South American Silver Acquires Interest in High Desert Gold Corporation

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 28, 2012) - South American Silver Corp. (TSX:SAC)(PINKSHEETS:SOHAF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that today it acquired ownership of 15,580,000 common shares ("Common Shares") of the High Desert Gold Corporation (the "Issuer"), a company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE:HDG). As a result of the purchase, South American Silver Corp. now owns 15,580,000 Common Shares of the Issuer representing approximately 19.9% of the total issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Issuer, based on there being 78,285,233 Common Shares of the Issuer outstanding as of December 28, 2012. Information regarding current issued and outstanding Common Shares of the Issuer is based on information in the Issuer's news release of December 28, 2012.

South American Silver Corp. purchased 15,580,000 Common Shares of the Issuer pursuant to a private placement by the Issuer at a price of $0.18 per Common Share for aggregate cash consideration of $2,804,400 to the Issuer. The Common Shares acquired are subject to a four-month restricted resale period expiring on April 29, 2013. South American Silver Corp. has also been granted a pre-emptive right enabling it to maintain its percentage equity interest in the Issuer for a period of 36 months.

South American Silver Corp. acquired the Common Shares for investment purposes. The Company intends to review its investment in the Issuer on a continuing basis. Depending on various factors including, without limitation, conditions in the securities markets and general economic and industry conditions, the Company's or the Issuer's business or financial condition, and other factors and conditions that South American Silver Corp. deems appropriate, South American Silver Corp. may in the future take such actions with respect to its investment in the Issuer as it deems appropriate including, without limitation, acquiring additional common shares of the Issuer to maintain or increase its equity interest in the Issuer or selling or otherwise disposing of some or all of the Common Shares of the Issuer. In addition, depending on such factors, South American Silver Corp. may change its intention with respect to any and all matters referred to above.

Phillip Brodie-Hall, President and CEO of South American Silver Corp., said, "We are very pleased to be part of High Desert Gold and their very interesting developing exploration property Gold Springs, on the Nevada/Utah border. We believe it has excellent potential to host a significant gold resource."

About High Desert Gold Corporation

The Issuer is a mineral exploration company that acquires and explores mineral properties, primarily gold, copper and silver, in North America. The principal property held by the Issuer is a 70% interest in the Gold Springs gold project situated along the border between Utah and Nevada. The Issuer also holds interests in a number of other properties. The Issuer's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "HDG" and on the US OTCQX market as "HDGCF". Further Information related to High Desert Gold Corporation is available at www.hdggold.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

About South American Silver Corp.

South American Silver Corp. is a growth focused mineral exploration company creating value through the exploration and development of the large scale Escalones copper-gold project in Chile, the pursuit of new opportunities, and the realization of value from the Malku Khota project in Bolivia. The Company's approach to business combines the team's track record of discovery and advancement of large projects, key operational and process expertise, and a focus on community relations and sustainable development. Management has extensive experience in the global exploration and mining industry. The Company's shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SAC" and on the US OTCQX market as "SOHAF". Information related to South American Silver Corp. is available at www.soamsilver.com and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Forward-looking statements look into the future and provide an opinion as to the effect of certain events and trends on the business. Forward-looking statements may include words such as "intends", "may", "pursuit", "creating", "realization" and similar expressions. This release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and various estimates, factors and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these statements as the Company's actual results, performance or achievements may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements if known or unknown risks, uncertainties or other factors affect the Company's business, or if the Company's estimates or assumptions prove inaccurate. Therefore, the Company cannot provide any assurance that forward-looking statements will materialize. Factors that could cause results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, market conditions; the performance of the Common Shares or the Issuer; results of the Issuer's exploration and development programs on its material properties; risks of the mineral exploration industry which may affect the Issuer and risks of the mineral exploration industry which may affect the advancement of the Escalones project, in each case, including possible variations in mineral resources or grade, metal prices, timely receipt of required permits, availability of equipment and qualified personnel, failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined; the political and economic climate in Bolivia including the attitudes and actions of the Bolivian government related to foreign investment in Bolivia; the pursuit by the Bolivian government of stated courses of action; the international arbitration process; and other risks more fully described in the Company's Annual Information Form filed and publicly available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The assumptions made in developing the forward-looking statements include: the accuracy of publicly available information regarding the Issuer; the accuracy of current inferred resources and the interpretation of drill and other exploration results for Escalones; the timely receipt of required permits for Escalones; the availability of equipment and qualified personnel to advance the Escalones project and execution of the Company's existing plans and further exploration and development programs for Escalones, which may change due to changes in the views of the Company or if new information arises which makes it prudent to change such plans or programs; the ability of the Company to realize value from its investments in Bolivia and that statements made by Bolivian government officials reflect the government's intentions. Subject to applicable laws, the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason. Unless otherwise indicated, forward-looking statements in this release describe the Company's expectations as of December 28, 2012.