Cardero Receives Positive Independent Preliminary Economic Assessment for the Central Zone at Pampa de Pongo Iron Deposit

Market Wire, October, 2008

Cardero Resource Corp. ("Cardero" or the "Company") (TSX: CDU)(NYSE-A: CDY)(FRANKFURT: CR5) is pleased to announce that SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. ("SRK") has completed a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") on the 750Mt Central Zone of the Pampa de Pongo Iron Deposit, located in the Marcona Iron District of Southern Peru, and have delivered a draft of their formal NI 43-101 PEA Technical Report.

According to Rio Tinto, the Marcona and Pampa de Pongo deposits are the largest iron accumulations with associated copper and gold along the western coast of South America. At full planned production, Pampa de Pongo would produce 15 million tonnes of iron ore pellets per year, a total of 330 million tonnes through the currently proposed life of mine, which would be available for Asian markets. For context, this output would equate to 35% of Vale's total current pellet production (Vale is the global number one iron ore producer).

"SRK's draft PEA confirms our belief that Pampa de Pongo is a truly world-class resource," stated Henk van Alphen, Cardero's President and CEO. "Given the pre-existing infrastructural advantages and the substantially shorter shipping routes to Asia from Peru, I have no doubt that the development of Pampa de Pongo will put the Marcona Iron District and Peru on the global iron stage. Prior to completion of the study we have received numerous expressions of interest in the project from major mining companies and end-users, and we obviously look forward to greatly maximizing our shareholder value."

TABLE 1. ECONOMIC SUMMARY
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                                                                      Mean
                                                        Mine        Annual
                                                        Life           (ii)
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Ore Production                   million tonnes          578          24.1
Mine Life                        production years         24
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Iron Pellet Production           million tonnes          330          13.7
Payable Copper Production        million lbs             535          22.2
Payable Gold Production          000 oz                  493          20.5
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Iron Pellet price                US cents/dmtu/US$/t     198 cents/$128
Copper price                     US$/lb                      $2.00
Gold price                       US$/oz                       $650
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Gross Revenue                    US$ Million         $43,595        $1,810
Net Smelter Return(i)            US$ Million         $43,350        $1,800
Post-Royalties                   US$ Million         $42,050        $1,746
Site Operating Costs             US$ Million          $7,324          $304
Pre-Tax Operating Cash Flow      US$ Million         $34,726        $1,442
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Initial Capital                  US$ Million                $3,284
Sustaining Capital               US$ Million                $4,178
Total Capital                    US$ Million                $7,462
Income and other taxes           US$ Million          $9,706          $403
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Post-Tax NPV 8%                  US$ Million                $3,318
Internal Rate of Return %        %                            18.0%
Undiscounted Total Post-Tax
 Cash Flow                       US$ Million         $17,558          $729
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(i)  The NSR here reflects revenue from iron, copper and gold, net of all
     off-site costs. For iron the net revenue is the FOB sales price.
(ii) Mean Annual figures are averaged over 24.1 production years,
     including ramp-up in the early years of production. These figures are
     lower than those achieved during full production.

The Company cautions that the PEA is preliminary in nature, and includes 100% inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Accordingly, there can be no certainty that the results estimated in the SRK PEA will be realized. The PEA results are only intended as a preliminary first-pass review of the potential project economics based on a minimal amount of information. In addition, the cavability assessment of the deposit is preliminary as it is based on a limited number drillholes and, as such, substantial work is required to verify the current caving and output assumptions.

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Pampa de Pongo is located 38 kilometres from the San Juan deep-water port, on the Pacific coast of Peru, where a major expansion to mega-port status is scheduled to be completed ahead of projected production at the proposed mine. The significance of this location, infrastructure and access to Asian markets cannot be overstated. Highlights of the SRK PEA conclude that Pampa de Pongo would be developed as a 75,000 tonne/day underground block caving operation. Ore would be crushed and ground, with an iron concentrate produced through wet magnetic separation, and a copper-gold by-product concentrate produced through flotation. The iron concentrate would be converted into iron pellets at the port site. Upon reaching full planned production, Pampa de Pongo would produce 15 million tonnes of iron ore pellets per year (a total of 330 million tonnes through current proposed life of mine), which would be available for Asian markets.