Corriente Resources: Preliminary Assessment Completed at Mirador Project Ecuador: Significant Copper and Gold Resource Identified.

Business Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 14, 2002

Work by Geospectrum Engineering of Abbotsford, B.C. in conjunction with in-house staff at Corriente (TSE:CTQ) including John Drobe, P.Geol. has concluded that significant copper-gold resources have been outlined at the Mirador project in southeast Ecuador. The assessment was done using a cut-off grade of 0.65% copper and indicates a resource of 218 Million tonnes at a grade of 0.73% copper and 0.25 g/t gold (copper equivalent of 0.85%). This estimate is in the "inferred resource" category under National Instrument 43-101 Guidelines. The deposit resource estimate is considered open for expansion for two reasons according to Geospectrum. A number of holes were stopped in cut-off grade mineralization and the deposit is open to the north and east.

Corriente engaged John Chapman, P.Eng. to collaborate with Corriente management on completion of cash flow projections on this resource. The cash flows have been based on a more extensive database from an order of magnitude study, which was completed last year on the Panantza and San Carlos projects. The modeled resource uses a grade of 0.85% copper-equivalent. The study calls for milling and processing of 50,000 tonnes/day using conventional flotation technology and the trucking of concentrates to a shipping facility on the coast of Ecuador. Such a mining operation would produce copper concentrate for an operating cash cost of $0.35/pound of copper and would show the following economics;

   Copper price    Pre-Tax Internal    Net Present Value @
   Assumption      Rate of Return      10% Discount

   $0.90/lb        30%                 $427 Million U.S.
   $0.80/lb        22%                 $244 Million U.S.
   $0.70/lb        13%                 $ 62 Million U.S.

Clearly, such a project is of economic interest and Corriente intends to make Mirador one of the priorities for the next phase of Ecuador development. This assessment is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the preliminary assessment will be realized. The preliminary assessment has identified no fatal flaws with the project and indicates that the two main priorities to moving ahead are upgrading of the resource categories from the inferred level and metallurgical testing for recovery of gold in the copper processing circuit.

Separately, notice has been provided to BHP Billiton regarding the Panantza project in southeast Ecuador. This notice indicates that the Panantza project is below the 200,000,000 tonnes threshold of 1% copper equivalent (current estimates are 148 Million tonnes at 0.8% Cu and 0.1 g/t Au). Under the new terms (see press release Dec 14, 2001) of our Joint Venture in Ecuador, it is expected that Panantza will become a Corriente-Lowell project that is separate from the existing two Ecuador Joint Ventures. Depending on an election by BHP Billiton, the interest of Corriente-Lowell in the Panantza project will be either 70% or 100%. Corriente intends to make this project available for joint venture or sale to other parties interested in medium sized copper and copper-gold projects.

Corriente is a Canadian-based junior resource exploration company, that has recently announced a global exploration alliance with BHP Billiton. Corriente focuses its operations on copper and copper-gold projects at the advanced drilling stage. The company's main activity is the advanced exploration of copper prospects within the Corriente Copper Belt joint venture with BHP Billiton and Lowell Mineral Exploration, as well as advanced copper-gold prospects at Mumbwa, Zambia. The Corriente Copper Belt is a copper porphyry district that extends over an area at least 80 km north-south and 40 km east-west in Southeast Ecuador. To date, diamond drilling has outlined four separate porphyry deposits: Panantza, Mirador, San Carlos and Warintza. These four deposits are part of a series of copper porphyry targets contained within the district.

BHP Billiton is a new global leader in the world's natural resources industry. Created from a merger between Australian-based natural resources company BHP Limited and Anglo-South African miner Billiton Plc, BHP Billiton occupies industry-leader, or near leader, positions in aluminium, metallurgical coal, seaborne steaming coal, copper, ferro-alloys, iron ore and titanium minerals. BHP Billiton also has substantial worldwide interests in oil, gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), nickel, diamonds and silver. BHP Billiton employs about 58,000 people in more than 30 countries and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

Kenneth R. Shannon, President

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