ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Echo Bay Mines Ltd.
(AMEX and TSE: ECO) has increased its equity interest in Minefinders
Corporation Ltd. (VSE: MFL) as part of a strategic alliance through which Echo
Bay has the right to acquire 60% of the Dolores gold exploration property in
Chihuahua, Mexico.  The C$2.4 million transaction provides funding for
continued exploration on the property following positive results from the
first phase of drilling.
    Echo Bay has acquired 400,000 common shares of Minefinders at C$3.00 per
share by exercising 400,000 of the 800,000 warrants issued as part of the
original transaction between the companies in July 1996.  Echo Bay has also
agreed to purchase from Minefinders 480,000 new units at C$2.50 per unit, each
unit consisting of one common share and one-half of a warrant.  Each full
warrant entitles Echo Bay to purchase an additional share at C$3.00 per share.
After completion of the unit purchase, which is expected shortly, Echo Bay
will hold 1,280,000 common shares of Minefinders, or 15.1% of the company's
8.5 million common shares outstanding.
    Seventy-five percent of the C$2.4 million generated by the two-part
transaction will be used to continue exploration on the Dolores property.
Further investments in Minefinders will be dependent on results of the
exploration program.
    Twenty-one drill holes have been completed at Dolores, a volcanic-hosted
epithermal gold system located in the Sierra Madre Mountains.  Assays have
been received on 18 holes with significant gold mineralization encountered in
15.  Mapping and sampling work on the property has identified three target
areas along a northwest-trending mineralized zone, 2.5 miles (4,000 meters)
long.  Trenching and surface outcrop sampling work have been completed
throughout this strike length and have encountered good surface gold values.
Previous mining activity in the area is reported to have produced over 300,000
ounces of gold prior to 1929.
    The strategic alliance on the Dolores property involves the equity
financing by Echo Bay of a phased exploration program jointly planned by both
parties and managed and operated by Minefinders.  Thirty days after the end of
the third phase of exploration, Echo Bay has the option to fund and manage a
feasibility study.  Upon completion of the feasibility study, Echo Bay has the
option to purchase a 60% joint venture interest in and become operator of the
Dolores property.  The purchase price will be equal to 60% of the gold
equivalent (gold and silver) production ounces from the proven and probable
reserves as calculated in the feasibility study at US$20 per ounce, subject to
a minimum of US$12 million dollars.
    Echo Bay is a major gold producer with mines in Canada and the United
States and with exploration and development projects on four continents.

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