029 Group SE

Environmental & Social Information • May 9, 2006

News Details

Corporate | 9 May 2006 19:39

Minefinders Receives Dolores Environmental Permits

Corporate-news transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— Minefinders Receives Dolores Environmental Permits Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. May 9, 2006. Minefinders Corporation Ltd. (the ‘Company’) (Frankfurt WKN: 859435; TSX: MFL; AMEX: MFN) announces that the Mexican Environmental Agency, SEMERNAT, has now approved the Company’s Environmental Impact Statement (Manifestacion de Impacto Ambiental) and associated Change Of Land Use, clearing the way for construction and mining operations at its planned Dolores gold and silver mine. Company President, Mark Bailey, commented: ‘These approvals are the culmination of several years of hard work on environmental compliance at our 100% owned Dolores project. With these permits in hand, we can now accelerate construction of the project to meet our goal of pouring gold and silver at Dolores in the third quarter of 2007.’ In associated permitting activity, the Company has reached agreement in principle with the Rio Yaqui irrigation district to obtain the right to 2,000,000 cubic meters per year of surface water. The agreement, which will ensure all of the water required for the life of the project, is expected to be finalized over the next two weeks. Dolores Construction Update In anticipation of the receipt of the environmental permits, the Company has been completing detailed engineering, updating the resource model, identifying human resource needs, and constructing the primary access road into the Dolores mine site. Detailed engineering is expected to be complete for almost all project components by June 15. All long-lead items, including the mining fleet and crushers, have now been ordered; and initial bids for earthworks have been received, with ground breaking on the facilities areas expected to occur in the first week of June. As previously announced, construction of the new mine road, from Yepachic, north to Dolores, started in the fourth quarter of 2005. The road now provides light vehicle access to the site, with the first 60 kilometres completed to full road width. The last 35 kilometres of the road is under final construction, with full heavy vehicle access to Dolores expected by the first week of June, to coincide with the start of earthworks. Project Hiring With much of the required project funding now in place (and discussions for the remaining, debt, component well advanced), the Company has now hired Shaun Ball, as its Senior Mining Engineer. Mr. Ball has extensive mine design experience and is an important addition to the Dolores team. The Company also expects to complete the engagement of a senior procurement manager, with extensive experience in Latin America, within the next two weeks. Candidates for several other key construction and operations positions are being identified and the positions will be filled as required. Continuing Planning and Resource-Expansion Drilling Separately, mine plan optimization studies are ongoing and will continue throughout the construction period. In addition, the Company has now commenced a 35,000 metre resource-expansion drilling program, directed at previously-discovered mineralized zones outside the current mine plan and at untested targets. Mineralization at Dolores remains open in all directions and there is considerable potential to increase project gold and silver resources. Quality Assurance and Control Mark Bailey MSc., P.Geo. is a ‘qualified person’, as that term is defined in NI 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators, and is responsible for the contents of this news release. MINEFINDERS CORPORATION LTD. Mark H. Bailey, President and Chief Executive Officer Safe Harbor Statement under the United States Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995: Statements in this release that are forward-looking, including statements relating to the potential growth in size of the Company’s mineral reserves and resources, and the timing of the commencement of construction at, the conclusion of agreements relating to, the hiring of employees for, and the commencement of mining operations at the Company’s Dolores project, are subject to various risks and uncertainties that are beyond the control of the Company, including those risks described in the Company’s periodic filings with the Ontario Securities Commission and the U. S. Securities Exchange Commission (‘SEC’) and subsequent events may vary significantly from those contemplated by these statements. These forward looking statements represent management’s best judgment as of the date hereof, based on information currently available. The Company does not intend to update this information and disclaims any legal liability to the contrary. For further information, please contact: Minefinders Corporation Ltd. Mark H. Bailey, President and Chief Executive Officer 2288-1177 West Hastings Street Vancouver, BC, V6E 2K3, Canada Tel. +1 (604) 687-6263 Tel. +1 (866) 687-6263 Fax +1 (604) 687-6267 www.minefinders.com AXINO AG Silberburgstrasse 112 D-70176 Stuttgart Tel. +49 (711) 25 35 92-30 Fax +49 (711) 25 35 92-33 info@axino.de www.axino.de (c)DGAP 09.05.2006 ————————————————————————— Language: English Issuer: Minefinders Corporation Ltd. 2288-1177 W Hastings St V6E 2K3 Vancouver, BC Kanada Phone: +1 (604) 687-6263 Fax: +1 (604) 687-6267 email: info@minefinders.com WWW: www.minefinders.com ISIN: CA6029001022 WKN: 859435 indices: Listed: Freiverkehr in Berlin-Bremen, München; Open Market in Frankfurt; Foreign Exchange(s) Toronto End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————————