Exploration Increases Size Of Los Azules Target

SPOKANE, WA - Minera Andes Inc. reported that the final results from core holes drilled during the 2007-2008 exploration field season at the Los Azules porphyry copper project confirm that the copper target is open to the north. Several positive indicators including hole AZ-08-37A drilled at the northern limit of this seasons drilling, geologic mapping, and historic drilling indicate that the copper target at Los Azules extends another 3 kilometers to the north of the drilling completed this field season.
As previously reported, hole AZ-08-37A 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 meters to the north and is the deepest hole drilled to date on the property by Minera Andes, suggesting that the limits of the copper system have not yet been defined. Also, additional check assay work preformed as part of the geologic studies underway showed hole AZ-08-41 to contain 152 meters of 0.81 percent copper within a zone of 236 meters of 0.62 percent copper (this represents an increase of 72 percent and 55 percent respectively over the previously reported copper results).
Allen Ambrose, president of Minera Andes said "The success we have had in the northern limits of our exploration program combined with historic drilling on the property further north indicate significant potential for target expansion."
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. Due to the expansion of the copper target at Los Azules, planning for next season's field program starting in November of this year is underway to explore the 3 kilometers of target to the north of the scoping study area.
The prospective area north of our current drilling contains several drill holes from a 1998-1999 precious metals exploration program by Battle Mountain Gold (see URL for map: http://files.newswire.ca/530/ProyectLosAzules07-08.doc). These holes encountered geology and anomalous copper mineralization similar to that found in recent drilling by Minera Andes to the south, providing some insight into the potential of the area to host additional porphyry copper mineralization.
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%.
The company's address is 111 East Magnesium Road, Ste. A, Spokane, WA 99208, (509) 921-7322, email: [email protected].