Cardero Completes Processing of 40-Tonne Concentrate at the Pampa El Toro Iron Sands Project, Reaching Project

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, May 20 (MARKET WIRE) --
Cardero Resource Corp. ("Cardero" or the "Company") (TSX: CDU)(AMEX:
CDY)(FRANKFURT: CR5) is pleased to announce that it has completed the
processing of a 40-tonne magnetic concentrate at Pampa el Toro ahead of
schedule. Pilot-plant throughput was increased from 2.8 tonnes per hour
during commissioning to 18 tonnes per hour during concentrate production,
resulting in significant time saving and an interpreted increase in
magnetic concentrate grade to 52-55% Fe. The concentrate will now be
shipped to a testing facility in the United States for extensive
commercial-scale melting tests aimed at producing a premium-quality pig
iron product (96-98% iron, 2-4% carbon and less than 0.05% deleterious
elements), along with a vanadium and titanium enriched slag.

Pampa el Toro 40-Tonne Concentrate

During the Phase I Plant Commissioning, approximately 83 tonnes of iron
sand was processed, producing 4.8 tonnes of iron concentrate at 46.1% Fe
(See NR08-12). Phase II operations were planned to produce a 40-tonne
concentrate within a 4-6 week period. Following further optimization of
the Magnetic Separation Plant, sand through-put has been very
significantly increased and the work has been completed ahead of schedule.

Pilot Plant Performance

Improved Pilot Plant Throughput

Further optimization during the most recent concentrate production has
resulted in dramatically increased throughputs, from 2.8 to 18 tonnes per
hour, up to a maximum of 27 tonnes per hour. This performance has
important implications for proposed mining at the Iron Sands project -
greater throughput means that a smaller magnetic separation plant would
be required for commercial production and this, in turn, would require a
smaller capital expenditure for the plant, thereby enhancing the positive
economics envisaged by the Company.

Improved Magnetic Concentrate Iron Grade

Cardero has been using an X-ray fluorescence (XRF) portable analyzer at
the pilot plant site to provide preliminary analyses - this allows the
affect of pilot plant adjustments to be quickly assessed with respect to
concentrate grade, without the need to await prolonged laboratory
analysis. The instrument (Innov-X XRF Alpha 6000 Analyzer) does not
provide the accuracy required to report assays.

The results from the use of the handheld XRF technology suggest that
concentrate grade has now been increased from 46.1% iron to 52-55% iron.
The handheld XRF was utilized during commissioning and subsequent
laboratory results demonstrated that it was under-reading by
approximately 2%. The readings of 52-55% iron are therefore only
considered to be a reasonable indication of grade and laboratory analysis
will be required to ascertain the true iron grade. Accordingly, the
Company cautions that undue reliance should not be placed on the XRF
derived grade. This interpreted improvement in grade is attributed to the
increased sand throughput and associated improved pilot-plant
configuration.

Future Work

The concentrate will now be shipped to the National Energy Testing
Laboratory (NETL), a testing facility in the United States, for extensive
commercial-scale melting tests aimed at producing a premium-quality pig
iron product (96-98% iron, 2-4% carbon and less than 0.05% deleterious
elements), along with a vanadium and titanium enriched slag. Previous
bench-scale testing of samples from the Iron Sands project has
successfully produced high-grade pig iron on three separate occasions and
Cardero is therefore very confident about demonstrating the viability of
high-grade pig iron production at the industrial level.

Successful production of the pig iron will allow the Company to complete
off-take agreements with end users for which negotiations are currently
in progress. The associated titanium and vanadium rich-slag will then
undergo additional testing to ascertain the economic viability of the
recovery of these minerals from the slag in an industrial scale process.

Qualified Person and QA/QC

EurGeol Mr. Keith J. Henderson, Cardero's Vice President-Exploration and
a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has
supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information
that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Henderson is not
independent of the Company as he is an officer and shareholder.

The programs with respect to the Pampa el Toro pilot plant commissioning
program and production of the iron sand concentrate were designed by
Glenn Hoffman, President of Cardero's iron ore subsidiary. Mr. Hoffman is
responsible for all on-site aspects of the work, including the quality
control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the project
rigorously collect and track samples which are then security sealed and
shipped to ALS Chemex in Lima, Peru, for sample preparation, and
subsequently shipped to ALS Chemex in Vancouver, B.C. for assay. ALS
Chemex's quality system complies with the requirements for the
International Standards ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025:1999. Analytical
accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks,
reference material and replicate samples. Quality control is further
assured by the use of international and in-house standards. Blind
certified reference material is inserted at regular intervals into the
sample sequence by Cardero personnel in order to independently assess
analytical accuracy. Finally, representative blind duplicate samples are
forwarded to ALS Chemex and an ISO compliant third party laboratory for
additional quality control.

About Cardero Resource Corp.

Cardero's focus through 2008 will be to realise the considerable value it
believes is locked in the Company's significant iron ore assets, while
continuing to progress its base and precious metal exploration projects
in Argentina and Mexico. The common shares of the Company are currently
listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol CDU), the American Stock
Exchange (symbol CDY) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (symbol CR5). For
further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's web
site (www.cardero.com), Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com and United States regulatory filings on EDGAR at
www.sec.gov.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of CARDERO RESOURCE CORP.

Hendrik van Alphen, President

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning
of Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 27E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Such
statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the timing,
cost and nature of future anticipated exploration programs and the
results thereof, the potential results of the ongoing and future pilot
plant separation of Pampa el Toro iron sands, the timing and potential
results of future metallurgical testing on iron concentrate from Pampa el
Toro, the potential upgrading and increase in the total iron content of
the iron concentrate produced at Pampa el Toro, the potential for the
economic processing of Pampa el Toro iron sands, the potential for the
production of a high grade pig iron from Pampa el Toro iron concentrate,
the ability to scale up the results from the pilot plant to a full scale
commercial operation, the potential to separate titanium and/or vanadium
from the iron sand concentrate slag, and the discovery and delineation of
mineral deposits/resources/reserves at the Pampa el Toro project.
Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can
give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.
Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as:
believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, potential and
similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to
future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking
statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or
performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but
not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any
mineral deposits that may be located, the inability of the Company to
obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its
activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its
properties successfully or profitably, the inability of the Company to
continue its projected growth, the inability of the Company to raise the
necessary capital to continue its operations or to be able to fully
implement its planned business strategies, including those detailed
above, and other risks identified in the Company's most recent Annual
Information Form and Form 40F annual report, which may be viewed at
www.sedar.com and www.sec.gov, respectively.

All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed
via www.sedar.com and its United States disclosure filings via
www.sec.gov and readers are urged to review these materials, including
the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral
properties.

This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an
offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.

NR08-14

Toronto Stock Exchange
has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of the content of this news release, which has been prepared by
management.

Contacts:
Cardero Resource Corp.
Quentin Mai, Manager
Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
1-888-770-7488 or (604) 408-7488
(604) 408-7499 (FAX)
Email: qmai@cardero.com
Website: www.cardero.com

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