Apogee Minerals Responds to Concerns in Bolivia

TORONTO, ON May 3, 2006 Apogee Minerals Ltd. (TSX Venture Exchange: APE), in response to concerns relating to developments in the natural gas industry in Bolivia, has very recently engaged in discussions with the Government of the Republic of Bolivia and the Minister of Mines and Metallurgy where the Minister has reiterated that there are no plans to consider the “nationalization” or incorporation of assets held by private mining companies. Apogee is developing mining assets and exploration projects in Bolivia but has no interests involving hydrocarbons or natural gas.

On March 5, 2006 in conjunction with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada Convention in Toronto, Apogee hosted a press conference with Bolivian Minister of Mines and Metallurgy Mr. Walter Villaroel. In his address Mr. Villaroel spoke of the need to create a competitive and secure environment for mining investment that will foster job creation, infrastructure modernization and industry partnership. The text of the
Minister’s address is included below.

Recently a mining industry group representing companies active in Bolivia, and including Apogee Minerals, has been formed to conduct ongoing dialogue with the government to discuss ways to make the country more attractive from a mining investment perspective. Apogee is pleased with opportunity to participate in this effort and with the constructive nature of the dialogue that is taking place. The company is continuing with its major exploration objectives for 2006 at its advanced silver-zinc projects.

TEXT OF SPEECH OF MR. WALTER VILLAROEL, MINISTER OF MINES AND METALLURGY, REPUBLIC OF BOLIVIA AT PDAC CONVENTION, TORONTO, CANADA MARCH 5, 2006

As Minister of Mines and Metallurgy of Bolivia, it is a pleasure for me to address the investors and attending professionals of the Annual Convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, as this is such an important event for the mining industry.

My country, as you may already know, is rich in mineral resources and it can certainly provide great investment opportunities for private and public equity capital.

The existing mining property concessions in Bolivia represent only 2.64% of our territory. The currently-known areas with mining potential represent only 5% of our territory, equivalent to approximately 600,000 square kilometers and leaving much room for expansion. These areas are located in the western mountain ranges of the Altiplano and the Precambrian area in the east.

In these areas, there are thousands of small workings that are being mined in a rudimentary fashion by small miners and cooperatives. This is another strong indication of the existing mining potential in Bolivia.

We believe that many of these existing mining areas and areas with new potential, when properly evaluated with modern exploration technology and mining techniques, will highlight the potential for the discovery of important mineral deposits – deposits which can surely have the opportunity to be transformed into business enterprises of world-wide importance. The San Cristobal silver-zinc deposit and the El Mutun iron ore deposit are two examples of this potential being realized.

One of the key objectives of my office is to send a positive message to participants at the annual convention of the PDAC, to attract investor interest in developing and expanding the small existing mining operations, as we are confident that there are very high probabilities of finding many more important mineral deposits. Currently, we have an extensive list of investment requests from mining cooperatives and active mining companies that range from one-half million dollars to 2 million dollars. These are important opportunities that are available to be taken advantage of.

In my country, as you might know, important political changes have taken place. For the first time in the existence of the Bolivian Republic, we have a President from the indigenous ethnic groups. Evo Morales Ayma was democratically elected and one of his objectives is to modify and correct old structures of discrimination and social injustice.

Evo Morales, as a man who has achieved the presidency of his country, knows perfectly well that progress is obtained with patience, diligent work, and with the necessary financial investment. On his tour of several countries around the world before his official inauguration as President of the Republic, he made special note of the need to have strong and successful partners for the development of Bolivia.

I am a miner from the cooperative sector and I now have the responsibility to carry out the duties of Minister of Mines and Metallurgy for my country. I am proud of my origin as it has enabled me to fully understand that development is not achieved with speeches, but with the proper combination of work and capital.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to send the message from my President, that “we are working hard to establish the legal security that investment in the mining industry requires on a long term basis”. The current government of Bolivia is a product of a democratic election with an absolute voter majority and this fact enables us to guarantee legal security on a long term basis.

We know from experience that for the mining industry to be successful, it is necessary to have what we call a “social license”. It is not possible to establish a nationwide social license without an equilibrium respecting benefits to investors, the country that hosts them and the original communities that exist in the areas of mineral potential. Any government that does not take these variables into consideration risks the mistake of imposing conditions that would harm mining investment.

We will not make that mistake. I want to emphasize that the President I represent wants to tell you that “the new Bolivian laws for mining will provide long term legal security as required by private mining investment and will also transform the politics of the Bolivian state”.

Furthermore, we will take measures that will encourage investment in ventures both large and small. One example of this will be the declaration of “integrated mining areas” that will respect pre-existing mineral rights in areas where many small mining concessions exist by unifying development efforts. This will allow the Bolivian state to promote the search of strategic partners for the development of these areas.

This is just one example of several measures that will be taken to promote mining development and ensure Bolivia remains competitive on an international level. We are pleased and very willing to provide any information that the investors interested in our country will require.

To finalize, I would like to wish all of you success at this important international mining event which I was unable to attend due to reasons beyond my control.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Walter Villarroel Morochi
Minister of Mines and Metallurgy

Building A Premier Emerging Silver Producer

Apogee Minerals Ltd. is a Canadian exploration and development company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol APE. The company is focused on advanced Silver-Zinc projects in South America that demonstrate the potential to receive capital investment and be rapidly developed to production. Currently all of its projects are located in the historic silver producing regions of central and southwest Bolivia.

This press release is available on the company’s official on-line investor relations site for investor commentary, feedback and questions. Investors are asked to visit http://www.agoracom.com/ir/apogee. Alternatively, investors are asked to email all questions and correspondence to APE@agoracom.com where they can also request addition to the Apogee Minerals investor email list to receive all future press releases and updates directly.

For further information contact:
John Carlesso
President and C.E.O.
(416) 861-5881