NEWS RELEASE
Nippon Mining & Metals Co., Ltd.
Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd.
Pan Pacific Copper Co., Ltd.
Re:

Pan Pacific Copper Co., Ltd. Announces Friendly Takeover Bid forRegalito Copper Corp.

TOKYO, JAPAN (4pm, March 14, 2006): Pan Pacific Copper Co., Ltd. (“PPC”) (Head office:Tokyo, Japan / President: Takeshi Kurushima), an operating copper company jointly owned by
Nippon Mining & Metals Co., Ltd. (Head office: Tokyo, Japan / President: Masanori Okada) andMitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd. (Head office: Tokyo, Japan / President: Hiroshi Makihara),
today announced that PPC has reached agreement with Regalito Copper Corp., headquarteredin Vancouver, BC, Canada (“Regalito”), which owns the Regalito Copper Property in the Third
Region of Chile (the “Project”), to make an offer to acquire all of the outstanding commonshares of Regalito (collectively the “Shares”) by way of a friendly takeover bid (the “TakeoverBid”) at a price of US$6.00 per share in cash through its wholly owned subsidiary, PPC CanadaEnterprises Corp. (“PPC Canada”). Regalito is currently listed on the Toronto Stock Exchangeand the American Stock Exchange (symbol: RLO).
The bid price of US$6.00 per share represents a premium of approximately 17% over the closing
price of the Shares on the American Stock Exchange on March 13, 2006. The gross equity
value of the offer is approximately US$137 million (on a fully diluted basis).
A special committee of Regalito’s board of directors has received an opinion from its financial
advisor that the offer is fair from a financial point of view to the shareholders of Regalito(excluding shareholders who have entered into lock-up agreements with PPC Canada).
Regalito’s board of directors has advised that it will unanimously recommend that shareholders
tender to the Takeover Bid. Regalito’s board of directors has also agreed to support theTakeover Bid and has agreed to certain other terms customary in the circumstances, including a
break fee, access to information and a right to match. PPC Canada has entered into lock-up
agreements with certain directors, officers and insiders of Regalito who have agreed to tender tothe Takeover Bid. Shares subject to the lock-up agreements represent approximately 42% of
the total Shares outstanding on a fully diluted basis.
The completion of the Takeover Bid is subject to PPC acquiring at least 66 2/3% of the Sharescalculated on a fully-diluted basis (which includes common shares that may be issued pursuant
to the exercise of stock options) and other customary conditions. Upon completion of theTakeover Bid, PPC Canada has agreed to take steps to acquire any remaining Shares so that it
will ultimately own 100% of the Shares in Regalito.
UBS Securities (Canada, New York and Tokyo) has been retained to act as a financial advisor

Page 1 of 7and dealer manager in connection with the Takeover Bid, and to solicit acceptance of theTakeover Bid.
Summary of Takeover Bid(i) Name of target company: Regalito Copper Corp.
(ii) Type of shares in the tender offer: Common shares(iii) Offer price: US$ 6.00 per share in cash, which represents a premium of approximately
17% over the closing price of the Shares on the American Stock Exchange on March13, 2006.
(iv) Number of Shares to be acquired: Approximately 22.9 million shares on a fully-dilutedbasis(v) Gross equity value: approximately US$137 million (assuming the full exercise of all inthe money options)(vi) Tender offer period (Vancouver time): The bid will be open for a minimum of 35 days
from the mailing date of the offering documents to Regalito shareholders (thesedocuments are expected to be mailed not later than April 13, 2006)
About PPCPan Pacific was established in October 2000 by Nippon Mining & Metals and Mitsui Mining &Smelting, and engages in a wide range of copper businesses including the procurement ofcopper concentrate, the production through tolling arrangement of, and the marketing ofproducts such as, refined copper, precious metals and sulphuric acid. With the acquisition ofRegalito, Pan Pacific intends to become a fully integrated copper producer whereby it will mine,
process and fabricate copper and copper products.
As previously announced by the management of PPC, its business strategy is “establishing acopper business platform in regions with new resources of raw material, especially in Chile”.
PPC intends to establish overseas an integrated production platform that includes the productionof all products from copper ore to copper cathode by utilizing SX/EW technology (see the notebelow). This will be the first and significant step in the development of PPC’s new copper
business and subsequent to this acquisition, PPC intends to further expand in line with thisstrategy.
(Note) SX/EW (Solvent extraction/ electrowinning) technology: Solvent extraction/electrowinning (SX/EW) is a two-stage process whereby copper ore is leached withdiluted sulfuric acid to obtain a leach solution that contains copper ions. Out of the leachsolution, copper ions are selectively extracted and upgraded to a concentrated
electrolyte using an electrolytic procedure. This method allows extraction of copper fromcopper oxide ores and secondary copper sulfide ores that were otherwise not mined ortreated because of the difficulties in ore concentration. Today this technology is widelyused for production of electrolytic copper, and represents 20% of global copper

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production.
About the Project
Location: 115km southeast of Copiapó, the capital of the Third Region in Chile, and15km from the border with Argentina. The altitude in the region surrounding the ore
deposit is approximately 4,200m-4,600m. See Exhibit A; “Location of Regalito CopperProperty”.
(ii) Mining concessions: 6 mining concessions (4,258ha) and 158 exploration concessions
surrounding them (41,700ha)(iii) Resources: In 2004, Regalito began an exploration drilling campaign that delineated amineral resource of 628 million tonnes grading 0.43% copper in the measured andindicated category.
(iv) Production process: PPC expects ore mined is to be heap leached and solutiondelivered to a newly constructed electrolytic copper production plant (using SX/EWtechnology). Copper cathode produced in the new plant will be exported from the portof Chañaral. See Exhibit B; “Production Process Flow Chart”.
(v) Work plan and schedule: PPC plans to develop the Project as follows:Year 2006-2008
Development phase: Conduct additional drilling, pilot tests, andfeasibility studies (Estimated cost: US$60 million)
Year 2009-2010
Construction phase: Construction of the mine and production
facility. The cost for initial capital expenditure is roughly estimatedat US$ 600 million.
Year 2011Operational phase: Commence operations (19 years mine life
expected to extend to year 2029, producing approximately 100,000
to 150,000 tonnes of copper cathode per annum)(vi) Source of financing: The necessary funds for the Takeover Bid and the development
phase will be financed through additional capital provided by PPC’s shareholders (i.e.,
Nippon Mining & Metals and Mitsui Mining & Smelting). The financing necessary forthe construction and operation of the Project will be determined subsequently.
(i)Where to Find Additional Information About the Takeover Bid
This press release is for information purposes only and is neither an offer to purchase securities
nor a solicitation of an offer to sell securities. The tender offer for Regalito shares has notcommenced. If and when the offer is commenced, PPC Canada will file a take-over bid circularwith Canadian securities regulatory authorities and Regalito will file with Canadian regulatory
authorities a directors' circular with respect to the offer. In addition, if and when the offer iscommenced, PPC Canada will also file copies of the tender offer documents with the UnitedStates Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and Regalito will file with the SEC asolicitation/recommendation statement with respect to the offer. Shareholders are strongly
advised to read the take-over bid circular and tender offer documents (including the offer topurchase, letter of transmittal and related documents) and the related directors' circular andPage 3 of 7

recommendation document, as well as any amendments and supplements to those documents,
when they become available because they will contain important information. Shareholders may
obtain a free copy of the take-over bid circular, the related letter of transmittal and tender offer
statement and certain other offer documents, as well as the directors' circular andrecommendation document, at www.sedar.com or from the Securities and Exchange
Commission's website at www.sec.gov. SHAREHOLDERS SHOULD READ THE TAKE-OVER
BID CIRCULAR, TENDER OFFER DOCUMENTS AND DIRECTORS' CIRCULAR CAREFULLYBEFORE MAKING A DECISION CONCERNING THE OFFER IF AND WHEN IT IS MADE.
For further information
Nippon Mining & Metals Co., Ltd.

Narazaki, Oide
General Administration Dept.
TEL: +81-3-5573-7223

Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co., Ltd.

Sakurai, Asaki
Public Relations
TEL: +81-3-5437-8028

Pan Pacific Copper Co., Ltd.

Murayama, Ogura
Coordination Dept.
TEL: +81-3-5501-3578

Schedule: Corporate Data of Regalito and PPC, Photograph (Regalito)
Exhibit A: Location of Regalito Copper Property
Exhibit B: Production Process Flow Chart

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Schedule
Corporate Data of Regalito
Company name:Regalito Copper Corp.
Head Office:Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Representatives:
Ross Beaty, Chairman
Robert Pirooz, Chief Executive Officer
Established:
2003
Main business:
Development of the Regalito Copper Property
Shares outstanding: Approximately 21.9 million shares (as of Sep. 30, 2005)
Total assets:
Cdn.$18.388 million (as of Sep. 30, 2005)
Corporate Data of PPC
Company name:
Pan Pacific Copper Co., Ltd.
Head Office:21-17, Toranomon 1-Chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representatives:
Takeshi Kurushima, President & Representative Director
Capital:JPY 3,450 million (Nippon Mining & Metals: 66%, Mitsui Mining &Smelting: 34%)
Established:
2000
Main business:(i) Purchase of copper concentrate, (ii) production of refined copper,
sulfuric acid, precious metals and other by-products from copper
smelting process by tolling contracts, and (iii) sales of refined copper,sulfuric acid, precious metals and other by-products.
Sales:
JPY 297.1 billion (fiscal year ended Mar. 31, 2005)
Total assets:
JPY 85.2 billion (as of Mar. 31, 2005)
Photograph (Regalito)

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Exhibit A: Location of Regalito Copper Property

Chañaral●Ore Deposit
Plant Site●

Ore deposit :115km southeast of Copiapó, the capital of the Third Region in Chile, and 15km fromthe border with Argentina

Altitude:Ore deposit: 4,200m-4,600m
Plant site: 2,800m

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Exhibit B: Production Process Flow Chart

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