Toronto,Ontario - July 12, 2001

South American Gold and Copper Company Limited Announces Start of Project Schedule at its Lorito Copper Prospect

 

Toronto, Ontario, Canada - South American Gold and Copper Company Limited ("SAGC")(TSE Symbol SAG) announced today that construction of the drill road and drill pads have been initiated on its Lorito Copper prospect.

Stephen W. Houghton, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated , "barring any unforeseen difficulties in the planned drill road and drill pad construction, we anticipate drilling to commence at Lorito within the next three to four weeks. While we had originally planned to complete the drill roads and drill pads in early June, a change in equipment scheduling by the originally chosen road contractor forced us to select a new contractor, causing the delay."

"The originally chosen drill contractor who has agreed to be compensated in shares of the Company’s common stock equal in value to the cash cost of a normal drill program is ready to move his drill rig to the drill sites at Lorito as soon as the drill road and pads are completed."

The Lorito Copper Prospect is unusually compact and well defined, indicating that its potential can be tested rapidly with the currently planned drill program.

Previously reported news releases and a project description on Lorito can be seen on SAGC’s web site, WWW.SAGC.COM.

South American Gold and Copper Company Limited is a mineral exploration and development company with properties and activities currently focused in Chile. It is also developing industrial minerals projects and will utilize potential earnings from these projects to further advance its exploration and development activities. Its common shares are listed on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol SAG.

For further information, please contact Stephen W. Houghton, President and CEO at telephone (212) 751-0083, fax (212) 751-0319 and visit our website at http://www.sagc.com.