Cerro San Pedro Production Leavels On Track 

TORONTO, ON - Metallica Resources Inc. began commercial production at its Cerro San Pedro mine, in San Luis Potosi, Mexico on May 1, 2007. In the first eight months, the mine turned cash flow positive and generated $1.2 million despite high initial stripping costs and start-up inefficiencies. As of March 13, 2008, cumulative production totaled 39,098 ounces of gold and 567,891 ounces of silver.
The Company is on track to achieve planned production levels of 80,000 ounces of gold and 1.35 million ounces of silver for 2008. Metallica remains hedge free. Cash costs for 2007 were $5.27 per tonne of ore, only slightly higher than planned. Cash costs for 2008 are expected to exceed 2007 costs, to roughly $5.40 per tonne of ore, due to expected higher strip ratio. This equates to approximately $263 per ounce of gold, net of silver at $14.80 per ounce. Ore production to the leach pad for the year was approximately 6.5 million tonnes, in line with expectations. As of early March 2008, approximately 8.0 million tonnes of ore had been placed on the pad maintaining anticipated levels for the current year. The Cerro San Pedro Processing plant operated at design capacity by the end of 2007 and continues to produce approximately 220 ounces of gold per day. Recoveries appear to be in line with metallurgical test work, however, given the limited amount of leach time, it is too early to draw any definitive conclusions. Capital costs for Cerro San Pedro for 2008 are estimated at $6.7 million and will include the construction of Phase 2 of the leach pad, which has been advanced to 2008 from 2009 as originally scheduled due to increased mining rates. The focus of activity on the El Morro project during 2007 was the completion of the final feasibility study by the joint venture partner and project operator Xstrata Copper. In January 2008, Metallica took delivery of the feasibility study per the agreed deadline, however, both parties have agreed that additional refinements to the study are needed in order to comply with third party lending standards. Xstrata is currently amending the study so that it meets these standards and Metallica anticipates a 43-101 Technical Report will be filed early in the second quarter. Metallica continues to advance its exploration projects at Rio Figueroa in Chile and both Liberty Bell and the Southwest Peninsula Projects in Alaska.
The company's address is Suite 165, 12200 E. Briarwood Ave., Centennial, CO 80112, (303) 796-0229, fax: (303) 796-0265.