November 1 , 2004

FINNISH SURVEY REPORT ON DIAMOND POTENTIAL OF TERTIARY’S NEW KIMBERLITE FIELD ‘KEENLY AWAITED’

• Second Mineralised Boulder Train With Visible Gold Located At Pitkäjärvi
• Drilling To Resume On All Three Mineralised Zones At Kaaresselkä Gold Project
• Tantalum: Newly Introduced Saudi Mining Law Favours Explorers

AIM-listed Tertiary Minerals plc says further drilling at its Kattaisenvaara diamond prospect in northern Finland has revealed the previously discovered kimberlite to be 48m wide, with faulted contacts to both north and south. The strike length has not yet been determined, the company says in its end-September quarterly.

Three holes were drilled in the quarter, two of which were abandoned in deep overburden. The third was collared in kimberlite at the same location as the original discovery hole (announced in August), but drilled in the opposite direction to it in order to determine the width of the kimberlite body. Samples of the kimberlite have been sent for microdiamond analysis and indicator mineral extraction.

Kattaisenvaara is some 20km from Tertiary’s earlier kimberlite discovery at Kalettomanpuro.

Tertiary notes that, although not all kimberlites in a given cluster contain diamonds, the potential of a cluster to host diamonds can be evaluated by detailed mineralogical studies of the kimberlites in that cluster.

The company has therefore commissioned the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) to undertake such mineralogical studies, and its preliminary report is “keenly awaited” and expected within the next week. Tertiary says this will enable it to draw important conclusions on the potential of the numerous other targets within its claim holdings to contain commercial diamond deposits.

Elsewhere, Tertiary says that preliminary examination of the previously reported train of boulders containing visible gold at the Pitkäjärvi project in south-central Finland suggests they are of local origin. The prospect was acquired in August from a private prospector who made the discovery some three months earlier. The boulders, which assayed up to 16.6g/t gold and averaged 8.5g/t, occur in an area about 150m long and 70m wide although the full extent of the train is thought to be hidden beneath surrounding marshland.

The company also reports that it has also ground-located a previously documented second train of mineralised boulder containing visible gold and copper mineralisation. This is situated at Tiaskuru, some 2km north-west of Pitkäjärvi.

During the quarter, Tertiary completed an interpretation of the available geophysical data covering the Pitkäjarvi and Tiaskuru areas and identified a number of possible source areas for the mineralised boulders. A ground geophysical survey has now started to define drilling targets, Tertiary adds.

Meanwhile, a second drilling programme is scheduled to start within the next month at the Kaaresselkä gold project in north Finland, focusing on the three zones of mineralisation identified previously.

Commenting on recent developments in the tantalum market, Tertiary’s executive chairman, Mr Patrick Cheetham says a major focus of discussion at the recent annual meeting of the Tantalum and Niobium International Study Centre was the situation of Sons of Gwalia, the world’s largest tantalum producer, now in voluntary administration.

“The possibility that there may be a change in control of the majority of the world’s tantalum production has thrown the spotlight onto alternative sources of supply, including Tertiary’s world-class Ghurayyah project in Saudi Arabia.”

REVISED SAUDI MINING CODE RECEIVES ROYAL ASSENT

Mr Cheetham also says that the long-awaited revision of the Mining Law in Saudi Arabia has now received Royal Assent. The purpose of the new law is to update the existing Mining Code and regulations in line with international best-practice, thereby making exploration in the country more attractive to foreign companies.

“The changes will simplify the retention of the Ghurayyah project and reduce the company’s holding costs in Saudi Arabia”, he adds.

During the quarter, Tertiary commissioned its metallurgical consultant, St Barbara Consulting, to prepare a proposal and obtain quotes for the metallurgical testwork component of the Ghurayyah preliminary feasibility study.

QUARTERLY REPORT AVAILABLE HERE

Further info: Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman, Tertiary Minerals plc.
Tel: 01625-626203

John Greenhalgh/Ron Marshman, City of London PR Ltd.
Tel: 0207-628 5518