly.

The total measured and indicated resources used for estimation of the mineral reserves at Dolores are based on the revised resource block model that incorporates data from drilling only through the end of 2005. Minefinders has a measured and indicated resource at its 100% owned Dolores gold and silver project of 118.4 million tonnes containing 3.06 million ounces of gold and 149 million ounces of silver. An additional 667,000 ounces of gold and 27.7 million ounces of silver, contained in 33.8 million tonnes (at an average grade of 0.61 gpt gold and 25.5 gpt silver), remain classified as "inferred resources".

A 2007 resource expansion program will focus on the expansion of potential mineable underground high-grade zones, located below the current pit bottom, and on mineralized zones previously encountered in peripheral structures, outside the current pit design. The Company will also continue with project optimization, including refinements in mine planning and processing options that will follow from the new open pit resource and reserve estimates and from possible future underground operations.

Additional 2007 development plans include completion of a feasibility study for a flotation mill to process high-grade ores from the pit, expected to be added in the third year of the 15 year open pit mine life, with capacity for expansion to process possible underground resources.

The company's address is 2288, 1177 W Hastings St., Vancouver, BC V6E 2K3, (604) 687-6263, fax: (604) 687-6267.