Etruscan Completes Acquisition of Youga Gold Deposits.

Business Editors

WINDSOR, Nova Scotia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 5, 2004

Etruscan Resources Inc. (TSX:EET) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of the Youga Gold Deposits in Burkina Faso, West Africa from Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited ("Ashanti") and Echo Bay Mines Limited ("Echo Bay") now part of Kinross Gold, for US$6.5 million in cash. Etruscan has also acquired a 100% interest in three contiguous exploration permits. The Youga Gold Deposits have a reported resource of over 1.2 million ounces (see footnote) and the project is fully permitted for mine development by the Government of Burkina Faso.

Etruscan Resources Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary Cayman Burkina Mines Ltd. ("CBML"), a company incorporated under the laws of Cayman Islands, holds a 90% interest in Burkina Mining Company ("BMC"), a Burkina Faso company which has been granted the rights to exploit the Youga Gold Deposits. The remaining 10% of BMC is held by the Government of Burkina Faso.

Etruscan intends to advance Youga to commercial production in the shortest possible timeframe. Preliminary results from a 5,000-meter NQ core drilling program being carried out by Etruscan are anticipated shortly. The primary objective of the drilling program is to provide more detailed information on the high-grade gold zone within the A2 Main deposit. This drilling program will continue over the next two months. The company has engaged RSG Global ("RSG") of Perth, Australia to assist in finalizing revised resource and reserve estimates that will incorporate the additional drill information to ensure compliance with National Policy 43-101. The drilling contract has been awarded to Boart Longyear of North Bay, Canada. The Youga drilling and exploration program is being carried out under the supervision of David Duncan, P.Geo and Qualified Person acting for Etruscan.

With the addition of the Youga Gold Deposits, Etruscan's total gold resource inventory now stands at 3.1 million ounces. Etruscan holds a 40% interest in the 2 million ounce Samira Hill Gold Project under construction in Niger, and was recently granted the Agbaou Permit in Cote d'Ivoire which has an independently reported resource of 1.1 million ounces.

Summary of the Youga Property

Location and Access

The project area is situated in the province of Boulgou, Burkina Faso, West Africa about 180 kilometers southeast of Ouagadougou, the capital city. The deposit site is accessible by a 2-hour drive from Ouagadougou via 70 kilometers of paved highway and 120 kilometers of recently upgraded laterite road. Youga is four kilometers north of the Ghanaian border.

History

The Youga Exploration Permit was first issued in 1991 to Incanore Resources. In 1994, International Gold Resources Inc. (IGR) optioned the property from Incanore and in 1995, Echo Bay Mines entered into an agreement, which eventually allowed Echo Bay to earn a 50% interest. In 1996 Ashanti acquired IGR and in 1999, following the buyout of Incanore's remaining interest, the project became the property of a 50/50 joint venture between Ashanti and Echo Bay. Ashanti has acted as project operator since 1996.

Mine Permitting

In April 2003 the Government of Burkina Faso granted an Exploitation Permit for Youga to Burkina Mining Company covering 29 km2. This permit is valid for 20 years, and renewable for additional 5-year periods. The permit application process required the submission and approval of both an Environmental Impact Study ("EIS") and an Environmental Impact Assessment ("EIA"). These provisions were undertaken by S.G.S. Environment, a division of S.G.S. Laboratory Services Ghana Limited in partnership with SOCREGE, a local consultancy firm based in Ouagadougou. The EIA included a full public enquiry process as required under the environmental code of Burkina Faso and the EIS has been approved by the Burkina Faso Ministry of Environment and Water.

Geological Setting

The Youga area is part of the north-eastern extension of the Bole-Navrongo greenstone belt that trends for a distance of some 400 kilometers from Bole in Ghana to the east of Bitou in Burkina Faso. The greenstone belt is composed of weakly to moderately metamorphosed Lower Birimian basic volcanic flows and syn- to post-Birimian intermediate to acid intrusions.

Youga geology is similar to the Birimian gold belts of Ghana. It consists of basaltic arc volcanics, which range from vent breccias to lava flows. Intruding these volcanics are intrusives equivalent to the Dixicove granodiorite of Ghana. The sediment domain is generally dominated by volcanoclastics and turbidite sequences. Specific to Youga are prominent arkose units equivalent to the Tarkwaian sediments of Ghana. The gold mineralization is largely contained in silicified arkosic meta-sediments of Tarkwaian age. Several occurrences are known, however most of the resource ounces are attributed to the A2 Main deposit. Three main types of gold ore occurrences are recognized, namely arkose-hosted (A2 deposits), sediment-hosted (Zergore) and felsic intrusive related (Zerbogo and Windinaba).

Footnote: Ashanti is a multi-national company headquartered in Accra, Ghana and do not report resource and reserve estimates under National Instrument 43-101. Resources and reserves prepared by Ashanti are in accordance with the Australasian Code for Reporting Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, September 1999 (JORC code). Etruscan Resources Inc. has not yet done the work necessary to verify the classification of these reserves and resources under National Instrument 43-101 and therefore is not treating them at this time as National Instrument 43-101 defined mineral reserves and mineral resources verified by a qualified person. Reserve and resource estimates prepared under reporting codes other than National Instrument 43-101 should not be relied upon to conform to National Instrument 43-101 standards and definitions. However, reserve and resource categories in the JORC code are substantially similar to the corresponding categories of mineral reserves and mineral resources required under National Instrument 43-101 and to the best of Etruscan's knowledge the Ashanti estimates are relevant and reliable.

Resource and Reserve Estimates (see footnote)

All resource and reserve estimates have been carried out by Ashanti. Gold resources at the Youga Gold Deposits comprise five separate deposits referred to as the A2 Main, A2 West 1, A2 West 2, A2 West 3, and A2 East deposits. Ashanti has scoped the project at two scales of operation - 600,000 tonnes per year and 1,000,000 tonnes per year. Assuming a 600,000 tonne per year operation, the resource estimate has been reported by Ashanti as:

   Indicated Resource      9,100,000 tonnes at 2.85 g/t (833,300 ozs)
   Inferred Resource       2,880,000 tonnes at 2.79 g/t (258,500 ozs)
and the reserve estimate has been reported as:
   Probable  Reserve       4,766,000 tonnes at 3.35 g/t (514,000 ozs)

Assuming a 1,000,000 tonne per year operation, the resource estimate
has been reported as:

   Measured +
    Indicated Resource     7,320,000 tonnes at 3.17 g/t (746,000 ozs)
   Inferred Resource       7,730,000 tonnes at 2.05 g/t (510,000 ozs)
and the reserve estimate has been reported as:
   Probable Reserve        7,140,000 tonnes at 2.90 g/t (664,800 ozs)

Based on metallurgical studies carried out by Mintek Laboratories of South Africa and Hazen Research of the United States, the average gold recovery for the Youga deposits is estimated to be 93%. The weathering profile is extremely limited throughout the entire ore body, typically less than 3 meters and there are no preg-robbing issues with the host rock.

Exploration Potential

The Youga Gold Deposits occur within the 29 km2 Exploitation Permit and Etruscan believes there is potential to expand gold reserves within this area. The A2 Main deposit is open along strike to the north and at depth. Exploration drilling north of the A2 Main deposit has traced the mineralized system for another 900 meters beyond the current resource area. Etruscan has also acquired a 100% interest in the Zerbogo, Bitou and Bitou East exploration permits which cover 394 km2 of prospective ground in the same geologic belt that hosts the Youga Gold Deposits. Ashanti and Echo Bay have identified several regional scale soil anomalies on the permits that have yet to be tested.

Etruscan Resources Inc. is a diversified Canadian junior mining company that is focused on the exploration and development of gold properties in West Africa and diamond properties in South Africa. The common shares of Etruscan are traded on The TSX Exchange under the symbol "EET". More extensive information on Etruscan can be found on its home page at www.etruscan.com.

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