SPOKANE,
WA––December 21, 2007–– Minera Andes Inc. (TSX:
MAI and US OTC: MNEAF) has completed the first closing on its up to
Cdn$35 million brokered private placement, for gross proceeds of
Cdn$21.515 million by issuing 13,880,645 units at a price of Cdn$1.55 per
unit. The financing, announced in our news release on December 19, 2007,
planned for multiple closings.
Each unit consists of
one common share and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. One
whole common share purchase warrant entitles the holder to purchase one
additional common share at an exercise price of Cdn$2.00 per share until
December 21, 2009. The securities are subject to a four-month hold
period. Notable subscribers to the financing include the Lundin Family
Trusts who subscribed for Cdn$9.75 million in units. Scotia
Capital Inc. ("Scotia") acted as agent on the private placement
in Canada while Shoreline Pacific LLC acted in the U.S. (together the
"Agents").
The Agents received a 5% commission. The Agents also received Agent's
compensation options equal to 5% of the aggregate number of units sold
pursuant to the offering. Each Agent's compensation option upon exercise
will entitle the holder to acquire one unit at an exercise price of
Cdn$1.70 per unit until December 21, 2009. A total of 13,880,645 common
shares may be issued pursuant to the private placement, and up to
6,940,322 common shares will be reserved for issuance on exercise of the
warrants and 694,032 units for issuance on the exercise of the
agent’s compensation options.
Minera Andes will use the proceeds from the offering to fund its share
of the costs at the San Jos� project in southern Argentina, as well as
for exploration drilling and completing a scoping study at Los Azules,
general exploration, and for general corporate purposes.
Minera Andes is a gold, silver and copper exploration company working
in Argentina. The Corporation holds about 410,000 acres of mineral
exploration land in Argentina including the co-owned San Jos� silver/gold
mine that has started initial production. Minera Andes is also exploring
the Los Azules copper project in San Juan province, where an exploration
program is underway to define a resource. Other exploration properties,
primarily silver and gold, are being evaluated in southern Argentina. The
Corporation presently has 180,974,912 shares issued and outstanding.
This news is submitted by Allen V. Ambrose, President and Director of
Minera Andes Inc.
For further information, please contact: Art Johnson at the Spokane
office, or Krister A. Kottmeier, investor relations – Canada, at
the Vancouver office. Visit our Web site: www.minandes.com.
Spokane Office
111 East Magnesium Rd.,
Spokane, WA 99208 USA
Phone: (509) 921-7322
E-mail: mineraandes@minandes.com
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Vancouver
Office
Suite 911 - 470 Granville St,
Vancouver, BC. V6C 1V5
Phone: (604) 689-7017 / 877-689-7018
E-mail: ircanada@minandes.com
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Caution Concerning
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains certain "forward-looking
statements", including, but not limited to, the statements regarding
the Company's strategic plans, evolution of mineral resources and
reserves, work programs, development plans and exploration budgets at the
Company’s San Jos� Project. The forward-looking statements express,
as at the date of this press release, the Company's plans, estimates,
forecasts, projections, expectations or beliefs as to future events and
results. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and
uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will
prove to be accurate. Therefore, actual results and future events could
differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. In
particular, there can be no assurance that commercial production at the
San Jos� mine will be achieved on a timely basis, or at all, that
production capacity at the San Jos� mine will be successfully increased,
that resources and reserves at the San Jos� mine will be increased or
that Minera Andes will successfully raise the funds necessary to maintain
its interest in the San Jos� mine.. Risks and uncertainties that could
cause results or future events to differ materially from current
expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements
include, but are not limited to, factors associated with fluctuations in
the market price of precious metals, mining industry risks, risks
associated with foreign operations, the state of the capital markets,
environmental risks and hazards, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral
reserves and other risks. Reference is made to the risk factors and uncertainties
described in the Company’s continuous disclosure record, a copy of
which is available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com. In
addition, Minera Andes’ joint venture partner, a subsidiary of
Hochschild Mining plc, and its affiliates do not accept responsibility
for the use of project data or the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors:
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC") permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC,
to disclose only those mineral deposits with “mineral
reserves” that a company can economically and legally extract or
produce. We use certain terms in this press release, such as
"mineral resources", that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit
us from including in our filings with the SEC.
THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT
RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
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