SPOKANE, WA - Minera Andes Inc. reported the results of an independent resource estimate at the Los Azules Copper deposit located in western San Juan province, Argentina.

The Inferred Mineral Resource, at 0.35% total copper ("CuT") cut-off, is defined by an area approximately 3.7 km by 1 km in size and contains a high-grade near surface copper core in the north. This resource estimate will form the basis of an economic scoping study (NI-43-101 Preliminary Assessment) planned for completion at year end. In addition, the mineralized copper target remains open to the north and at depth.

At a 0.35% total copper cut-off, the Inferred Resource at Los Azules is 922 million tonnes grading 0.55% copper, containing 11.2 billion pounds of copper.

Allen Ambrose, president of Minera Andes, said: "We are very pleased to report on our continued success at Los Azules. This resource estimate demonstrates that Los Azules ranks as one the largest new undeveloped copper deposits in Argentina. At a cutoff grade of 0.8%Cu, the resource totals 93 million tonnes at a grade of 0.97%Cu, much of which occurs at a near surface, high-grade core zone."

"The presence of a high-grade copper core is important in that it could significantly enhance the project economics as a starter pit in the early years of any potential mining operations."

Minera Andes is advancing the Los Azules project under an option agreement with Xstrata Copper, one of the commodity business units within Xstrata. The scope and size potential of the project increased dramatically in 2006 when the Minera Andes drilling discovered a near surface high-grade area of copper mineralization, when AZ-06-19 en-countered 221 meters of mineralization averaging 1.62% copper that was 200 meters from hole AZ-06-20 containing 173 meters of 1% copper.

There are a total of 83 drill holes in the Los Azules database with a cumulative length of 19,680 meters and a total of 10,919 samples analyzed for total copper with an average individual sample length of 1.5 meters. A total of 35 of the drill holes have some portion of the sample intervals tested for sequential copper analysis.

The resource estimate has been generated from drill hole sample assay results and the interpretation of a geologic model which relates to the spatial distribution of copper in the deposit. Grade estimates have been made using ordinary kriging with a nominal block size of 20x20x15 meters.