RELEASED ON BEHALF OF TERTIARY MINERALS PLC:

JULY 11 2001

TERTIARY BEGINS SUMMER PROGRAMME ON THREE OF ITS SCANDINAVIAN EXPLORATION PROJECTS

· Field Work Will Seek To Define Drill Targets At Finnmark PGM Prospects
· Metallurgical Testing Begins On Rosendal Tantalum Deposit
· Search For Source Of Zinc-Rich Boulders Starts At Djuragruvan

As part of its summer programme on its Scandinavian exploration projects, AIM-listed Tertiary Minerals Plc this week commences two months of field work with the objective of defining drill targets on its Finnmark platinum group metals (PGM) project in Northern Norway. This follows an extensive geological and data review of the northern Karosjok greenstone belt where previous drilling by the Norwegian Geological Survey (NGU) returned wide intersections of PGM mineralisation from ultramafic intrusions on the Porsvann and Karenhaugen prospects.

Tertiary's summer programme will also include metallurgical testwork on its Rosendal tantalum project in Finland and efforts to trace the source of zinc-rich boulders found on its Djuragruvan project in the Bergslagen district of south-central Sweden.

The Karosjok review has included re-sampling of earlier drill core to verify previous assay results which include a reported intersection of 15.2m (approximate true width) grading 2.1g/t combined palladium and platinum (Pd+Pt) within a 43m intersection grading 1.2g/t Pd+Pt from a down hole depth of 67m in hole PV1 at Porsvann. Re-sampling results should be available within three weeks. The review has drawn together, for the first time, the results of previous base and precious metal exploration in the Northern Karasjok greenstone belt and unpublished NGU geological mapping and sampling. It has highlighted the potential for significant strike extensions to the mineralised pyroxenite at Porsvann and for the occurrence of PGM mineralisation within other as yet untested rock types.

The prospective pyroxenite horizon at Porsvann has been mapped over a strike length of more than 800m and it may extend further to the south beneath a lake. Drilling to date has tested only 100m of strike immediately north of the lake, but mineralisation remains open in all directions. A previously unreported NGU grab sample contained 1.4g/t Pd+Pt in pyroxenite 150m north of the most northerly drillhole whilst a sample of gabbro from Porsvann also returned a value of 1.1g/t Pd+Pt. In the Karasjok belt, gabbro is closely associated with pyroxenite in composite intrusions. The occurrence of PGM in gabbro may prove significant, as previous exploration has identified a number of untested Induced Polarisation (IP) geophysical anomalies within the more extensive gabbros at Porsvann. Similar IP anomalies in the pyroxenite are believed to be caused by PGM bearing disseminated sulphide mineralisation.

TERTIARY MINERALS

The aim of the field programme is to define drill targets through a better understanding of the controls on PGM mineralisation at Porsvann and Karenhaugen and the evaluation and sampling of several other PGM prospective intrusions within the Company's extensive exploration permits. It is being carried out by SRK Consulting (Toronto) under the supervision of SRK geologist Mike Michaud who was formerly Chief Geologist for North American Palladium's Lac des Iles PGM mine in Ontario.

At the Company's Rosendal tantalum project in Finland a programme of metallurgical testwork has commenced. This will evaluate processing options for extraction of tantalum and by-product feldspar and quartz from the 1.3 milllion tonne tantalum-bearing pegmatite discovered by the Geological Survey of Finland. The work will include mineralogical characterisation, gravity and flotation testwork and is being carried out by Lakefield Research in Canada, one of the World's premier metallurgical laboratories. Results should be available in early September.

At Djuragruvan, in the Bergslagen district of south-central Sweden, the Company has commenced a programme to locate the source of zinc-rich boulders (18 boulders average 10.6% zinc, 3.9% lead and 0.3% copper in 3km long boulder train) believed to have originated within the Company's exploration permits.

Tertiary has now collected a total of 304 geochemical samples from surface till at Djuragruvan and analytical results are expected within three weeks. Meanwhile, an orientation geophysical programme will start this week over areas of known bedrock mineralisation in order to characterise its "signature". The geophysical testing will then be extended to any prospective areas outlined by the till sampling with the objective of identifying a similar geophysical signature. This would enable the Company to define targets for follow-up drilling.

Further Information:
Patrick Cheetham, Tertiary Minerals.
Tel: 01625-626023

Ron Marshman, City of London PR Limited.
Tel: 020-7628-5518