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ANDINA Minerals Inc.: Andina Minerals Strengthens Management Team

^{Published on 2009-03-02 06:06:33, Last Modified on 2009-03-02 06:08:29 - Market Wire}
 

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 2, 2009) - ANDINA Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:ADM) ("Andina") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Keith McKay and Mr. Alejandro Labbe, effective immediately, to key development positions as part of its shift from a solely exploration focused company to one that will now place greater emphasis on the development of its 100% owned Volcan Gold Project, located in Region III, Chile.

Mr. Keith McKay joins Andina as Executive Vice President adding to the team his extensive experience in the mining industry, including mine development, operations, and financial transactions. Mr. McKay comes to Andina from Aurelian Resources Inc., where he was Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Previous to this, Mr. McKay was Senior Vice President Financial Operations for an international engineering and project management services firm. Prior to that he was Controller at Rio Algom Ltd., a Canadian based mining company that produced copper, gold, uranium, molybdenum, and coal in North and South America. Mr. McKay also served as Vice President, Finance for Potash Company of Canada and has worked with the Bank of Montreal. Mr. McKay obtained his Chartered Accountants designation with Coopers & Lybrand.

Mr. Alejandro Labbe joins Andina as Vice President, Project Development and will be based in Chile. Mr. Labbe, who comes to Andina from Hatch Engineering Chile where he was working as Project Manager and Consultant Director, has over 35 years of experience in the mining industry in Chile. This includes 22 years with CODELCO in various roles including divisional General Manager, and 10 years with Barrick Gold Corp. where he was General Manager of the El Indio Mine and Operations Manager for the Pascua Lama Project. Among Mr. Labbe's many accomplishments was the orderly and successful closure of the El Indio Mine, the first mine to be closed under new COREMA (Corporacion Regional de Medio Ambiente) regulations. Mr. Labbe is a Civil/Mechanical Engineer and brings a wealth of experience on project development and management of operations at high altitudes.

George Bee, Andina's President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "I am delighted that Keith McKay and Alejandro Labbe have decided to join the team as we advance Andina to the next level. It's great to be back working in Chile where there is a wealth of experience and talent available to advance the Volcan project. With the slowdown in the base metals sector, it creates an exciting opportunity for Andina to transition from an exploration company to a development focus. We expect the Volcan Gold Project will be an important new investment in Chile's third Region."

About Andina Minerals Inc.

Andina is a Canadian based, Chilean focused company, with a portfolio of precious metals projects in Chile, including its flagship Volcan Gold Project.

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 working towards a preliminary economic assessment, expected by year end 2009, and 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.