News Release

PROSPECTORS AND DEVELOPERS ASSOCIATION OF CANADA APPLAUDS SUPER FLOW-THROUGH EXTENSION

Toronto, March 23, 2004 – Bill Mercer, President of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC), said that he is delighted with today’s announcement by Finance Minister Ralph Goodale that the temporary Investment Tax Credit for Exploration in Canada (ITCE) is to be extended by one year. The ITCE program, named “super” flow-through shares by investors when it was first introduced by then Finance Minister Paul Martin in October 2000, was due to expire this year. The ‘buy period’ for investors will now close December 31, 2005, and the expenditure deadline for companies becomes December 31, 2006.

“The PDAC estimates the ITCE program has helped raise more than $750 million for flow-through financed grass roots mineral exploration in Canada to the end of December 2003,” says Mercer. “The money put up by investors is spent mainly in rural and northern Canada, making it one of the most innovative and cost effective systems of transfer payments ever devised – governments are not involved in deciding where the money is to be allocated.”

According to PDAC Director of Issues Management David Comba, “the amounts raised by flow-through are helping Canada return to levels of domestic mineral exploration that support sustainable mining. Currently less than $1.00 of every $3.00 raised in Canada for mineral exploration by junior companies ($3 billion in 2003) stays in Canada. Flow-through is what keeps Canada competitive.”

The best news is that flow-through has resulted in an average of almost two discoveries per month since ITCE was introduced.” Some examples include:

• diamond discoveries along the Melville Peninsula in Nunavut and in the Otish Mountains of Quebec

• high grade nickel/copper discoveries with high contained platinum/palladium values around Sudbury, Ontario and near Raglan, Quebec

• copper/zinc discoveries in Nunavut and west of James Bay in Ontario

• gold discoveries in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The PDAC is a national association supporting the mineral exploration industry. Its members include prospectors, junior exploration companies, mining companies, consultants and suppliers active in the search for and development of mineral deposits. The association annually hosts in Toronto the largest convention of its kind in the world. The March 2004 convention attracted some 9,200 people from 89 countries.

For more information:

David Comba (416) 362-1969 Ext 233

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