TVI Pacific Inc. Canatuan Exploration Update.

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 15, 1997--TVI(TSE, Alberta Stock Exchange TVI.)

- CHECK ASSAY PROGRAM ON GOSSAN IN MAIN CANATUAN OREBODY INDICATES GOLD GRADE HAS BEEN UNDERSTATED

- ADDITIONAL GOSSAN RESOURCES IDENTIFIED

TVI's exploration activities at the Canatuan Project, located near Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte in the Mindanao province of the Philippines have been directed at finding additional gossan (gold/silver type) reserves. This increase would supplement the feed for the project's planned 1,850 million tonnes per day oxide (Merrill Crowe / CIL) plant. The program has been directed to investigate:

- the potential to increase the average grade of the gossan reserve within the main Canatuan orebody (MCO) through a check assay program, and

- the potential for additional rubbly gossan resources, immediately surrounding the MCO

Both of these efforts have produced positive results.

CHECK ASSAY PROGRAM INDICATES GOLD GRADE IN GOSSAN UNDERSTATED

The optimized feasibility study on the MCO, completed in late 1996, suggested that the original assay lab under-reported gold grades from the gossan ore type. To investigate this further, TVI hired an independent mining consulting firm to design a check assay program to evaluate the potential for increasing the average grade of the gossan. In July, under the direction of the consulting firm, TVI carried out a program of re-assaying sample pulps of the gossan in MCO drill holes. A total of 11 selected pulps, together with standards, blanks and duplicates were submitted for re-assay to the original laboratory in the Philippines and two additional labs located in Canada and Australia. The three sets of results were statistically evaluated and compared against the original assays of the same samples. This comparison showed that the original gold assays were approximately 7.5 percent lower than the re-assayed samples. When the original gossan reserves are re-calculated using this information, it is expected that an increase of approximately 7.5 percent in the overall average gold grade of the gossan reserve will be achieved resulting in an approximately 9000 oz of gold being added. Check assays for silver compare well with the original data, resulting in no change to the average silver grade of the gossan reserve. The program of re-assaying was done only on samples from the gossan ore in the MCO and can not be extrapolated to the sulfide ore.

ADDITIONAL RUBBLY GOSSAN RESOURCES

"Rubbly gossan' zones flanking the main Canatuan ore body are formed by the erosion, transport, and subsequent incorporation of gossan fragments into the soil profile immediately downslope from the MCO. Two mineralized zones have been outlined, the SE and NW peripheral gossan zones. These zones have been defined by a total of 309 testpits, 176 of which intersected mineralized material. These testpits measured 1m x 1m square in plan and were excavated on an average spacing of less than 25m. The mineralized intervals all originate at the ground surface and have a variable thickness ranging to over 11 meters but averaging approximately 2.9 meters.

Using an arbitrary cut off of 1 g/t, the resource from these two areas totals 371,000 tonnes at 2.68 g/t gold, or about 32,000 contained ounces of gold. The distribution of tonnes and grade is tabulated below. -0-

Zone      Tonnes    Avg.Grade           Ounces

SE       252,500    2.79 g/t Au         22,650
NW       118,500    2.44 g/t Au          9,295
Combined 371,000    2.68 g/t Au         31,945

Based on the geologic model, the high level of confidence in continuity between individual testpits, and the spacing of the testpits and the number of assay form samples taken from the pits, the resulting mineral inventory can be classified as an indicated resource. Further work on metallurgy, and the feasibility of mining this material is in progress in order to upgrade this resource into a reserve category. TVI expects to be able to upgrade at least 66 percent of this resource, or about 21,500 ounces of gold, into mineable reserves once the metallurgical testwork and economic analysis are completed in October. INDEPENDENT AUDITING

An independent mining consultant will audit these additional reserves from both the MCO and the 'rubbly gossan zones' before they are included in the mineable reserve. ADDITIONAL SULPHIDE POTENTIAL

As reported previously, TVI has discovered two additional sulphide deposits on the property near the MCO at Malusok and S.E. Malusok. These may represent part of a typical cluster of multiple volcanogenic massive sulphide deposits, similar to the MCO, formed within a productive felsic volcanic center. Drilling has detected economically interesting deposits in these areas, but these have not been investigated further, since new sulphide reserves will not likely be mined until the depletion of the MCO reserves. With these additional reserves, however, anticipated mine life at Canatuan could be extended well beyond its current seven years.

All assaying referred to in this release was carried out according to industry standards. The samples were independently assayed by fire assay techniques. Pulps and rejects from which the samples were derived are available for future reference.

The Toronto Stock Exchange and the Alberta Stock Exchange have neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.

CONTACT: TVI Pacific Inc.

Cyrus Ameli, 403/ 265-4356

403/264-7028 (FAX)

http://www.tvipacific.com

[e-mail]

or

TVI Pacific Inc.

Ginger Hanson Koolick, 403/265-4356