March 18, 2004

AXMIN AWARDED NEW GOLD PERMIT IN CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC

Toronto, Ontario – AXMIN Inc. (AXM-TSX Venture) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Aurafrique SARL, has been awarded an exclusive exploration permit over the highly prospective Pouloubou greenstone belt in the Central African Republic ("CAR"). Historic records from Pouloubou indicate that during the French colonial era over three tonnes of alluvial gold were extracted from drainages on both sides of a 15 km long watershed. This 2 km to 3 km wide watershed has been investigated by AXMIN’s geologists who have located banded ironstones, schists and alteration of similar character to that on the Company’s wholly owned Bambari Permit, the subject of an ongoing resource drilling program in the CAR.

Historic gold production from Pouloubou exceeds that from Bambari and is clearly derived from targets that should be amenable to rapid and cost effective exploration. During the initial 12 month period AXMIN plans to expend approximately US$600,000. The program is expected to include an aeromagnetic survey of the majority of the permit area, surface geochemistry, rotary air blast ("RAB") drilling to locate the centres of mineralisation and either core or reverse circulation ("RC") drilling to give preliminary estimates of grade and size.

The 1,000 sq km Pouloubou Permit has been granted in accordance with the country’s new Mining Code for an initial period of three years, with two subsequent renewals each of three years and each subject to a 50% reduction in area. Pouloubou is located about 150 km to the southeast of the Bambari Permit and is accessible by road. It is intended that exploration will start as soon as crews can be mobilised and the base camp established.

At the same time, Aurafrique SARL has been granted a renewal of the 2,000 km2 Bambari Permit in accordance with the new Mining Code, with a division into two separate blocks of 1,000 km2 each, without reduction in area.

Chief Executive Officer, Dr Jonathan Forster comments "The granting of the Pouloubou Permit is an important milestone in AXMIN’s involvement in the CAR and provides the Company with a second major exploration target in the country. Meanwhile, our exploration at Bambari continues with additional drilling at depth at French Camp and definition drilling at the Katsia prospect. We have also started testing the first two of numerous additional targets in the same area and we expect initial resource estimates later this year as this exploration is completed. I should also like to acknowledge the support provided by the Government of the Central African Republic in acting expeditiously in the granting of these permits under the country’s new Mining Code."

AXMIN is a mineral exploration company with a strong focus on gold in highly prospective properties across Africa, principally in the Central African Republic, Mali and Burkina Faso.