Toronto,Ontario - Nov 13, 1997

South American Gold and Copper Company Limited Announces Further Information on its Antena Gold Prospect

Toronto, Ontario - The Antena Prospect is contained within an 80 square kilometre area located approximately 120 kilometres from Santiago, Chile, at an altitude of less than 1,000 metres in the coastal Batholith area of Chile.

SAGC’s exploration efforts at Antena are focused on identifying the gold source of the Marga Marga placers. Exploration is complicated by the scarcity of outcrops and the severe leaching of gold values within the mineralized structures. Detailed studies of panned gold grains recovered in our exploration to date indicate that the source gold for the placers was largely coarse (+150 mesh) which resisted natural leaching processes. In one area SAGC’s geologists have found 15 samples of float with grades between 0.12 and 36.5 grams of gold per ton. The gold appears in these samples at 15% to 25% coarse and 75% to 85% fine gold. This float appears to have come from narrow veins that escaped leaching. Elsewhere, the fine gold has all been leached within the structures and is believed to have formed supergene enrichment below the 25 to 60 metre deep zone of strong leaching. SAGC’s and the University of Chile’s geologists believe that the Marga Marga placers were largely formed from coarse gold and that the fine gold has gone into supergene enrichment. If this assessment is correct, the potential gold remaining in the Antena prospect area could be much greater than the recorded 1,100,000 ounces of gold which was recovered from the Marga Marga placers during Spanish Colonial times.

Recent work done at the University of Paris, in cooperation with the University of Chile’s Geological Department, on gold particles recovered by SAGC’s panning at Antena have led to the conclusion that the gold grains have suffered minimal transportation and further, there is no evidence that the gold grains were formed by solution and precipitation, thereby eliminating the possibility of formation of the gold in a typical placer environment. Based on this information, SAGC’s and the University of Chile’s geologists are confident the gold grains were eroded out of nearby host rocks.

SAGC’s exploration at Antena has consisted of geological mapping, geophysics, geochemical soil sampling, gold panning of 30 kilo samples, together with road trenching and percussion drilling. This work has located at least five areas of interest within the 80 square kilometre Antena prospect. On two of these areas SAGC has drilled a total of 1,311 metres, to depths varying from 80 to 150 metres. The exploratory drilling to date on these two areas has consisted of two drill fences that show the mineralization is located in fault zones and is not widely dispersed. In one area, over a distance of 4,000 metres and a width of 500 to 800 metres, we are finding parallel gold bearing stockwork structures 10 to 20 metres wide. Five of these structures have been partially exposed by road trenches over lengths of up to 200 metres. Gold panning is indicating the presence of other structures. Drilling in this area has just started. In another zone, 80 metres of disseminated pyrite found in one of the drill holes has proved to be peripheral to strong coincident self potential and resistivity anomalies along a northwest trending fault associated with extensive placer workings. Further drilling in this zone will recommence after additional geophysical work. Direct operational percussion drilling costs at Antena are presently averaging US $13 per metre.

In summary, aided by the University of Chile, SAGC has advanced considerably in understanding the Antena gold mineralization and how to proceed with its exploration. The exploratory percussion drilling program operated by SAGC personnel was initiated six weeks ago and has been substantially delayed due to prolonged periods of unusually heavy rains. Geological understanding of the area is being assimilated on nearly a daily basis and SAGC’s geologists are confident that promising targets for systematic drilling will be identified at Antena.

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, EVP and CFO (odonnell@sagc.com). Telephone: (212) 983-9300, fax: (212) 983-9314.