News

Entrée Gold Commences US$4.8 Million Exploration Programs in Mongolia

May 2, 2006

Vancouver, B.C., May 2, 2006 - Entrée Gold Inc. (TSX:ETG; AMEX:EGI; Frankfurt:EKA – “Entrée” or the “Company”) has commenced 2006 exploration on its Lookout Hill and Manlai properties in Mongolia.  The budget for the two programs is approximately US$4.8 million.  Crews have been mobilized and drilling has commenced at Lookout Hill, and induced polarization (“IP”) surveys have begun at Manlai. 

Company President and CEO, Greg Crowe commented: “The 2005 exploration results from our Lookout Hill and Manlai projects were very encouraging and continue to highlight the potential of Entrée’s property portfolio. Our 2006 exploration programs will focus primarily on drill-testing the geophysical, geochemical, and geological targets that were identified in 2005.” 

Approximately US$3.2 million will be spent at Lookout Hill, including 12,000 metres of combined diamond and reverse circulation (“RC”) drilling on its West Grid and Ring Dyke copper-gold targets.  In addition, reconnaissance and target development will continue on the approximately 140,000 hectares of ground that lie outside the portion of Lookout Hill that is under option to Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN:NYSE, TSX, NASDAQ – “Ivanhoe”).

The Lookout Hill budget incorporates three diamond drill rigs to test, initially, deep chargeability anomalies that were defined last year. These anomalies extend 8 kilometres within a favourable Devonian sequence (West Grid area) that is similar to the hanging wall stratigraphy overlying Ivanhoe’s Hugo North copper and gold deposit, located approximately 10 kilometres to the east.  An additional RC rig will be used to test the Ring Dyke target.

Separately, a budget of approximately US$1.6 million has been approved for 2006 exploration at Manlai. Work will include detailed IP surveys to complete partially-defined 2005 anomalies and a minimum 3,000 metres of diamond drilling on selected copper and gold targets.  Work in 2005 successfully defined a number of porphyry-style copper and gold targets and an area of polymetallic mineralization.

The 6,900 hectare Manlai project lies 120 kilometres north of Lookout Hill and immediately east of and along strike from Ivanhoe’s Kharmagtai porphyry copper-gold system.

Robert Cann, P.Geo., Entrée’s Vice President, Exploration and a “qualified person” as defined by National Instrument 43-101, is responsible for the preparation of technical information in this news release.

Entrée Gold Inc. (www.entreegold.com) is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on gold and copper prospects. The Company is a large landholder in Mongolia’s south Gobi Desert, near the Chinese border, and has recently acquired additional copper assets in western Mongolia.

Entrée holds a 100% interest in mineral concessions comprising the 179,590 hectare Lookout Hill (Shivee Tolgoi) property which completely surrounds Ivanhoe’s 8,500 hectare, Turquoise Hill (Oyu Tolgoi) holdings.

Under an “Earn-In Agreement” announced in October 2004, Ivanhoe has the right to earn an interest in approximately 40,000 hectares of Entrée’s Lookout Hill property. Details of the Earn-In Agreement are available on Entrée’s website at www.entreegold.com and on Sedar at www.sedar.com.  Drilling conducted by Ivanhoe as part of the Earn-In Agreement confirmed the extension of the Hugo North Deposit onto Lookout Hill.  An initial inferred resource was estimated at 190,160,000 tonnes (calculated using a 0.6% copper equivalent cut-off), averaging 1.91% copper equivalent, containing over 6.5 billion pounds of copper and 3.2 million ounces of gold (see Entrée’s news release of February 1, 2006).

Significant investments by Rio Tinto plc and Ivanhoe contributed to Entrée’s treasury, which is now over CDN$23 million.  Entrée plans to use these funds to explore its wholly-owned projects in Mongolia and to review and acquire new projects globally.

Entrée is listed for trading on the TSX under the symbol “ETG”, on the AMEX under the symbol “EGI” and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol “EKA”.

Primoris Group
Tel: 866-368-7330
Email: [email protected]

or

Monica Hamm, Corporate Communications
Entrée Gold Inc.
Tel: 604-687-4777
Website: www.entreegold.com

The TSX does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This News Release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements which relate to future events. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include those concerning the Company’s belief that identifiable drill targets may be found and that it will spend US$4.8 million for exploration on the Lookout Hill and Manlai projects this year.

While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggested herein. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States, the Company does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results. Readers are referred to the sections entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s periodic filings with the British Columbia Securities Commission, which can be viewed at www.SEDAR.com, and with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which can be viewed at www.SEC.gov.