Cambior Inc. and Metallica Resources Inc. Announce Receipt of Environmental Permit for Cerro San Pedro.

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 1999--CAMBIOR INC. (ME:CBJ.) (TSE:CBJ.) (AMEX:CBJ)

All amounts in US dollars

Cambior Inc. and Metallica Resources Inc. (TSE:MR) (NASDAQ:METLF) report that their jointly owned Mexican Subsidiary, Minera San Xavier S.A. (MSX) has received an approval resolution of the Manifestacion de Impacto Ambiental (MIA) for the Cerro San Pedro Project. The MIA approval resolution was issued by the Federal Agency, Secretaria de Medio Ambiente, Recursos Naturales y Pesca (SEMARNAP, Secretary of Environment, Natural Resources and Fisheries).

The "Dictamen", or Approval Order, from SEMARNAP provides a chronology of the permitting events and lists the terms and conditions of the resolution. The document includes the recommendations of the University of San Luis Potosi which reviewed the permit application for the San Luis Potosi Government.

The MIA is the Mexican government equivalent of an Environmental Impact Statement and is the major federal permit required for the approval of the proposed mine. The issuance of the MIA is a precondition for the issuance of related state and local permits necessary for mine construction.

The partners are most pleased to receive a positive response to the Cerro San Pedro MIA from SEMARNAP. The MIA has been thoroughly reviewed by both the San Luis Potosi State and the Federal Mexican agencies. The project is expected to bring significant benefits to the State of San Luis Potosi, Mexico and MSX.

MSX has reviewed all environmental and social aspects of the project and has developed a comprehensive plan to assure that this project will be developed with a commitment to preserve a sound physical and social environment.

Cambior Inc. is an international diversified gold producer with operations, development projects and exploration activities throughout the Americas. Cambior shares trade on the Toronto, Montreal and American (AMEX) stock exchanges under the symbol "CBJ".

Metallica is a Canadian precious metals exploration and development company focused on Latin America. Metallica is well funded and has 24.5 million common shares outstanding.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements", as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such risks and uncertainties are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Cambior's Annual Information Form (AIF) filed with the Ontario Securities Commission, the Quebec Securities Commission, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 40-F) and other regulatory authorities.