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News - Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Peru Copper Reports 2007 First Quarter Financial Results
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Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, May 15, 2007 - Peru Copper Inc.
(TSX:PCR / AMEX:CUP / BVL:CUP) ("Peru Copper" or the "Company") is
involved in the acquisition and exploration of potentially mineable
deposits of copper in Peru. On June 11, 2003, Peru Copper entered into
the Toromocho Option Agreement ("Toromocho Option") with a Peruvian
state-owned mining company, Empresa Minera del Centro del Peru S.A.
("Centromin"), whereby Centromin granted the Company the option to
acquire its interest in the mining concessions and related assets of
the Toromocho Project. Centromin later transferred the rights and
obligations of the Toromocho Option to Activos Mineros, a Peruvian
state-owned mining entity.

Recent Developments

On January 3, 2007, the Company announced that a second copper-zinc
zone is being drill tested immediately north of the Toromocho orebody.
This skarn mineralization is peripheral to the large collapsed breccia
pipe which hosts most of the two billion tonne Toromocho copper
orebody.

On January 4, 2007, the Company announced the appointment of Gerald
Wolfe to the position of President, Chief Executive Officer and
Director of the Company effective January 15, 2007.

On February 5, 2007, the Company announced results from its recent
column leach testing at the Toromocho copper deposit. These preliminary
test results suggest that the geology of the Toromocho orebody maybe
suited to an initial heap leach operation followed several years later
by flotation concentration, which could result in a smaller upfront
investment from the Company, as well as a shorter timeframe to copper
production.

On February 23, 2007, the Company announced the retirement of Mr.
Charles Preble from the Board of Directors effective February 28, 2007.
Mr. Preble will continue to serve the Company as a consultant.

Financial Results

The Company prepares its financial statements in U.S. dollars and in
accordance with accounting policies and practices generally accepted in
Canada ("Canadian GAAP"). Peru Copper expenses all costs not directly
related to its exploration and drilling efforts of the Toromocho
Project and capitalizes all exploration expenses.

For the three months ended March 31, 2007, the Company recorded a loss
of $1.3 million as compared to a loss of $1.0 million for the same
period in 2006. Contributing to the Company's loss was an increase of
$0.4 million in management fees and salaries from $0.1 million in the
first quarter of 2006 to $0.5 million in the first quarter of 2007. The
increase in management fees was primarily due to a severance payment
made to a retired management member and management bonuses.

Other items that contributed to the Company's loss in the first quarter
of 2007 included stock-based compensation and travel expenses, which
together increased by $0.1 million. The increase in stock-based
compensation was due to the vesting of outstanding stock options issued
to directors, officers, employees and consultants. The Company
capitalizes all stock-based compensation related to the vesting of
stock options granted to employees and consultants who work directly on
the Toromocho Project and expenses all other stock-based compensation.
Travel expenses increased due to the continued development of the
Feasibility Study, which is being conducted on the 47 concessions that
make up the Toromocho Project. The Feasibility Study is on schedule for
completion by the end of the fourth quarter of the current year.

Expenses were partially offset by $0.4 million of interest earned on
cash balances and a small foreign exchange gain.

Capitalized Expenses

All of the Company's $12.8 million of exploration expenses during the
first quarter of 2007 have been capitalized under Canadian GAAP to
exploration properties and all administration expenses of the Company
have been expensed.

The bulk of the capitalized expenses for the first quarter 2007 were
related to $8.1 million in acquisition and lease costs associated with
the acquisition of Minera Centenario and payments made to Austria
Duvaz. These payments were made in accordance with the agreements
signed with Austria Duvaz in 2006.

Contributing to the capitalized expenses in the first quarter of 2007
were salaries and consulting fees and expenses of $2.1 million that
were related to costs associated with an increasing number of
consultants working on the Feasibility Study as well as the
approximately 55 employees who normally work on the Toromocho Project.
Supplies and general expenses totaled $0.7 million for the three months
ended March 31, 2007 due to the accelerated development of the
Feasibility Study.

Additional capitalized costs in the first quarter of 2007 include
drilling and expenses of $0.5 million, valued added taxes of $0.4
million due to the purchase of supplies and $0.3 million in stock-based
compensation for workers and consultants working directly on the
Toromocho Project.

For further information please contact Patrick De Witt, Director of
Investor Relations at (604) 689-0234 or patrick@perucopper.com.

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors---The United States Securities and
Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings
with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company
can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms
in this press release, such as "mineral deposit", that the SEC
guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including
in their filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider
closely the disclosure in our Form F-3 Registration Statement, File No.
333-121527, which may be secured from us, or from the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING-STATEMENTS

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to
the future price of copper and molybdenum, the timing of exploration
activities, the mine life of the Toromocho Project, the economic
viability and estimated internal rate of return of the Toromocho
Project, the estimation of mineral reserves and mineral resources, the
results of drilling, estimated future capital and operating costs,
future stripping ratios, projected mineral recovery rates and Peru
Copper's commitment to, and plans for developing, the Toromocho
Project. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified
by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or
"does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates",
"forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or
"believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that
certain actions, events or results "may", "can", "could", "would",
"might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking
statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity,
performance or achievements of Peru Copper to be materially different
from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements,
including but not limited to: risks related to the exploration and
potential development of the Toromocho Project, risks related to
international operations, the actual results of current exploration
activities, conclusions of economic evaluations, changes in project
parameters as plans continue to be refined, future prices of copper,
silver, molybdenum and gold, as well as those factors discussed in the
section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Form F-3 as on file with the
Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. and in the
section entitled "Narrative Description of the Business -- Risks of the
Business" in the Annual Information Form of the Company dated March 24,
2005. Although Peru Copper has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors
that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.
There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be
accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially
from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should
not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Peru Copper
does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are
incorporated by reference herein, except in accordance with applicable
securities laws.

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Copyright (c) 2007 PERU COPPER INC. (PCR) All rights reserved. For
more information visit our website at http://www.perucopper.com/ or
send mailto:info@perucopper.com
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