Kolari Drilling Update

18 Oct 2007 12:00

Tertiary Minerals PLC18 October 2007 Tertiary Minerals plc ("Tertiary Minerals" or "the Company") www.tertiaryminerals.com DRILLING STARTS AT 200MT MAGNETITE ORE TARGET IN CENTRE OF FINLAND'S KOLARI IRON ORE DISTRICT • Shallow Ore Potential Being Tested In Strongest Magnetic Anomaly Within Area • Drilling In 1980's Returned Significant Intersections Of Iron Mineralisation___________________________________________________________________ Tertiary Minerals ("Tertiary" or "the Company") announces that drilling workstarted today on its Kolari iron ore target in Kolari in the heart of Finland'smain iron ore district. Finnish mining company Rautaruukki Oy previously drilledthe target, the strongest known magnetic anomaly in the iron district, duringthe late 1980's. Based on Rautaruukki's drilling results and the size of the magnetic anomaly theGeological Survey of Finland (GTK) referred to a 200mt potential targetresource1 within a 2km by 300m-500m broad area of Tertiary's claims. Significantintersections included 311m of 14% iron from a depth of 36m including 5m of 62%iron, 16m of 54% iron from a depth of 203m, 116m of 26% iron from a depth of239m including 45m of 40% iron, 17m of 56% iron from a depth of 278m, and 31m of56% iron from a depth of 273m. Tertiary's drilling programme is initially targeting the core of the Kolarimagnetic anomaly which has now been defined by a detailed ground magneticsurvey. Three holes will test the magnetic anomaly over a strike length of 400m. The Kolari project forms part of Tertiary's portfolio of IOCG (ironoxide-copper-gold) targets. Other IOCG targets in this portfolio include VTM?hTM?joki, Finland (recently joint ventured with Inmet Mining) and Ahmavuoma inNorth Sweden. Canada's Northland Resources (capitalised at over £210m and listed on the TS-V &NAU exchanges) controls most of the Kolari-Pajala iron province - one ofEurope's largest - and last month announced a total measured and indicatedresource estimate of 84.6 million tonnes at Hannukainen, 10kms north fromTertiary's property, and where it is working to develop a new mine. The averagegrade of Northland's resource is 34.6% iron, 0.20% copper, and 0.093 g/t goldusing a cut-off of 15% iron. A further 82 million tonne inferred resource hasbeen estimated at a similar grade. Tertiary's chairman Patrick Cheetham says: "Our drilling is to test the nearsurface potential with historic deep drilling results comparing favourably tothose reported at Hannukainen". He adds: "With price rises for iron ore predicted to be around 35% for 2008,eventual production within Europe would show big transport savings against thecost of importing this commodity". Assay results from Tertiary's drilling should be known within a two-monthperiod. Further info: Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman, Tertiary Minerals plc. Tel: +44 (0)1625-626203 Ron Marshman/John Greenhalgh, City of London PR Limited. Tel: +44(0)20-7628-5518 Notes: The information in this release has been compiled and reviewed by Mr. PatrickCheetham (MIMMM, MAusIMM) who is a qualified person for the purposes of the AIMGuidance Note for Mining Oil & Gas Companies issued on March 16, 2006. MrCheetham is a Member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining and also amember of the Australasian Institute of Mining & Metallurgy. 1. The historical tonnage figure referred to by GTK does not conform to anyresource categories in any recognised resource estimation Code or Instrument.The Company believes that this tonnage figure is speculative and should not berelied upon. The Company does not have - and is not aware of - any resourceestimates which conform to the standards laid out in any recognised Code orInstrument. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange