SOQUEM and Virginia Grant Cambiex Option to Acquire a 33 1/3 Percent Interest in the Payne and Duquet Properties.

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 1999--Cambiex Exploration Inc. (ME:CBX)(TSE:CBX)("Cambiex") is pleased to announce the conclusion of an agreement in principle with SOQUEM INC. ("Soquem"), a wholly owned subsidiary of SGF Minerals inc., and Virginia Gold Mines Inc. ("Virginia") whereby Soquem and Virginia agree to grant to Cambiex an option to acquire a 33 1/3 percent undivided interest in the Payne and Duquet properties located in the Ungava Peninsula in northernmost Quebec, in consideration of the incurring of exploration expenditures totaling $1.4 million over a four-year period.

The conclusion of a definitive option and joint venture agreement between Cambiex, Soquem and Virginia is conditional upon, among other things, the obtaining by Cambiex of satisfactory financing, including by way of equity financing (i.e. issue of shares) for proceeds of not less than $500,000.

During the earn-in period, Cambiex, Soquem and Virginia shall form a management committee to review, approve and supervise the implementation of annual work programs and budgets. Virginia shall act as manager of the Duquet property and Soquem shall act as manager of the Payne property.

PAYNE PROPERTY

The Payne property is located in the Ungava Peninsula in northernmost Quebec. It is approximately 160 kilometres east-southeast of Povungnituk.

Significant gold values have been obtained by grab sampling, channel sampling and local drilling in three zones coinciding with two horizons of banded iron formation (BIF) hosted in Archean metasediments and metavolcanic rocks.

A total investment in the order of $850,000 has been made on the Payne property since 1996 by joint-venture partners Soquem and Virginia. Expenditures were invested in: i) reconnaissance and detailed mapping (483 grab samples and 171 channel samples); ii) 275 kilometres of helicopter MAG-EM survey; and iii) 1,178 metres of diamond drilling in the Amaruk (7 holes for 990 metres) and Avingaluk (2 holes for 188 metres) Zones.

Pierre Bertrand, General Manager of Exploration for Soquem, stated that: "We are extremely pleased to have Cambiex as a partner for this project. Our initial surface sampling and airborne geophysics identified general mineralized BIF's which have a confined strike length of more than 15 kilometres. The initial diamond drilling was successful in demonstrating that there is also significant gold mineralization at depth. With a target of this magnitude it will be important to focus future drilling programs on the most prospective sections of the BIF. Therefore we will undertake an intensive program of geophysics and sampling to prepare for followup diamond drilling later in the summer."

Significant surface results 1997-1998

Preliminary exploration sampling carried out by Soquem and Virginia in 1997 and 1998 delineated a series of gold occurrences which mainly appear to be related to metasomatic contact zones of BIF and surrounding metavolcanic and metasedimentary sequences together at upper amphibolite facies. On aeromagnetic and ground magnetic maps, BIF's on the Payne Property define an oval-shaped body elongated in a NNW-SSE direction with a strike length of 8 kilometres and a width of approximately 2.5 kilometres. The oval geometry probably relates to superimposed phases of ductile deformation that have caused the folding of the BIF and its surrounding rock sequences.

In 1997, the western branch of the oval BIF body was tested and two main zones, referred to as the Amaruk (in the north) and the Avingaluk (in the south), were defined. The BIF body of the Amaruk zone stretches over a length of approximately two kilometres and has variable thicknesses ranging between one and 22 metres. The BIF horizon of the Amaruk zone is affected by D2 and D3 folds and shear zones that are repeating, thickening and thinning the body on a metric to decametric scale. BIF horizons define outstanding features on the 280-kilometre aeromagnetic survey carried out in 1997 over the entire property. Flight spacing of 125 metres in the Amaruk zone and 250 metres on the Avingaluk zone clearly indicate the trace of two sub-parallel high magnetic bodies interpreted to be BIF horizons extending from the southern end to the northern end of the property.

A total of 483 grab samples were collected on the Payne property between 1996 and 1998. Forty-two samples were collected in 1996, of which 26 were from Amaruk, including 13 samples with anomalous gold values exceeding 500 ppb. In 1997, 419 samples were collected including 236 from Amaruk, 97 from Avingaluk and 86 for reconnaissance. In 1998, 22 samples were collected exclusively from Avingaluk. The results were previously disclosed by Virginia in a press release dated February 12, 1999. Grab samples collected along the contact zones of the Amaruk BIF body returned numerous anomalous assay values including 26.74 g Au/t, 17.16 g Au/t,12.41 g Au/t, 11.9 g Au/t, 7.5 g Au/t, 3.91 g Au/t, and 1.06 g Au/t. In 1997, 100 metres of channel sampling were performed on Amaruk for a total of 137 samples. The best assay values returned from these channel samples are 17.75 g Au/t over 3.45 metres; 14.14 g Au/t over 4.9 metres uncut; 8.86 g Au/t over 3.16 metres; 1.11 g Au/t over 5.41 metres; and 1.04 g Au/t over 4.7 metres. In 1997 and 1998, numerous grab samples from t.42 g Au/t, 23.25 g Au/t, 17.55 g Au/t, 11.40 g Au/t, 8.13 g Au/t, 7.22 g Au/t, 2.48 g Au/t, 2.33 g Au/t, 1.92 g Au/t, and 1.51 g Au/t. In 1998, 33 metres of channel sampling was performed on Avingaluk providing 34 samples including 1.8 g Au/t over 7.9 metres including 2.7 g Au/t over 4.9 metres.

Seven diamond drill holes were implemented in 1997 on the Amaruk zone in an ENE direction for a total length of 990 metres. These holes are spotted approximately 150 metres apart within the central portion of the Amaruk zone. All holes intersect 2 to 5 BIF horizons varying in thickness from one to 22 metres. The best assays occur in drill holes 97-04 and 97-06 which are nearly on the same section line. DDH97-04 yielded three mineralized intervals coinciding with two sub-parallel BIF horizons separated by approximately 65 metres of metasediments. The first interval near the upper contact of the first 12-metre thick BIF horizon yielded 1.43 g Au/t over 1.1 metres. The second and third intervals yielded 0.44 g Au/t over 1.3 metres and 24 g Au/t over 0.75 metre, coinciding respectively with the upper and lower contacts of the second BIF horizon which is 22 metres thick. The same BIF horizon was intercepted upwards in DDH97-06 and also yielded two mineralized intervals, 5.28 g Au/t over 1.3 metres and 4.61 g Au/t over 8.4 metres including 8.23 g Au/t over 3.4 metres, which coincide with the upper and lower contacts of the BIF horizon with the same thickness as in DDH 97-04. DDH97-06 also intersected mineralization in silicified metasediments that yielded 2.05 g Au/t over 0.9 metre. All mineralized intervals related to BIF horizons in DDH97-04 and DDH97-06 project to surface with anomalous gold values obtained from channel samples, indicating that mineralized zones likely dip approximately 70 degrees to the west-southwest. Yet another BIF horizon was intersected in drill hole DDH97-05 located 200 metres north of DDH97-04. This six-metre thick BIF yielded 2.13 g Au/t over 0.9 metre in the middle of the horizon.

The BIF horizon of the Avingaluk Zone stretches over a distance of 2.5 kilometres and seems to have thicknesses comparable to those observed in the Amaruk Zone.

DUQUET PROPERTY

The Duquet property is located in the northwestern part of the Ungava Peninsula, approximately 100 kilometres east of Povungnituk in northern Quebec. It was acquired in 1996 by Virginia and Soquem to explore the Duquet volcanic belt for its gold potential.

Previous work carried out by Soquem and Cominco in the Duquet area in 1992 also demonstrated an interesting potential for polymetallic mineralization. A four-day prospecting program had outlined several altered zones within mafic to felsic volcanics as well as silicified shear zones. Two grab samples, 100 metres apart, from decimetric quartz veins with sulfides yielded values of 0.9 percent Cu, 4 percent Pb, 3 percent Zn, 1,060 g Ag/t, 20 g Au/t, and 0.6 percent Pb, 0.1 percent Zn, 56 g Ag/t, 1.6 g Au/t. These veins were hosted by silicified shears in sericitized felsic volcanics.

The program performed by Virginia and Soquem in 1997 included an heliborne Mag-EM survey and ground follow-up prospecting and mapping (1:20,000 scale).

Very encouraging results were obtained. Twenty-three samples yielded very anomalous results in four areas of interest:

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Area 1: Porphyry style mineralization; two samples returned:
        800 ppb Au, 27.5 g Ag/t, 9,273 ppm Cu, 609 ppm Mo, and
        676 ppb Au, 51.2 g Ag/t, 2 percent Cu, respectively.

Area 2: Shear zone in an intermediate unit:
        6.57 g Au/t, 18.1 g Ag/t, 0.10 percent Pb, 0.13 percent Zn

Area 3: Polymetallic VMS; epithermal style of mineralization; 2.33
        g Au/t, 553.0 g Ag/t, 0.46 percent Cu, 1.46 percent Pb, 7.50
        percent Zn 5.34 g Au/t, 370 g Ag/t, 4.55 percent Pb, 0.59
        percent Zn 0.696 g Au/t, 10.3 percent Zn

Area 4: VMS style; Mg-rich hydrothermal alterations and associated
        with mineralization in volcanics:
           1.67 g Au/t, 3,971 ppm Cu
           927 ppb Au, 3,233 ppm Cu
           821 ppb Au, 1.2 percent Cu, 5,235 ppm Zn

     In 1998 a five-day mapping and sampling program was focalized on
those four areas of interest. In the area 4, a strong hydrothermal
alteration was outlined over a 2-kilometre-long area. The following
values were obtained from selected grab samples and these results were
previously disclosed by Virginia in a press release dated February 12,
1999:

               Au (ppb) (g Ag/t)  Cu        Zn        Co
                                 (percent) (percent) (percent)

Alteration
 pipe No2                   0.5       0.1      17.5
                            2.5      0.27      29.9
                            3.4       1.0       2.4

Alteration
 pipe No3:       3,132     12.5       2.9
                 1,300      2.3       1.0
                   247      7.7       1.4

Southernmost       170     16.5       1.8       4.8      0.13
alteration pipe:            3.3       0.2       4.1
                            4.6       0.3       4.2
                           12.3       0.1       3.1      0.10

Sheared tonalite 1,085      1.2

     Furthermore, a mineralized boulder of sericite schist discovered
near alteration pipe No2 yielded 13.23 g Au/t, 1.70 g Ag/t, 0.22
percent Zn.
     The 1998 field program also confirmed the potential of area 3
where narrow high-grade epithermal style of veins were discovered in
1992 by Soquem and Cominco. One new sample also yielded 730 ppb Au,
5.40 g Ag/t, 0.1 percent Cu and 1.6 percent Zn in an arsenic rich rock
sample located about 350 metres east of the original showings.
     Finally, 2.5 kilometres NW of the area 2, a channel returned 9.3
g Ag/t, 0.68 percent Cu, 0.06 percent Pb, and 7.5 percent Zn over 0.5
metre. (open).

Area 1 and 2 had been grouped into the north area which also
includes some new discoveries: (from north to south)

Au (ppb)  (g Ag/t)    Cu        Pb        Zn        Co
                   (percent) (percent) (percent) (percent)

    210      13.9       0.4
  1,020      73.0       2.4
    500      26.0       1.5
    190      10.7
    150       8.1       0.2
    120      13.2       2.2                          0.14
    210       3.5      0.25
              2.4      0.19                0.49
  1,180
  5,200      18.0                 0.1      0.13

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Most of these results come from a NNW trending shear zone affecting different lithologies.

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements", as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Such risks and uncertainties are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Cambiex' Annual Information Form (AIF) filed with the Ontario Securities Commission, the Quebec Securities Commission, and other regulatory authorities.

Cambiex is an exploration company with interest in several properties in North and South America. Cambiex common shares (CBX) trade on the Montreal and Toronto stock exchanges.