Asia Gold Starts CDN $2.6 Million Exploration Program Targeting Copper and Gold Prospects in Mongolia.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- David C. Owens, President of Asia Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:ASG), is pleased to report the start of a new, C$2.6 million exploration program in Mongolia. Asia Gold holds a 100% interest in 67 Mineral Exploration Licences (MELs) in Mongolia totalling 42,167 square kilometres. These MELs are prospective for porphyry copper-gold, epithermal gold and black-shale-hosted gold deposits.

The 2005 exploration program is focused on the following three projects:

Oyut Ovoo Project (see January 19, 2005, news release)

The Oyut Ovoo Project is located approximately 250 kilometres south of Ulaanbaatar, in the Central Gobi region of Mongolia. Exploration work in 2004 identified porphyry-copper-style mineralization in surface trenches associated with tourmaline breccias. Widespread quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration also was discovered within a one-square-kilometre zone south of the trenches. A single diamond-drill hole that tested the porphyry-style mineralization in 2004 (see Asia Gold's June 21, 2004, news release) intersected weak copper mineralization over 120 metres. An untested, 2.2-kilometre-long Induced Polarization (IP) chargeability anomaly occurs to the east of the mineralized trenches.

A new geophysical program, comprised of ground magnetics and IP, started on the Oyut Ovoo project in March 2005. The survey is centred on the quartz-sericite-pyrite alteration zone discovered in late-2004. Interpreted results of the survey are expected in April, 2005, and significant anomalies will be drill tested.

West Gobi Project

The West Gobi project is located in southern Mongolia, approximately 150 kilometres west of the Oyu Tolgoi porphyry copper-gold deposit owned by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. The project is comprised of 46 MELs, covering an area of 30,554 square kilometres.

In February, 2005, Asia Gold completed a comprehensive targeting program for the entire West Gobi project area. This program integrated state-of-the-art Aster remote-sensing data with regional data sets, including mineral occurrences, pan-concentrate geochemical data and Landsat imagery. A total of 83 porphyry copper and/or epithermal gold targets were identified, including 39 in the western half of the project area and 44 in the eastern half.

A helicopter-supported reconnaissance survey was completed in late 2004 over the 39 targets in the western half of the project area. The survey results have defined six high-priority targets for detailed, ground follow-up exploration in 2005. Three of these targets have porphyry copper potential and three have epithermal gold potential.

Work on the eastern half of the West Gobi project has identified 44 new targets, including eight ranked as high priority and 20 as medium priority. Two areas ranked as high priority occur two kilometres north of a copper mineral occurrence with associated illite-silica-phyllic alteration and Landsat anomalies associated with Lower Permian, porphyritic intrusions.

All of the targets in the eastern half of the West Gobi project will be evaluated in the field during helicopter reconnaissance programs in April and June, 2005. These programs also will include 14 targets in the western half of the property that were not visited in 2004. In total, there are 58 new targets to visit before the end of June, 2005. After the completion of the reconnaissance work, the targets will be ranked for detailed follow-up. This pipeline of targets is expected to produce multiple drill targets for the second half of 2005.

Khuvsgul Project

The Khuvsgul project is located in north-central Mongolia and comprises three MELs with a total area of 4,326 square kilometres. Recently completed Russian-Mongolian regional survey work in this area has identified multiple pan-concentrate and stream-sediment gold anomalies. These anomalies occur in the strike extension of stratigraphy that hosts the Zun-Kholba gold deposit in Russia, located approximately 75 kilometres north of the Khuvsgul project. The Zun-Kholba is a black-shale-hosted gold deposit estimated to contain 1.8 million ounces of gold.

David C. Owens, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the information in this release. Asia Gold's exploration program in Mongolia is managed by Richard Gosse, Vice-President Exploration, and Andrew Gourlay, Senior Exploration Geologist, both qualified persons as defined by NI 43-101.

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN)(NYSE:IVN) owns 51% 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 of Asia Gold's Mongolia properties, 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 TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy or this release.