FML.L Regulatory News (FML)

FRONTIER MINING LTD

("Frontier" or "the Company")

Operational Update

Frontier Mining (AIM:FML), the independent copper producer operating in Kazakhstan, today announces the recommencement of operations at its flagship Benkala Copper Project.

Start-up Process

The operations team have been on site over the past weeks preparing for operational restart to allow leaching to begin. Agglomerated ore had been loaded onto pads before December to facilitate an immediate start-up, without the need for crushing stockpiled ore, or depending on activity resuming at the mine.

Frontier anticipates shipping of cathodes to begin in the first week of June.

Capital Expenditure

In 2013 Frontier will continue to work on the expansion of the Benkala site to 10,000tpa capacity and will spend an additional US$6 million of Capex on additional leach pads, improvements to the crushing and agglomeration process and general site enhancements.

Conclusion

Preparations made in 2012 will ensure rapid restart of production in 2013 and allow cathode production to continue alongside enhancement and expansion activities at the SX-EW plant.

Yerlan Aliyev, Chairman and CEO, commented, "We are keen to resume operations at Benkala with all haste. Continued development of the site offers considerable benefits to both the Company and our shareholders, and I am in no doubt that is a prudent investment."

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Notes to Editor

Frontier Mining Limited is a copper company with production, development and exploration operations in Kazakhstan.

The Company's main activity is at Benkala, an open pit copper mine and SX-EW production facility, located on the Urals copper gold ore belt in North West Kazakhstan. Frontier has a 100% interest in Benkala through its subsidiary KazCopper LLP.

Frontier is undertaking exploration activities at Baitemir, a potential copper gold porphyry deposit with associated gold and molybdenum, situated on the Naimanjal exploration licence area in North East Kazakhstan. The Company has a 100% interest in Baitemir through its wholly owned subsidiary FML Kazakhstan.

Frontier maintains an administrative and technical office in Almaty, the former capital city of Kazakhstan and the main business centre in the South East. The Company also maintains offices in Aktyubinsk and Semipalatinsk, close to the Benkala and Baitemir operations respectively.

Benkala

A Competent Persons Report completed by Wardell Armstrong International ("WAI") in June 2010, estimated a NPV of $190 million for the oxide section of the Benkala project. This section represents development limited to only ~10% of the total resource at Benkala, based on 0.5% diluted copper grade, 63% recovery and 185,000 tonnes of contained metal, pricing copper at 6,000 USD per tonne WAI updated their Joint Ore Reserves Committee resource estimate in February 2011, significantly increasing the measured and indicated resource for both oxide and sulphide ores. The oxide resource has increased by a total of 9.72kt to 174.38kt (+5.9%) and the sulphide resource by 65.54kt to 779.28kt (+9.2%) of copper. Further to the overall increase, both ore types have significantly more resource in the measured category in addition to an increase in the average oxide grade percentage. In addition, the overall inferred resource has also increased by 42.8kt to 607.70kt of copper (+7.6%).

Frontier broke ground at the Benkala production facility in October 2010 and shipped the first batch of copper cathode from the cutting-edge SX-EW plant less than 23 months later in September 2012. Following a pilot test period in late 2012 and suspension of operations during winter months, production is due to recommence in the second quarter of 2013 at the planned fully operational capacity rate of 7,000 tonnes Cu per annum.

In January 2012 Frontier added the South Benkala mining area to its existing Benkala licence. The South Benkala area is approximately 10 kilometres south of Benkala and has a GKZ forecast resource estimate of 94.5kt of oxide and 515.1kt of sulphide copper.

Baitemir

Identified as the most attractive prospect on the Naimanjal licence area, Frontier have completed a 17,000 metre exploration drill program at Baitemir to confirm the deposit size and grades and are now working to further define the mineral inventory in anticipation of a mineral resource prepared in accordance with both the GKZ resource standard and the guidelines of the JORC Code.

Issued Share Capital

Frontier Mining's shares are traded on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

Frontier has 1,860,913,920 ordinary shares issued.

For further information please visit: www.frontiermining.com