2006 News

Vancouver, British Columbia, April 3rd, 2006. Candente Resource Corp. (DNT:TSX) is very pleased to report that an updated independent mineral resource estimate has been completed on the Cañariaco Norte Zone of the Cañariaco property, Northern Peru. The report estimates an inferred resource of 489 million tonnes grading 0.45% copper at a cut-off grade of 0.20% copper. Contained metal in the resource equals 4.8 billion pounds of copper.

The updated resource only comprises 73% of the lateral (66 of 90 hectares) and 50% of the vertical (320 m of the 640 m) known extents to the deposit. The deposit is still open for expansion both laterally and vertically as all drill holes to date have ended in significant copper grades, several of which are from 0.55% to 1.00% Cu.

Leachable copper makes up approximately 50% of the total contained copper in the Cañariaco Norte deposit. Distinct zones of highly leachable copper appear both at the top of the deposit near surface, as well as at depth. An engineering scoping study is underway to assist Candente in evaluating the potential economics of an SX-EW copper operation at Cañariaco and is initially focused on the near surface leachable zone as a potential Starter Pit for quick pay back of capital costs.

Mike Casselman, Director and General Manager Exploration of Candente, states "with only two years of systematic work and less than US$3M invested we have identified Cañariaco Norte as a significant copper resource with a near surface leachable component amenable to SX-EW. The near surface leachable component should offer a quick payback for capital investment and would be a great start for phasing into a larger milling and/or SX-EW operation."

The following features indicate that Cañariaco Norte could become a low cost copper producer: road access, low elevations (2500 to 3200 m), availability of water, electricity, infrastructure, ports and a sparsely populated area with a local labour force readily available and favourable to exploration and development.

Total gold and silver content has not been estimated as this stage. The focus is on the leachable copper content of the deposit and considering that gold and silver are not likely to be recovered by this process, gold and silver analyses were not conducted on all of the holes.

The mineral resource estimate is based on assay results from 11668 m of drill core from a total of 12,945 drilled in 47 holes of which 36 were drilled by Candente in 2004 and 2005 and 11 were drilled in 1973, 1995 and 1999 by Ingemmet, Placer Dome and Billiton. The first 12 Candente holes were drilled at 100 metre spacings, the second phase of 13 holes were drilled at 150 m spacings and the last 11 at various intervals. The estimations for the preliminary resource were capped at a copper grade of 2%. Independent geologist James A. McCrea, P.Geo., and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument (NI) 43-101, was responsible for the mineral resource estimate dated March 31st, 2006 Mr. McCrea has read and approved the contents of this news release. The resource estimate is classified as an Inferred Mineral Resource, consistent with the CIM definitions referred to in NI 43-101. This estimate will be filed in a Technical Report, compliant with NI 43-101 on SEDAR within 30 days. Mineral resources, which are not mineral reserves, have not demonstrated economic viability. Candente is not aware of any environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other issues which may materially affect its estimate of mineral resources.

The NQ-size core from the 2004 and 2005 drill programs was cut in half with a diamond saw and sampled at two metre intervals on the property. One half of the split core was collected by Candente's Peruvian geologists in accordance with industry standards and submitted to Actlabs in Lima, Peru for copper. Copper was analyzed by a four acid leach process on a 50 g split to give values for total copper, acid soluble copper, cyanide soluble copper and residual sulphide copper. Pulps from some of the same samples were sent to Actlabs laboratory in Ancaster, Ontario, Canada and analysed for an additional 36 elements (including silver) using Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP). Gold analyses on these same samples was carried out by Actlabs, Lima using Fire Assay Fusion and Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) method on a 50g split. Five percent of all core samples were also sent to a second laboratory for check assays of total copper and total gold. Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QA/QC), including the use of sample standards, blanks and duplicates as well as chain of custody was monitored by Candente and reviewed by the Qualified Person.

The re-sampling of historic core samples from 9 of 11 holes drilled prior to Candente acquiring the property was also carried out by Candente personnel under the guidance of a qualified person under the NI 43-101 guidelines. Core samples were taken over varying intervals, but corresponding with the original alteration and mineralization breaks. The entire remaining core half was bagged and sent to ActLabs in Lima, Peru for copper re-assay, where it underwent the same procedure as described above.

The core from the 1973 drill program was collected along 2 metre lengths and analysed for copper and molybdenum. The core sizes were NCD to 50 m depth, NXWL to 170 m depth and BXWL for the remainder of the hole. A total of 66 composite geological samples were analysed for total copper, molybdenum, silver and gold. The "frio de la dithizina-benceno" assay method (colorimetric analysis) was used. Analyses were carried out by Plenge Laboratory in Lima and the laboratory of INGEMMET. Candente cannot comment on the reliability of the sampling and analyses carried out, however, the fact that INGEMMENT hole 73-001 was twinned by Candente's 04-008 hole and the results are very similar indicate that the data is reliable.

The core from Placer Dome's 1995 drill program was sent to and analysed by SGS-XRAL labs in Lima for copper, gold and molybdenum. No specific information on how they handled the core is available, however data from professional geologists of large companies is considered to be of high quality. In addition, Joanne Freeze has direct experience working with Placer Dome elsewhere and believes that they would have had detailed QA/QC programs in place at Cañariaco. These would have included the use of blanks, standards, and check assays.

The core from Billiton's 1999 drill program was sampled in two metre intervals and the core was 1.875 inches in diameter -- NQ. 50% of the core and blanks and standards were sent to ALS prep lab in Trujillo, Peru for gold (by Fire Assay, with AAS finish) and copper, lead, zinc, molybdenum and arsenic (by total digest -- AAS).

Maps and cross-sections can be viewed at: http://www.candente.com/s/PeruProjects_Cañariaco.asp

Michael J. Casselman, M.Sc., P.Geo., General Manager Exploration and Director, Robert van Egmond, P.Geo., Senior Geologist and Joanne C. Freeze, P.Geo., President and CEO, are the Qualified Persons as defined by NI 43-101 for the project discussed above and they have read and approved the contents of this release.

Candente is a diversified copper and gold exploration company focused on increasing shareholder value through discovery. In addition to Cañariaco, Candente has several other gold, copper and silver projects in Peru. Candente subscribes to principles which ensure that its exploration and development activities are beneficial to the local communities.

For further information please contact Joanne Freeze, P.Geo., President & CEO or Evelyn Cox at: (604) 689-1957 or toll free 1-877-689-1964; or info@candente.com www.candente.com.

News Release No.160

This News Release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Candente relies upon litigation protection for forward-looking statements.