RELEASED BY CITY OF LONDON PR LIMITED
ON BEHALF OF TERTIARY MINERALS PLC:

JANUARY 29 2001

TERTIARY STAKES NINE PALLADIUM-PLATINUM TARGETS
COVERING 41SQ KM IN NORTHERN NORWAY

· Some Blocks Contain Known PGM Mineralisation

· Tantalum Drilling In Finland Gives Encouragement

· Swedish Zinc-Silver Project Delayed By Mild Weather Until February

AIM-listed Tertiary Minerals plc, which is actively exploring nine properties in Scandinavia, has applied for 167 pre-claims (the Norwegian equivalent to an exploration permit) in the northern part of the Karasjok greenstone belt of Finnmark, northern Norway. The claims cover an area of 41sq km and contain nine separate targets for platinum group metals (PGM) in mineralised ultramafic intrusions.

In its December quarterly report, the company says PGM mineralisation is known to occur in this belt and is characterised by a high (up to 3:1) palladium to platinum ratio. The current record palladium price (recently it has exceeded US$1,000/oz) now make these intrusions attractive exploration targets whereas in earlier years, when the prevailing palladium price was significantly lower than today in both absolute terms and relative to the price of platinum, exploration was given low priority by other operators.

The pre-claims include the 5km long Gallujavrri intrusion in which low-grade nickel-copper mineralisation was drilled some 20 years ago. More recent sampling by the Norwegian Geological Survey has identified potentially widespread nickel-copper sulphide-hosted PGM mineralisation at Gallujavrri.

Twelve of the pre-claims were granted over existing pre-claims but these do not cover the Gallujavrri intrusion. All 167 pre-claims are located in areas of established infrastructure.

BOULDER SAMPLING GIVES CLUE TO DJURAGRUVAN PROJECT

More recent surface sampling of 18 boulders from a recently discovered 3km long boulder train at Tertiary’s Djuragruvan zinc-silver-gold project in Sweden returned average values of 10.6p.c. zinc, 3.9p.c. lead and 0.3p.c. copper. Many of these boulders are large, over 2m in diameter, suggesting they are local origin, the company says. Geophysical testing indicates the boulders have a strong electro-magnetic signature and a subsequent review of airborne geophysical data for the project area has identified a target with a similar signature. This could indicate a body of mineralisation and further investigation of this, and other targets, as a possible source of the mineralised boulders is planned.

Two drill holes approximately 100m apart were completed in December at the Juniper Ridge base metals and gold project, a target adjacent to the now-closed Enasen gold-copper mine in central Sweden. The drill testing of ground anomalies discovered bedrock mineralisation with wide intersections of anomalous gold at bedrock surface. One hole returned 16m grading 0.31g/t gold from surface and the second 37m at 0.14g/t. Tertiary considers that these anomalous drillhole values alone are insufficient to explain the high gold values found in the surface till and further follow-up work is warranted.

The planned drilling programme at the Windfall zinc-silver project has been delayed by unexpectedly mild weather and is now scheduled for February. In the interim, infill sampling of MMI geochemical anomalies has been completed and the results suggest that the two strongest anomalies reflect dispersion of sulphides from known mineralisation. However, the infill sampling also confirmed the presence of further anomalies along strike from known mineralisation indicating possible extensions or new zones of mineralisation. These will be drill-tested as part of the February programme, Tertiary states.

During the quarter, Tertiary completed a 140m deep diamond drill hole to test a geophysical anomaly associated with the Kukkola layered complex for PGMs, nickel and copper. The hole failed to intersect any features which readily explain the anomaly and further geophysical investigations will be undertaken to better define the target.

Previous work by Tertiary at the Lake Hill nickel-copper-PGM project identified a coincident magnetic/electromagnetic anomaly associated with the margin of a large gabbroic intrusion. More detailed interpretation of this anomaly has now been undertaken by Geovista AB on behalf of the company. A ground geophysical survey is planned in order to position and evaluate the anomaly for drill testing.

FIRST RESULTS FROM TANTALUM DRILLING IN FINLAND

Turning to its Viitaniemi tantalum-caesium project in Finland, Tertiary says it has completed a preliminary programme of nine shallow diamond drill holes to test the rare-metal content of the Viitaniemi pegmatite. Eight of the holes intersected pegmatite, and preliminary interpretation of the results suggests the presence of two separate pegmatite bodies rather than a single one. Samples from the Main pegmatite returned tantalum oxide values in the 35ppm-1,065ppm range, averaging 171ppm. The best drill intersection was 9.3m grading 299ppm tantalum oxide. The smaller pegmatite body contained lower values in the range 15ppm-125ppm tantalum oxide and averaged 45ppm. (The reserve grade of the Greenbushes pegmatite in Western Australia, the world’s largest known rare metal pegmatite, is 230ppm tantalum oxide).

Tertiary says this drilling programme tested the Main pegmatite on only one N-S traverse over a 200m strike length. The results suggest the main body is flat-lying, of variable thickness and is open to the south and possibly to the north. Its east-west extent has not yet been determined. This drilling was undertaken on behalf of Tertiary by the Geological Survey of Finland and a detailed interpretation report is awaited, the company states.

COPIES OF ANNUAL REPORT AVAILABLE ON REQUEST

Further Information:

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

Ron Marshman or Ken Gooding, City of London PR, Tel: 020-7628-5518