April 6, 2004

News Release: South-Malartic: 20 000 Ton Bulk Sampling Yields 1 981 Ounces of Gold - Represents Revenues of more than $1 million

South-Malartic Exploration ('South-Malartic') (MSU-X) www.malarticsud.com is pleased to announce today the results of its 20 000 ton bulk sampling that occurred between November 2003 and March 2004 on the Croinor property.

Ore extracted from the operations was derived from four different mineralized sectors accessible from the surface, providing an accurate representation of the Croinor project's mineralized lenses. The preliminary geological evaluation of these sectors had defined a 20 000 metric ton grading of 2.46 g/t. The average assay value obtained at the plant entrance was 3.10 g/t, 26% higher than the geological model. This is largely due to the presence of free coarse gold that is not easily detectable by the diamond drill survey, resulting in an under- evaluation from the actual grade assay value. The milling of the ore yielded 1 981 net ounces of gold out of a total of 2 033 ounces, for a 97.4% rate of recovery, an outstanding response to the cyanidation process to extract gold from the deposit conducted at the Camflo mill, a Richmont Mines subsidiary.

The samples were assayed, for the determination of the gold grade, at the Chimitec Bondar-Clegg (fire assay and atomic absorption) and Bourlamaque (gravimetric absorption) laboratories in Val-d'Or. Mr. Patrick Moryoussef, engineer for the company, is the qualified person (Canadian standards 43-101) who supervised the bulk sampling and the milling process.

The bulk sampling enabled the completion of all metallurgical tests, the confirmation of the geological reading and the establishment of a procedure for sampling and extracting the ore. Sale of the gold resulted in revenues of approximately $1 080 000.

South-Malartic continues to conduct geotechnical surveys and permit requests while working on the phases leading up to production. South-Malartic is currently assessing the possibility of a mixed exploitation, a combination of open pit and underground operations in higher grade, deeper sectors, with the aim of optimizing the grades, minimizing dilution and production costs and taking advantage of the price increase in the gold market.

South-Malartic announces that during a Board of Directors meeting held April 2, 2004, it has granted 1 350 000 incentive stock options to its directors and employees that can be exercised at $0.54 a share.

About South-Malartic Exploration Inc.

South-Malartic is one of the most active gold companies in the Abitibi region. The company currently has a budget of $900 000 for exploration work on its sixteen (16) mining properties with an excellent potential for gold- bearing discoveries. Its active interest in Croinor, held with Huntington Exploration Inc., is currently 78.4%.

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.

For further information: President, Mr. Leon Methot, (819) 370-6663; Investor Relations: Mr. Rene Lampron, (819) 370-6663, (819) 692-3631, rlampron(at)malarticsud.com

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