Toronto,Ontario - Jan. 28, 1997

South American Gold and Copper Company Limited
Announces Filing of Preliminary Prospectus

Toronto, Ontario - South American Gold and Copper Company Limited ("SAGC") announced that it received receipts for its Final Prospectus from all Qualifying Provinces (Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Saskatchewan) on January 24, 1997. The Prospectus qualifies 16,500,000 shares to be issued, for no additional consideration, on the exercise of 16,500,000 special warrants sold through Nesbitt Burns Inc. and First Marathon Securities Limited as agents in Canada, Europe and the United States at a price of Cdn. $1.40 per special warrant, for gross proceeds of Cdn. $23,100,000 on October 30, 1996. The special warrants were sold on a private placement basis and are convertible into one common share at no additional cost.

SAGC is a mineral exploration company with extensive gold properties in Chile and Peru. Its common shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SAG.

For further information: Stephen W. Houghton, President and CEO; William C. O'Donnell, VP and CFO (odonnell@sagc.com). Telephone: (212) 983-9300, fax: (212) 983-9314.