Metalline Mining Company
News Release: For immediate release May 4, 2000

Additional results from the oxide zinc mineralization, Sierra Mojada Project

Coeur d’Alene, Idaho – Metalline is pleased to announce additional results of tonnage and grade calculations from channel samples collected from the white zinc zone of the San Salvador mine.

Merlin Bingham, the President of Metalline Mining Company, stated “that in addition to being impressed by the quality and distribution of the channel samples throughout the known white zinc zone (the existing workings), the zinc grade is exceptional, only 3 mines in the world have grades greater than 15% zinc, according to the International Zinc Association”. He also expressed Metalline’s satisfaction with North Limited as their Joint Venture partner, the high quality of the work and with the aggressive program that is being conducted to continue to develop an oxide zinc reserve at Sierra Mojada.

Multiple horizons of oxide zinc mineralization occur in the San Salvador, Encantada and Fronteriza mines. There are two distinctive types of mineralization, one designated the red zinc mantos which have been mined in all three mines and one designated the white zinc zone which, to date, is known only in the San Salvador mine.

The white zinc occurs vertically below the red zinc on the 5 and 6 levels of the San Salvador. The red zinc occurs on the 3 and 4 levels. The white zinc was discovered by Mineros Nortenos, relatively recently during their mining operations in the three mines, which has spanned in excess of 40 years. The red zinc is brightly colored red and yellow and consists of iron oxide minerals, smithsonite (zinc carbonate) and hemimorphite (zinc silicate) in limestone and dolomite. The white zinc consists of smithsonite and hemimorphite in limestone and calcareous shale and without the iron oxide minerals has a grey to white color.

Since January, in excess of an additional 1000 channel samples have been collected during mapping and sampling of the 3 mines, 667 of these were collected in the white zinc zone of the San Salvador mine. The channel samples were added to the Gemcom database and a volume was created for the sampling in the white zinc zone. The results of grade and tonnage calculation for all channel and drill hole samples within this volume is 7.3 million tonnes that average 20.52% zinc. The sampled volume is 400 meters in an east-west direction, 50 to 175 meters in a north-south direction and 20 to 75 meters vertically. This volume represents the known extent of the white zinc. The calculation represents the sampling in this volume of rock at the present time. While the distribution of samples throughout the volume is impressive, sampling is limited to the existing workings. In order to bring the white zinc zone to a resource and eventually a reserve will require additional drilling to sample between the existing workings and to extend and define the limits of mineralization. This work indicates that significant tonnes and grade can be developed in the white zinc. The white zinc system can geologically be inferred to continue to the east under the red zinc for at least the 1500 meters of the red zinc in the three mines and it may be present throughout the 5 kilometers of the known oxide mineralization of the district.

In Metalline’s news release dated January 18, 2000, Metalline announced grade and tonnage calculation results from the red zinc manto system of 2.1 million tonnes that average 13.86% zinc. A re-calculation, using the new data, for the red zinc is currently in progress and will be announced when completed.