Strategic Minerals Regulatory News (SML)

6 May 2016

Strategic Minerals plc

("Strategic Minerals" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Maiden Drill Program Planned Targeting Strong EM Conductor Beneath Nickel Sulphide-Copper Anomaly at Hanns Camp

· Permit of Work granted

· Maiden drilling programme planning completed

· Drilling contractors appointed and geological team mobilising to site

· Drilling on course to commence mid-late May

Strategic Minerals PLC (AIM: SML; USOTC: SMCDY) is pleased to announce that the Hanns Camp maiden drilling programme planning has been completed and that the Permit of Work has been granted by the Western Australia Department of Mines and Petroleum. This paves the way for the commencement of drilling, which remains on track for mid-late May.

The planned programme will be the first nickel focused drilling at Hanns Camp since the late 1970's and it follows extensive analysis of historical records with recent electromagnetic (EM) survey data. The programme consists of three drill holes, with the third dependent on success in the first two, and totals 1,050 metres.

Each drill hole targets a separate nickel-sulphide target within Hanns Camp; Forest, Stirling and Canning. The targets are the three highest priority identified by Central Australian Rare Earths Pty Ltd ("CARE") and considered some of the most compelling greenfields nickel-sulphide exploration opportunities in the Yilgarn Craton of Western Australia. Each target is spaced approximately 800 metres apart in a NNW-SSE direction and comprise of a strong EM conductor, beneath anomalous copper-nickel geochemistry, defined from historic regolith sampling.

Hanns Camp forms part the Laverton Project, of which Strategic Minerals recently secured an interest via its acquisition of up to 50% of CARE. Hanns Camp is located 250km north-east of the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, 12km north-east of the town of Laverton in the North-Eastern Goldfields region of Western Australia. The prospect is easily accessible using existing tracks from Laverton, one of the main Goldfields towns.

A map of the region and the proposed drilling targets can be found on the Company's website under the CARE project.

The Company's Managing Director, Mr John Peters, said:

 "The granting of the Permit of Work by the West Australian Government has allowed our team to negotiate and finalise the drilling program, culminating in the signing of a drilling contract. This shows our intent to undertake the drilling program within this quarter as previously declared. "

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Notes to Editors

Strategic Minerals plc is a minerals production and development company registered in the UK and listed on the AIM market (AIM: SML) of the London Stock Exchange. The Company has projects in the United States of America and Australia. The Company is focused on acquiring and developing cash generative, high quality projects which meet local market demand for commodities. 

In September 2011, Strategic Minerals purchased its first cash generating asset, the Cobre magnetite tailings dam project in New Mexico, USA which it brought into production in 2012 and continues to provide a revenue stream for the Company. The Company acquired, in January 2016, a right to take up a 50% interest in Central Australian Rare Earths which holds tenements in Western Australia and the Northern Territory that are prospective for nickel sulphides and rare earths.