Asia Gold Corp.: Rock Sampling and Trenching Identifies Strong Epithermal-Style Gold Mineralization at Dune in the Gobi Region, South Mongolia.

Business Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 2004

Asia Gold To Start A C$4.7 Million Mongolian Exploration

and Drilling Program in March 2004

David C. Owens, President of Asia Gold Corp. (ASG:TSX-V), is pleased to report the results of exploration work completed in late 2003 on the 100%-owned Dune prospect in southern Mongolia and to provide an update on the company's planned Mongolian exploration and drilling program for 2004.

The Dune Prospect

Strong gold mineralization has been identified in a low-sulphidation epithermal vein and breccia system on the Dune prospect, located within the company's 35,810-square-kilometre West Gobi Property in southern Mongolia. The gold mineralization is associated with a series of quartz-carbonate veins and multiphase breccias. Assays from 16 of 20 surface rock-chip grab samples were greater than 1.0 g/t gold, with four samples assaying 34.7, 21.5, 19.2 and 15.5 g/t gold. A further four samples graded between 5.0 and 10.0 g/t gold.

In late 2003, Asia Gold completed 27 trenches to test the Dune epithermal vein and breccia system. This work has defined a north-northwest-striking zone that is at least 450 metres in strike length and up to 20 metres in width. Veins are characterized by crustiform and colloform banded textures with drusy white to translucent quartz, and coarse-grained bladed pseudomorphs after calcite. Individual outcropping veins are up to 1.5 metres in width, whilst the maximum true thickness of individual veins intersected during trenching was 0.6 of a metre. The most significant gold grades in the trenches are shown below:

                Start       End    Apparent
             Distance  Distance   Thickness      Gold
Trench No.         (m)       (m)         (m)     (g/t)
-----------------------------------------------------
DNTR 007       220.00    221.20        1.20      9.90
DNTR 007       221.20    221.65        0.45     35.50
DNTR 008        78.00     78.20        0.20      0.23
DNTR 008        79.00     79.17        0.17     26.90
DNTR 008        79.30     79.43        0.13      8.30
DNTR 008        99.00     99.35        0.35      5.10
DNTR 010       266.40    266.70        0.30      3.95
DNTR 011        88.70     89.50        0.80     32.60
DNTR 012        70.50     71.30        0.80     18.60
DNTR 016         9.00     10.00        1.00      2.30
DNTR 018        31.00     31.30        0.30      5.55

The Dune vein and breccia system is hosted on the margin of an altered rhyolite dome complex and is open on strike to the south. The vein textures and mineralogy indicate that the system is exposed at its uppermost level. In May 2004 Asia Gold plans to drill test the central level of the system where the best grades and thickness can be expected. An IP survey will be conducted prior to the drilling to provide information on the vein geometry and potential sulphides at depth.

All Dune rock samples were prepared for analysis by Analabs Pty. Ltd. at Ivanhoe Mines' Manlai exploration camp and assayed by Analabs in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Analabs is a subsidiary of SGS Limited, an ISO-accredited Australian company. The geochemical sampling and assay program was conducted pursuant to a rigorous quality-control program established by Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia Inc.

2004 Exploration and Drilling Program in Mongolia

Asia Gold plans to begin a C$4.7 million exploration program in Mongolia in March 2004. The budget includes a provision of C$2.0 million for diamond drilling. The program will be focused on the exploration for porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold deposits on the large West Gobi Property that lies within the Tian Shan copper-gold metallogenic belt. To date, less than 50% of the property has been explored at the reconnaissance level.

The first drilling program is planned to start on 18 March on the Oyut Ovoo Property (see news release dated 8 January 2004). A contract has been executed with CanAsia Drilling for an initial 2,000 metres of drilling to test surface copper mineralization and coincident IP chargeability and magnetic anomalies in a skarn and breccia pipe intrusive complex. A second drill program is planned at Dune following the completion of an IP survey in April. Other targets identified in 2003 will be systematically advanced to the drilling stage by staged reconnaissance and detailed exploration programs.

David Owens, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the information in this release.

Asia Gold completed an Initial Public Offering in December 2003. The company has 14.62 million shares issued and outstanding. Ivanhoe Mines (IVN: TSX and HUGO: NASDAQ) owns approximately 51.1% of the issued and outstanding shares of Asia Gold.

Forward-Looking Statements: Statements in this release that are forward-looking statements, including the planned exploration and development of mineral projects in Mongolia, are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the company's periodic filings with Canadian securities regulators. Such information contained herein represents management's best judgment as of the date hereof based on information currently available. The company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

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