Access to #700,000 Drill Core

Tertiary Minerals PLC 3 August 2000 Tertiary Minerals Plc TERTIARY REAPS BENEFIT WORTH £700,000 FROM ARCHIVE OF DRILL CORE FROM OLD BOLIDEN PROPERTY IN SWEDEN - New Information Will Significantly Advance Understanding Of Windfall Property - Preliminary Evaluation Of Core To Be Completed By End- August - New Geochemical Exploration Technique Being Introduced AIM-listed Tertiary Minerals Plc, which is seeking base and precious metals in Sweden, has gained access to over 14,000m of drill core which significantly advances the exploration and evaluation status of its Windfall zinc-silver property in the historic Bergslagen mining district. The archive of core was assembled by former permit holder Boliden Mining from 105 diamond drill holes completed in the 1980s. The cost of completing such a programme today would be around £700,000, says Tertiary chairman Mr Patrick Cheetham. 'This is an important development for Tertiary as it will enable the company to advance its understanding of the known mineralisation as well as its exploration and development potential. It will reduce the amount of check drilling that the company would otherwise need to carry out and result in substantial future cost savings.' The company expects to complete a preliminary evaluation of the drill core by the end of August and comprehensive re-logging and sampling of the core is expected to follow. Boliden's Windfall drilling programmes focused on two main zones of mineralisation - Vindfall and Sortarnan - which are approximately 1.5km apart along strike from each other on the same mineralised horizon. This drilling was, at least in part, the basis for a reported 360,000t of near surface mineralisation in the two deposits averaging 7.3p.c. zinc, 2.8p.c. lead and 82g/t silver. Subsequent drilling by Tertiary has demonstrated the potential to extend this mineralisation and for higher grade mineralisation. Meanwhile, Tertiary is introducing a proprietary geochemical sampling technique to 'see through' the transported glacial overburden which covers its Windfall property. The Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) technique is being applied over a 4km strike length of the geological formation hosting the Vindfall and Sortarnan zones of mineralisation. The MMI technique is able to detect subtle geochemical anomalies formed relatively recently (in geological terms) by water-transported, loosely-bonded metal ions in the soil. It was developed in Australia for application in the country's extensive leached terrains where earlier 'primary' anomalies have been leached away. MMI anomalies are formed in surface soils directly overlying bedrock mineralisation. In countries which are blanketed by ice-transported 'till' overburden, such as Sweden, the underlying mineralisation is effectively hidden by glacial material deposited in the last ice-age. Since this glacial material may have been transported considerable distances, geochemical 'till' anomalies do not necessarily lie directly above the source of mineralisation. Traditional surface till sampling techniques in such areas therefore rely on interpretation of sometimes complex ice movements to trace 'till' anomalies back to the source of mineralisation. Since the MMI anomalies lie directly above bedrock mineralisation, it is a valuable exploration 'tool' in such areas. The objective of the MMI survey is to test for strike extensions and define further drilling targets. Results are expected to be available within six weeks. 'By the time the MMI survey results are available we expect to have completed a preliminary review of the Boliden drill core archive. We then expect to start the exploration drills turning again', says Mr Cheetham. Further Information: Patrick Cheetham Tertiary Minerals plc 01625 626203 Ron Marshman City of London PR Group 020 7628 5518