Columbus Copper Corporation - News Releases - Empire Appoints David Cliff as President and CEO, Director

	February 04, 2008 Empire Appoints David Cliff as President and CEO, Director
	Vancouver, B.C., February 1st, 2008. Empire Mining Corporation (EPC: TSX-V) ("Empire" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Mr. David Cliff has been appointed to the position of President and Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company. Mr. Cliff is the former Exploration Manager, Europe of Rio Tinto Exploration. During his 26 years with Rio Tinto he was involved in the discovery of three gold deposits and one copper deposit and gained experience in the exploration and development of a wide variety of minerals and deposit types with a particular specialization in copper-gold porphyry systems and epithermal precious metal systems. He has lead multinational and multidisciplinary teams in a variety of environments and jurisdictions, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe and Turkey and has extensive experience in the evaluation of mineral projects and in the negotiation of all forms of mining industry agreements. "The appointment of Mr. Cliff marks the beginning of a new stage in the Company's growth" stated Company director, Mr. Robert Giustra. "We are extremely delighted to have David Cliff accept this important appointment and look forward to his considerable expertise in management and strong technical background in directing our talented team of professionals." Empire is currently evaluating a number of mineral properties for potential acquisition. The Company's initial acquisition consists of an option to earn a 65% interest in the Bursa copper-molybdenum-gold porphyry property located in western Turkey. The Bursa Property is located 120km south of Istanbul and covers 429km2 within a belt of demonstrated copper and molybdenum porphyry systems in Bursa and Kutahya provinces. Past drilling by Rio Tinto on one of these systems, Karapinar, intersected 0.36% Cu, 51ppm Mo, and 0.1ppm Au over 221 meters from surface and 0.31% Cu, 152ppm Mo, and 0.07ppm Au over 54m at a depth of 273 meters in the same hole. A number of drill targets on the Property with potential for economically important porphyry and associated skarn systems remain untested. Work at Bursa is planned to begin in March 2008 with the aim of establishing potentially economic copper-gold mineralization through drilling at Karapinar and other partially defined mineralized zones. Geochemical and geophysical surveying and geological mapping will also be carried out to identify and delineate additional targets for drill testing. The Company's Qualified Person, John Prochnau, B.Sc. (Mining Engineering), M.Sc. (Geology), a director of Empire, has reviewed and approved the content of this news release. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD, Robert F. Giustra Director For more information contact: Ray Lagace Investor Relations 604-638-3474 or 1-866-689-2599 info@empireminingcorp.com Cautionary note for US Investors: This news release may contain forward-looking statements that may address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks or uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.

	You can view the Next News Releases item: Fri Mar 14, 2008, Empire Mining Announces Private Placement You can view the Previous News Releases item: Thu Jan 24, 2008, Empire Grants Incentive Stock Options You can return to the main News Releases page, or press the Back button on your browser.