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ANDINA Minerals Inc.: Mr. George Bee Appointed New President & CEO of Andina Minerals

^{Published on 2009-01-05 14:25:29, Last Modified on 2009-01-05 14:27:33 - Market Wire}
 

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Jan. 5, 2009) - ANDINA Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:ADM) ("Andina") is pleased to announce that, effective January 19, 2009, Mr. George Bee will be joining Andina as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director. His immediate primary focus will be driving the next phase of development at the Volcan Gold Project in Chile by assembling and spearheading a first class team which will complete a technical study of the project during 2009. Mr. Bee will also be responsible for the broader corporate strategy, including business development matters, as well as maintaining Andina's positive profile in Chile and the capital markets.

"We are very pleased that George has agreed to join Andina. The acceptance of this position by an individual of George's calibre underscores our belief that Volcan is among the larger, more significant gold finds of late, with the real potential to become a major long-life gold mining operation", said Sean Harvey, Chairman of Andina. "With nearly 30 years in the mining industry, much of it spent in South America, developing, building and operating large projects, his expertise will be essential to drive Volcan forward to its next stage of development and beyond."

Mr. Bee joins Andina most recently from Aurelian Resources (recently acquired by Kinross Gold Corporation) where he held the title of Chief Operating Officer and was primarily responsible for the development of Aurelian's principle project, the Fruta del Norte Project in Ecuador. Prior to that George was Director, Technical Projects for Barrick Gold Corporation. George first joined Barrick in 1989 and during his career at Barrick was responsible for a number of operating and development projects. In 1998, he went to Latin America as Operations Manager to finalize construction and commence operations at the Pierina mine in Peru. In 2005, with the development of the Veladero mine, he completed his assignment to finalize the advanced exploration and feasibility stages of this large tonnage, low-grade heap leach operation located at altitude in the Argentine Andes.

"I am excited to be part of the dynamic growth story that is unfolding at Andina", said Mr. Bee. I have spent many years working in South America and I am pleased to be back working in such a mining friendly country as Chile again. I look forward to enjoying many successes at Andina in building a strong mining company benefiting Andina's shareholders and stakeholders through responsible mineral development."

Mr. Bee's 29-year mining career began as a miner in a Cornish tin mine and has culminated in successively more responsible senior operational roles in some of the world's leading mining companies. While working in South America, he led successful government and community relations programs that were critical to gaining social license. Mr. Bee has built and overseen various operational management teams and managed at existing mines, including Barrick's Goldstrike mine in Nevada. In addition to senior operational roles at Barrick, he was a senior manager at Kinross and Palabora Mining Company in South Africa. Mr. Bee holds a Bachelor of Science in Mining from the Camborne School of Mines. He is comfortable interacting, leading and managing at all levels of spoken and written Spanish and has built many important relationships in Latin America, a premier location for exploration and mining.

The Board of Directors would like to thank Mr. Carl Hansen, who will be stepping down from the position of President and Chief Executive Officer of Andina on January 16, 2009, for his dedication and commitment to bringing Andina to this point. Mr. Hansen has been a key figure in the rapid growth Andina has achieved since its inception in 2004. Mr. Hansen will continue as a Director and employee until February 28, 2009 to assist during the transition phase.

As part of Mr. Bee's employment agreement, the Board of Directors has granted him 1,000,000 options, which are exercisable at CDN$1.08 (based on the closing price on January 5, 2009 on the TSX Venture Exchange) and expire on January 5, 2014.

About Andina Minerals Inc.

Andina is an Americas-focused exploration company, with a portfolio of precious metals exploration projects in Chile, including its flagship Volcan Gold Project, strategically located in the Maricunga Gold Belt.

The Volcan Gold Project is strategically located in Chile's Maricunga Gold Belt. Volcan hosts measured and indicated resources of 6.62 million contained ounces of gold (241.7 million tonnes grading 0.85 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au")) in addition to 3.28 million ounces of gold (114.0 million tonnes grading 0.90 g/t Au) in the inferred resource category. Andina is well positioned financially to move the Volcan Gold Project forward.

NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 43-101 COMPLIANCE

Under the guidelines of National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") of the Canadian Securities Administrators, the qualified person for the Volcan Gold Project is Michael Easdon, a resident of Santiago, Chile. Mr. Easdon, a Professional Geologist registered with the State of Oregon, USA, is an independent qualified person as defined by NI 43-101.

Information on the parameters and methodology for the Volcan Gold Project resource estimates can be found in following NI 43-101 compliant technical reports filed on the Canadian Securities Administrators' "System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval" at [ www.sedar.com ]: "Phase IV - Volcan Gold Project, Dorado West and Ojo de Agua Zones, Region III, Chile" (September 2, 2008) prepared by Michael Easdon; and "Phase III - Volcan Gold Project, Dorado West, Central and East Zones, Region III, Chile" (November 28, 2007) prepared by Ralph Gonzalez a professional engineer registered with the Association of Professional Engineers of the Province of Manitoba since 1977 and a Professional Geologist registered with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists in the Province of British Columbia since 1992. Information on the Ojo de Agua area resource estimate can be found in the Andina press release issued on October 6, 2008.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This release contains forward-looking statements, including predictions, projections and forecasts. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to results of due diligence, exploration results, the success of exploration activities generally, permitting time lines, mine development prospects, government regulation of exploration and mining operations, timing of scoping-level studies, future share issuances, and title disputes or claims. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "planning", "expects" or "does not expect", "continues", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "potential", "anticipates", "does not anticipate", or "belief", or describes a "goal", or variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, future events, conditions, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, prediction, projection, forecast, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the results of due diligence activities, the interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; future prices of gold; possible variations in grade or recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated; labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors disclosed in Andina's publicly filed documents. Although Andina has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.