Royal Oak to Explore Large Porphyry Copper-Gold Deposits in Fiji.

KIRKLAND, Washington--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 14, 1997--ROYAL OAK MINES (TSE, AMEX RYO.) Royal Oak Mines Inc. announced today that the Minister of Lands, Mining and Energy has consented to special prospecting licences for Royal Oak to explore copper-gold porphyry deposits in Fiji.

The Government of Fiji has consented to the transfer of the Namosi mineral licences from Placer Pacific Namosi Limited to Royal Oak. On receipt of the tenements by Royal Oak, the Company will acquire the special prospecting licences for the Namosi prospects and the Waisoi deposit from Placer Pacific. In return, Royal Oak will grant Placer Pacific a 5 percent net profits interest to a maximum payment of A$15 million. The purchase and sale agreement between Royal Oak and Placer Pacific has been signed and is contingent upon a 30-day due diligence period by Royal Oak. The Company will spend up to F$4.0 million (US$3.0 million) to bring the property to feasibility stage.

The Namosi prospect is located 18 miles from tidewater northwest of the capital of Suva on the main island of Viti Levu. The prospect lies along the same structural corridor as the Emperor Mine which has produced more than 4 million ounces of gold since operations commenced in the 1930s. Since 1968, surface exploration and drilling have been carried out on a number of mineralized targets in the Namosi area, culminating in the discovery of the significant Waisoi copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry deposit. The Waisoi deposit hosts an estimated 9.2 billion pounds of copper and 4.3 million ounces of gold contained in one billion tonnes grading 0.43 percent copper and 0.14 grams/tonne of gold which could be mined by open pit methods. Further drilling will be undertaken to improve the data base and increase the resource.

There are fifteen large anomalous porphyry copper-gold and epithermal gold targets on the property that remain to be tested. High grade targets assaying greater than 0.50 percent copper and 0.20 grams/tonne of gold and gold-in-soil anomalies have been reported. The Waisoi property and the Wainabama prospect, which is located two miles southwest of Waisoi, are thought to have exceptional potential to host higher grade gold and copper values.

In addition to Waisoi, Royal Oak has also been granted a special prospecting licence over the western half of the island of Kadavu, located 40 miles south of the main island of Viti Levu. Kadavu hosts several promising epithermal gold targets on which there has been limited exploration. The Company plans to spend $150,000 over the next 12 months prospecting this area.

Royal Oak is currently constructing the Kemess Mine in north central British Columbia to exploit a large porphyry gold-copper deposit containing an estimated 4.1 million ounces of gold and 990 million pounds of copper in mineable reserves. Production is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of 1998 at an average annual production rate of 250,000 ounces of gold and 60 million pounds of copper.

The exploration projects in Fiji represent Royal Oak's first direct venture outside of North America. The deposits in Fiji are located in a highly prospective gold and copper mineralized area of south east Asia that is part of the renowned "Rim of Fire". The Company has gold interests in China through 44 percent-owned Asia Minerals Corp. and industrial mineral interests in the same country through 39 percent-owned Highwood Resources Ltd.

CONTACT: Royal Oak Mines Inc.

Mr. J. Graham Eacott, 206/822-8992

or

David Williamson Associates (Europe)

Mr. David Williamson, 011/44-171-628-3989