April 9, 2009

MacDonald Mines Exploration Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:BMK) ("MacDonald” or the "Company") announces it has signed an amended Letter of Agreement with the Canadian Corporation “210829 Ontario Limited” (the “Optionor”) to acquire a 100% undivided right, title and interest in the Nielsen-Chisholm Property, a land package that bears strong similarity to the Company’s land holdings in the James Bay Lowlands area of Ontario.

MacDonald originally entered into a Letter of Agreement with the Optionor to acquire 75% of the Nielsen-Chisholm Property, as detailed in the Company’s December 18, 2008 press release. Further geological/ geophysical study and realized potential of the Property fueled the acquisition of the remaining interest.

Kirk McKinnon, President & CEO of MacDonald Mines stated, “After further assessment of all the available data, and based on the strong recommendation from our collective group of exploration consultants vis-à-vis the Property’s potential, we decided to acquire the full 100% interest. The infrastructure is excellent with easy access, which will allow our crews to work out of LaRonge, providing major cost savings versus helicopter exploration. We are moving forward with the first phase of what we believe to be an extensive exploration program this summer, and once “break up” has concluded and crews are able to access the site, we will commence exploration work and prepare targets for drilling. We remain cognizant that we must continue to ensure the Company’s ability to operate during these most difficult times, but we are also aware that there will be a turn in this economy and we need to position MacDonald with properties of qualified substance.”

Compelling Geology Amplifies the Potential of the Property

The Nielsen-Chisholm area is surrounded by a number of important Ni-Cu deposits within the southern portion of the LaRonge Belt. Dr. Larry Hulbert, D.Sc., P. Geo., a consulting geologist who has extensive knowledge of the LaRonge district stated, “Compelling geophysical and geological attributes along with anomalous nickel and chrome lake sediment geochemistry suggest that the this is a highly prospective area for nickel-copper sulphide mineralization. It is part of the much more extensive Proterozoic LaRonge - Lynn Lake Greenstone Belt. The Lynn Lake Greenstone Belt hosted the prolific Lynn Lake nickel-copper deposits which were mined continuously for 24 years by Sherritt Gordon Mines Ltd. The proximity of the area to the town of LaRonge, and the road and rail access to copper and nickel smelters at Flin Flon and Thompson make this a very attractive property to explore for nickel-copper sulphide deposits.”

Property is Surrounded by Other Deposits

Nickel-copper deposits including the Clam Lake, Gochager-MAL Lakes, and Nemeiben Lake deposits surround the Nielsen-Chisholm area while the prolific Lynn-Lake nickel-copper mining camp occurs in the northern portion of the belt. The former producing Anglo Rouyn copper-gold mine is also situated in close proximity to the Property.

Nickel-copper deposits to the north (Gochager Lake, MAL Lake), and southwest (Clam Lake) of the Bob Lake area have massive sulphide intersections with nickel grades in the 2.6% to 3.4% range, and with unusually high nickel:copper ratios (6:1 to 8:1). The nickel:copper ratios of the sulphides are uncharacteristically high for the associated host rock and suggest the sulphides could be related to a more primitive coeval part of the magmatic system yet to be recognized. The Lynn Lake nickel-copper deposits were in continuous production for 24 years ( 1953-1976). Eleven discrete ore bodies were mined for a total mine grade and tonnage of 20,151,146 tonnes of 1.02 % nickel, 0.53% copper. This was Canada’s third largest nickel producing area after Sudbury and Thompson.

The Anglo Rouyn Mine

The Anglo Rouyn Mine is located approximately 10 km to the southeast of the Property and produced copper and gold from 1966 until 1972 (1.7Mt grading 1.7% copper, 1.2 g/t gold and 5.5 g/t silver). This deposit has affinities to a volcanogenic massive sulphide (VMS) deposit and it is believed that the Nielsen-Chisholm area is underlain by similar geology to that which hosts the Anglo Rouyn deposit.

Previous geological mapping in the area covered by the recently completed airborne VTEM survey indicate that ultramafic rocks are present. It appears that they have distinct geophysical signatures and consequently it is envisaged that favorable environments for nickel, copper and PGE deposits will be defined.

About the Nielsen-Chisholm Property

The Property comes with the compelling added features of geological knowledge, proximal mines, mineral showings and a new helicopter-borne VTEM survey.

The Property is proximal to a number of mineral occurrences with historical resources which include, on trend, both magmatic nickel and VMS base metal deposits . MacDonald considered the merits of this joint-venture as it manages its exploration activities and expenditures in these very challenging economic times.

The Nielsen-Chisholm Property is located in the LaRonge District of Saskatchewan, and covers an area of 201 km2. The Property is largely covered in outwash sand with somewhat limited outcrop exposure. This physical feature offered very limited prospecting opportunity in the past. Apart from geological mapping carried out by the Saskatchewan Government, there appears to be limited historical exploration work conducted in the area.

MacDonald’s consultants Bill Nielsen, P. Geo. and Robin Chisholm, P. Geol. have conducted a preliminary review of available data and received an in-depth geophysical review and interpretation from Geotech’s three key geophysicists in order to validate the property’s exploration potential as reflected in the VTEM data.

Amended Terms of the December 2008 Option Agreement

Subject to Exchange approval, in order to acquire a 100% undivided right, title and interest in and to the property, the terms of the Amendment Agreement call for MacDonald to make the following payments to the Optionor: $25,000 cash, 1,250,000 common shares and 150,000 purchase share warrants which are exercisable at $0.40 per share for a period of 24 months from date of issuance.

All securities issued in connection with this transaction are subject to a 4 month hold period.

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