To: LoneClone who wrote (5605 ) 8/22/2007 10:39:04 AM From: LoneClone Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 194001 OceanaGold updates progress on Philippines development activities Wed Aug 22, 3:26 AMca.news.finance.yahoo.com /NOT FOR DISSEMINATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES AND NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US NEWSWIRE SERVICES/ MELBOURNE, Australia, Aug. 22 /CNW/ - OceanaGold Corporation ("OceanaGold" or "the Company")(TSX, ASX, NZX:OGC) is pleased to provide an update on the development activities at its Didipio Gold-Copper project in northern Luzon, Philippines. Development The 21 kilometre road upgrade into the Didipio project currently has two contractors mobilized on the project. Light cars and trucks are already utilizing the road to and from local communities. Current work is focusing on upgrading the road to all weather access, which will be available by late September. The EPCM contract was awarded to Ausenco (Brisbane) in the second quarter. Final phase engineering is now well underway and Ausenco is undertaking the detailed design for site construction activities scheduled to commence in Q4 2007. Site earthworks will begin in Q4 at Tubo with particular focus on the access road and the construction of an accommodation camp where the box cut for the drainage tunnel will be located. Manufacturing of the main Didipio accommodation camp will also start in Manila in Q4 for construction at site in late Q1 2008. The mills, which were ordered in late 2006 are still on schedule to arrive in September 2008. These are the long lead-time items and the shells are currently being built in South Africa by Outokumpu. The company is on schedule to commission and commence production at Didipio during the first half of 2009. Patrick Goodfellow, Vice President - Philippines stated "We are pleased with the project to date and have been working closely with Ausenco over the past few weeks to progress the engineering and design. The access road to site has held up well after recent heavy rains in Luzon and we are on schedule to commence site earthworks in the fourth quarter of this year. We have also made good progress with staffing up our team both in Manila and at site as we ramp up the construction phase." Financing The Company has approximately US$162M in cash for the construction of the Didipio project and for general corporate purposes. These funds are invested in low risk, term deposits with ANZ Bank, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Societe Generale. The project has a mine life of at least 15 years and is forecasted to produce an average of 120,000 ounces of gold and 15,000 metric tonnes of copper per year. Exploration The Company has assembled an exploration team in the Philippines and has commenced exploration fieldwork on the Papaya project in northern Luzon. Exploration fieldwork on the nearby Runamok project is expected to mobilize in December. The Company expects to receive the final permit for the Manhulayan project in the next two weeks. A team will mobilize to the Surigao peninsula immediately following receipt to establish an access road and field camp for use during fieldwork and drilling at Manhulayan in Q4 2007. The last exploration at this gold-copper porphyry system was in 2001 when two previous drill holes reported 295 metres @ 0.32% Cu & 0.15 g/t Au (290 Au eq gram metres) and 185 metres @ 0.33% Cu & 0.16 g/t Au (189 Au eq. gram metres). CEO Steve Orr commented "We believe we are well positioned with the financing, personnel, and infrastructure in place to deliver on one of the strongest growth profiles of any intermediate gold company in the market today. We will continue to channel our efforts to successfully commissioning the Frasers Underground in New Zealand along with Didipio in the Philippines in 2008/2009 while at the same time cultivating further growth opportunities through organic exploration and accretive acquisitions as they present themselves." About OceanaGold OceanaGold currently operates in the South Island of New Zealand and in the Philippines. The Company's assets include New Zealand's largest gold mine at Macraes, a new mine in the Reefton Goldfield, and two development projects; the Frasers Underground Mine, scheduled for commissioning in the first quarter of 2008, and the Didipio Gold-Copper Project in northern Luzon, Philippines scheduled for completion in early 2009. The Company expects to achieve gold production of approximately 500,000 gold equivalent ounces (AuEq) by 2009. OceanaGold is listed on the Toronto, Australian and New Zealand stock exchanges under the symbol "OGC". Cautionary Statement Statements in this release may be viewed as forward-looking statements. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "estimates" or "intends", or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements. There are no assurances the Company can fulfil such forward-looking statements and the Company undertakes no obligation to update such statements. Such forward-looking statements are only predictions; actual events or results may differ materially as a result of risks facing the Company, some of which are beyond the Company's control. Contacts Mr Darren Klinck Vice President Corporate and Investor Relations OceanaGold Corporation Tel: 61 3 9656 5300