Monarch Gold Exploration Announces New Name Acquires New Gold Property.

Business Editors

SPOKANE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 18, 2004

Monarch Gold Exploration (OTC: MGEX) is pleased to announce the implementation of a name change to "Monarch Gold Exploration, Inc.". The Company was formerly named "Gold Placers, Inc." (OTC: GPLC). This name change was adopted to better reflect the Company's current focus on underground, hard rock, high-grade gold vein systems rather than placer operations.

The Company is also pleased to announce the acquisition of a third precious metal property, referred to as the Coyote claim group, and which is situated within the Silver Peak (also known as the Mineral Ridge) Mining District in west central Nevada. The mineral property consists of fourteen unpatented claims which are situated approximately 1.5 miles south of the Mineral Ridge gold project which is operated by Golden Phoenix Minerals.

The Coyote claims cover a multi-vein system contained in NNE trending structures toward the south end of the Mineral Ridge gold belt. The quartz-calcite veins, varying in widths from 2 to over 15 feet, as seen in the Coyote adit, carry fine-grained free gold, sub-microscopic gold that cannot be panned and unknown silver minerals. The gold-silver ratio appears to average around 1:1 based on assays to date. Recent assaying conducted in house and by ALS Chemex gave results ranging up to 3.37opt Au in a sample taken from the crown pillar on the shaft vein.

The Coyote veins were discovered in the late 1800's with some mining taking place over the next several decades and as recently as the mid-1980's when a 250 foot decline was driven under the Coyote adit vein system. Workings other than the main Coyote adit include a 225 foot steeply inclined shaft, other shallow adits and shafts and numerous prospect pits over a 3000 foot strike length covered by the claims.

The Coyote property offers an opportunity to discover economic gold deposits that would be amenable to underground and perhaps open pit mining. Historic operations appear to have been focused on least 3 sub-parallel, through-going quartz-calcite veins and on numerous discontinuous vein-like lenses. The adit vein strikes N20-30E and dips at -45 degrees WNW toward the steeply dipping shaft vein some 250 feet to the west. The two are projected to intersect at depth, presenting an attractive drill target. Vein-like lenses are known to exist between these two veins and are likely to be found through drilling or underground drifting. A third vein, ranging up to 12 feet in width, occurs in the footwall of the Coyote adit vein and can be observed in a crosscut between the adit vein and the shaft vein.

A diamond drilling program is being designed wherein angle holes will be drilled through the observed mineralized systems and to intersect below the existing shaft and adit workings. The ultimate target is to identify sufficient close spaced veins and lenses that would encompass a sufficient precious metal resource to justify open pit mining. Subject to completion of the required financing, an initial drill program of 10 diamond core holes will be submitted for permitting. It is anticipated that this drill program could be greatly expanded and would in the future include less expensive and faster reverse circulation drilling if good results are obtained from the initial program.

Certain statements contained herein may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Therefore, actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied. As a result, these forward-looking statements represent the Company's best judgment as of the date of this news release.