The story of Arequipa Resources….1996…gold at $400.

A gold discovery at Pierena project in central Peru: President Catherine McCloud.

Traded about $1 in Sept/95.

Exploration and rock sampling Fall, 1995. of 650 x 150 meter gold anomaly…grades above 1 gm/t….bedrock at 6.8 gm/t….suspected bulk tonnage disseminated epithermal gold system.

$2.35/sh. Dec/95.

Fe/96 pitting and tunneling assays. 3.6 g/t….drill program announced.

May/96: stock at $29.50…drill results…major gold/silver system found…1 hole; surface to 88 meters at 6.58 g/t. plus tunneling and pit sampling.

In June stock dropped to $18.75 from $30 in a flash but came back in a week or so.

On Jul 12th Barrick stunned the markets with a $27/share takeout bid for AQP. Drill results suggested there could be as much as 3.5 million ozs. gold plus some silver. The exploration project was still in its early stages with no officially proven gold reserves. (Globe and Mail, Fri., Jul., 12, 1996 ). The offer was about $85/oz. for potential, probable and proven ounces in the ground. The all cash offer was very generous for unproven reserves. They said they would not rebid. AQP turned them down.

Based on further pitting, tunneling and drilling results in later July, a suggested resource

of 5.7 million ozs. gold @ 5.7 g/t and 144 million ounces of silver @ 144 g/t….all near surface open pittable.

There was the usual flack directed at AQP: officers and directors held a large percentage of shares. By Jul/96 many insiders had made millions selling out. Options were generous.

Aug.16/96: Arequipa @ 36.3 million shares outstanding. Barrick raises bid to $1.1 billion: $30 cash/sh. Or .79 shares ABX @ $36.70/sh… plus 50 cents cash..

No feasibility study; only potential and probable.

Gold was about $400/ounce.