APM Andean Precious Metals Corp

Erdene Resource Development Corp. ("Erdene" or "Company") (TSX:ERD) today
provided an update on its principal projects in conjunction with the release of
its first quarter 2010 financial results.


2010 First Quarter Highlights



--  Donkin Coking Coal Project Advances with Commencement of Surface Work 
--  Zuun Mod Molybdenum Project Optimization and Modelling Studies Underway 
--  Preparations Underway for Regional Coal and Metal Exploration Programs
    in Mongolia 
--  New Operator to Make Granite Hill Aggregate Project one of its Top
    Priority New Developments 
--  Advanced Primary Minerals Expanding Product Sales and Testing 
--  Current Cash Position of $12.2M 



Erdene will be holding its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on Thursday,
May 20 commencing at 5:30 pm. The meeting will be held at Purdy's Wharf Tower
II, Suite 1300, 1969 Upper Water Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Peter Akerley,
President and CEO, will be giving a presentation on the Company's current
exploration and development activities following the formal proceedings of the
meeting. All shareholders are encouraged to attend. A live webcast of the
presentation will be available on the Company's website (www.erdene.com) during
the AGM.


Project Updates and Summaries

Donkin Coal Project

During the first quarter, Xstrata Coal indicated that they intend to develop the
Donkin Coal Project based on sales into the coking coal market. The project is
expected to utilize four continuous miners added incrementally over the first
three years of production and include an on-site coal wash plant and transport
coal via a proposed barge-to-ship system. The project will require Federal
Environmental Assessment approval. Under the Project Plan, the Donkin Coal
Project is projected to produce approximately 2.75 million tonnes per annum of
washed export grade coking coal at full production, assuming the receipt of all
approvals. 


Erdene has a 25% interest in the Donkin Coal Project, located on Cape Breton
Island, Nova Scotia with joint-venture partner and project manager Xstrata Coal
Canada ("Xstrata Coal"). The deposit is strategically located proximal to deep
water with ready access to some of the world's major shipping routes. The
resource includes 227 million metric tonnes ("Mt") of Indicated and 254Mt of
Inferred high volatile-A bituminous (12,000-14,000 Btu), high sulphur, and
medium ash coal. The processed Donkin coal also has many excellent coking coal
properties including low ash, medium sulphur, low phosphorus, high CSN (crucible
swell number) and fluidity.


On April 20, 2010, Erdene provided an update on the Donkin Coal Project
announcing that a number of key elements of the project have been initiated,
including civil construction, engineering and pre-feasibility studies,
environmental assessment studies and consultation with government officials. 


Site development commenced with the awarding of the access road construction
contract. Municipal Ready Mix Ltd. (Sydney, Nova Scotia) is constructing the
2.5-kilometre long road, which is expected to be completed by mid-July 2010. 


Xstrata Coal initiated studies by Sedgeman and GW Engineering/Kellogg Brown &
Root Pty Ltd. to add a wash plant to the coal handling facility and to prepare
prefeasibility level studies on the offshore transportation system. Mining
consulting firm, Marston (Missouri), has been engaged to complete a
pre-feasibility study. Xstrata Coal has also contracted Stantec Inc., a North
America based global environmental and engineering firm, to lead the
environmental permitting and regulatory compliance process. 


Meetings have been held with both federal and provincial government departments
to determine the most efficient and effective procedures to follow to secure all
regulatory requirements and operating permits. The intention is to file all
applications within the next 12 months. 


In association with recent developments on the Donkin Coal Project, Xstrata Coal
will be appointing a Nova Scotia-based Project Manager and an
Environment/Community Liaison Officer. These individuals will lead the project
team to advance the Donkin Coal Project into the next phase of development.


Zuun Mod Molybdenum Project

During the first quarter, the Company's independent technical consultants,
Minarco-MineConsult of Australia, were contracted to conduct pit optimization
and scheduling studies on the Zuun Mod deposit to combine with the previously
completed work under a preliminary assessment level study initiated in 2008.
Following completion of this work, it is anticipated that the information will
be used to create a financial model on which to base decisions regarding the
advancement of the project to the pre-feasibility stage. In addition, the
Company has contracted Wave Geophysics of Evergreen, Colorado to provide a model
and interpretation of all geological, geochemical and geophysical data from the
Zuun Mod project with a focus on identifying additional exploration targets in
the vicinity of the Zuun Mod molybdenum-copper deposit. 


Zuun Mod is a porphyry molybdenum-copper deposit containing 215 million pounds
("Mlbs") of molybdenum in the Measured and Indicated category, grading 0.054%
Mo, and a further 208Mlbs in the Inferred category grading 0.051% Mo, making it
one of the largest undeveloped molybdenum-copper deposits in the Asia region.
The Company controls the Zuun Mod deposit through a single exploration license
totaling 49,538 hectares, located in Bayankhongor Province in Mongolia,
approximately 950 kilometers southwest of Ulaanbaatar and 215 kilometers from
railhead on the Mongolia-China border at Ceke. The railhead is located 20
kilometers south of the Nariin Sukhait and Ovoot Tolgoi coal mines.


Coal and Metals Projects in Mongolia

Erdene has been at the forefront of Mongolia coal exploration in the past few
years having evaluated every known coal occurrence in Mongolia and completed
over 250 site evaluations. As a result of this process, the Company has now
focused on certain prospective areas and potential acquisitions. A budget of
USD$1.9 million is in place for 2010 coal exploration programs in Mongolia,
which is fully funded by Xstrata Coal Canada Ltd. through the Erdene-Xstrata
Coal Alliance. Xstrata Coal Canada Ltd. has the right to earn a 75% interest in
any of Erdene's coal projects in Mongolia by funding through to completion of
feasibility.


In addition to coal exploration in Mongolia, the Company carried out a
comprehensive regional exploration program for porphyry related
copper-gold-molybdenum mineralization in south-western Mongolia. The program
covered an area of 35,000 square kilometres in 2009 and included interpretation
of Landsat data, a regional-scale stream sediment geochemical survey, geological
prospecting and a rock-chip geochemical sampling program. This work has resulted
in the identification of a number of new copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry
targets.


Preparations for the upcoming field season in Mongolia continued throughout the
first quarter principally related to coal and metals exploration on the more
than 400,000 hectares of new exploration licenses acquired in recent months. In
addition, the company continues to carry out due diligence work related to
additional project evaluations.


Advanced Primary Minerals Corporation ("APM")

Erdene's controlled subsidiary, APM, experienced favourable market reaction
within the domestic ceramics market to products produced from its' newly
commissioned primary kaolin dry processing plant in Georgia. In 2009, APM
completed construction of a processing and testing facility in Dearing, Georgia,
to produce primary kaolin products for the U.S. market. The plant was officially
opened in October 2009. The plant is employing a patent pending DHS
(Differential Hardness Separation) dry process on clay mined from its Tudor
primary kaolin deposit which was permitted for mining in April 2009. APM
continues to build markets for its specialty primary kaolin products through
sales growth within its current customer base and through ongoing product trials
for a number of target customers. During the quarter, work began on the
development and testing of an expanded line of wet processed products using its
fully equipped laboratory and pilot plant facility. This study is expected to
continue over the next 12 months.


Granite Hill Construction Material Project

During the first quarter, through the acquisition of Ready-Mix USA and
Aggregates USA, the operation of the Granite Hill Project came under the control
of SPO Partners ("SPO"), a private California based investment company. As a
result of the acquisition, Aggregates USA (Sparta), LLC ("AUSA") is now party to
the mining lease agreement with the Company in the place of Ready-Mix USA. AUSA
has advised the Company that SPO is planning to make the Granite Hill Project
one of its top priority new developments. The Granite Hill site clearing was
recently expanded from an area of approximately 19 acres for the pit to
approximately 43 acres to include the area for the plant, compound, and rail
access areas. Site development is underway and projections are for mine
development to begin by mid 2010 with production commencing late in 2011.


2010 First Quarter Financial Results Summary

Erdene's 2010 first quarter financial statements and Management's Discussion and
Analysis were filed with regulatory authorities on May 14, 2010 and are
available on the Company's website at www.erdene.com and on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. These statements are provided on a consolidated basis
incorporating its controlled subsidiary, Advanced Primary Minerals Corp.


For the three months ended March 31, 2010, exploration and operating expenses
amounted to $568,915 compared to $437,595 in the first quarter 2009. Including
capitalized exploration costs and excluding write-offs, exploration expenses
were $792,700 for the first quarter of 2010 compared to $843,018 in the first
quarter of 2009.


Erdene's first quarter expenditures were directed toward the continued
advancement of the Company's primary projects, namely the Donkin Coal Project,
Zuun Mod Molybdenum Project, metal exploration in Mongolia and industrial
mineral projects.


Administrative expenses totalled $728,062 (including $197,895 in non-cash stock
based compensation) for the first quarter of 2010, compared to $459,395 in the
fourth quarter 2009.


The company recorded a net loss of $857,978, or $0.01 per share, in the first
quarter of 2010 compared to net income of $681,223, or $0.01 per share, in the
first quarter of 2009. The Company recognized an $878,595 dilution gain on the
disposal of a subsidiary in the first quarter of 2009.


At March 31, 2010, Erdene had approximately $12.9 million of cash and cash
equivalents on hand, on a consolidated basis, compared with approximately $13.8
million at December 31, 2009. 


Qualified Person

J.C. (Chris) Cowan, P.Eng. (Ontario), is a Qualified Person as that term is
defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the
technical information contained in this news release.


About Erdene 

Erdene Resource Development Corp. is a diversified resource company with
multiple projects at various stages of development from exploration to
production, all focused on high-growth commodities. Erdene has a current working
capital position of approximately $12.2 million, including that of its
controlled subsidiary APM, with 89,230,877 common shares issued and outstanding
and a fully diluted position of 93,084,877 common shares.


Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information regarding Erdene contained herein may constitute
forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws.
Forward-looking statements may include estimates, plans, expectations, opinions,
forecasts, projections, guidance or other statements that are not statements of
fact. Although Erdene believes that the expectations reflected in such
forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such
expectations will prove to have been correct. Erdene cautions that actual
performance will be affected by a number of factors, most of which are beyond
its control, and that future events and results may vary substantially from what
Erdene currently foresees. Factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices,
exploitation and exploration results, continued availability of capital and
financing and general economic, market or business conditions. Discussion of the
various factors that may affect future results is contained in Erdene's Annual
Information Form dated March 29, 2010, which is available at www.sedar.com. The
forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this
cautionary statement. The information contained herein is stated as of the
current date and subject to change after that date and Erdene does not assume
the obligation to revise or update these forward-looking statements after the
date hereof AIF, or to revise them to reflect the occurrence of future
unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities
laws.

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