Etruscan Acquires Two More Permits In Mali West.

Business Editors

WINDSOR, Nova Scotia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 2001

Etruscan Resources Inc. (EET.TSE) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary Basilica International Marketing Ltd. ("Basilica") has been approved by the Cabinet of the Government of Mali to sign two more Mining Conventions for permits in Mali (see accompanying map). Basilica will have the rights to explore and develop the Mogoyafara Permit and the Sanoukou Permit, both of which are located in the Mali West Shear Zone. Mogoyafara hosts a 5 kilometer long soil anomaly that has never been drilled since it was first outlined in 1988 by the same regional survey that discovered the Sadiola Hill gold deposit (9.8 million ounces (1)). Sanoukou hosts one of the largest gold digging sites in Mali.

These acquisitions come just two weeks after Etruscan announced the signing of the Djelimangara Permit, also in the Mali West Shear Zone and located immediately south of Sadiola Hill. As reported in the press release of May 28, 2001 Djelimangara covers 220 square kilometers and hosts a number of significant gold anomalies over the entire 18 kilometer strike length of the main shear zone that crosses the permit. The soil anomalies are up to 2.5 kilometers in strike length with gold concentrations up to 2 g/t.

The Mogoyafara Permit comprises 150 km2 and the 5 kilometer long regional soil anomaly has gold values ranging from 421 ppb to 3.4 grams. This type of survey has formed the foundation for many of the exploration successes in Mali including Sadiola Hill, Yatela, Lolou, Syama and Morila. The anomaly is situated at a structurally significant position with respect to the Mali West Shear Zone where an important sinistral bending occurs creating complex extensional and dilatational structures which are often the ideal areas for the physical trapping of gold-bearing solutions. It is the last untested major gold anomaly in the Mali West Shear Zone, one of the most important gold belts in West Africa.

The gold digging sites in the Sanoukou area are the largest gold digging sites in Mali West, and occur along a well-defined splay of the Mali West Shear Zone that extends for over 50 kilometers from Tabakoto to the Senegalese border. A major soil anomaly, first identified by the BRGM in 1980 is coincident with the structure at Sanoukou and was confirmed in detail by Reunion Mining in 1997. The permit covers a surface area of 100 km2 and is situated 15 kilometers southwest of the Segala (1.4 million ounces (2)) and Tabakoto (1.9 million ounces (3)) gold deposits.

Gerald McConnell, President and Chief Executive Officer of Etruscan stated "Etruscan has assembled a strategic land position in the heart of the Mali West Shear Zone. These were highly competitive acquisitions. Each of these permits offers our shareholders the potential for world class discoveries in a proven gold district. We continue to focus on near-term cash flow from our diamond project in South Africa but these acquisitions add very significant projects to the company's gold portfolio." The common shares of Etruscan are traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "EET".

Footnotes: (1) IAMGOLD press release February 14, 2001; (2) SEMAFO Inc. Annual Report 2000; (3) Nevsun Resources press release November 2, 1999;

Maps are available on the BCE Emergis website at www.e-newsservices.com.

For more information, contact:

Kevin MacNeill, Director of Project Development, Windsor, Nova Scotia [phone] Tony Hayes, Vice President, Toronto, Ontario [phone]

More extensive information on Etruscan can be found on our home page at http://www.etruscan.com

NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENT OF THIS RELEASE