Pacific Rim Mining Corp.: Latest South Minita Drill Results Include Best Hole Drilled on El Dorado Project to Date

Market Wire, May, 2006

Delineation drilling at Pacific Rim Mining Corp.'s ("Pacific Rim" or "the Company") (TSX: PMU)(AMEX: PMU) South Minita deposit on the El Dorado project, El Salvador, has yielded a number of high grade gold intersections over significant widths including 17.4 g/t gold over 9.9 meters in hole P06-433, 8.4 g/t gold over 9.5 meters in hole P06-431 and 24.2 g/t gold over 3.4 meters in hole P06-442. With a grade-thickness index of 172, P06-433 is the best hole drilled on the entire El Dorado project to date.

The results from holes 433 and 431 clearly expand the dimensions of a southerly-inclined bulge in the primary vein of the South Minita deposit, intersected in earlier drilling by holes P05-408 (30.6 g/t gold over 5.2 meters) and P05-349 (6.15 g/t gold over 9.24 meters). They furthermore enhance the gold grade of this mineralized lobe, which remains open at depth.