Rosendal Scoping Study

Tertiary Minerals PLC
8 January 2002





                           www.tertiaryminerals.com

                                                               JANUARY 8, 2002

INDEPENDENT SCOPING STUDY INDICATES PAYBACK IN LITTLE MORE THAN TWO YEARS AND
                                AN IRR OF 33%

                        FOR ROSENDAL TANTALUM PROJECT

  * Capital Cost Of US$12.5 Million Assumes Construction Of All-New Process
    Plant
  * Annual Output Of 66,000lb Tantalum Pentoxide And 84,000 Tonnes Feldspar

________________________________________________________________________________



AIM-listed Tertiary Minerals plc is pleased to announce that an independent
technical and economic scoping study on the development of its Rosendal
tantalum-industrial mineral project in south-west Finland has shown that
development of the project could be economically attractive with a projected
Internal Rate of Return ('IRR') of 33%.

The scoping study has been carried out by a special team assembled by the
Geological Survey of Finland which has estimated the Rosendal pegmatite to
contain 1.3m tonnes of material grading 289grammes/tonne ('g/t') of tantalum
pentoxide ('Ta2O5') and 70% feldspar from surface to a depth of 100m.

The study builds on the results of previously reported metallurgical testwork
carried out by independent Canadian laboratory Lakefield Research Inc. This
indicated that commercial grades of tantalum, feldspar quartz and mica
concentrate could be produced from Rosendal ore with acceptable recoveries.

The scoping study has evaluated an open-pit mining operation producing 150,000
tonnes of ore per annum over 11 years with 10% dilution and an overall
waste-to-ore strip ratio of 3.5 to 1. It assumes that an all-new process plant
will be constructed on site to process 150,000 tonnes per annum of ore for the
recovery of an average of 66,000lbs Ta2O5 and 84,000 tonnes of feldspar
concentrate per annum.

On this basis, the study makes the following estimates for the project :


  * Capital cost: US$12.5million

  * Average annual revenues: US$ 8.1 million *

  * Average annual pre-tax operating profit: US$5.0 million (before
    interest)

  * Internal Rate of Return: 33%

(* based on a recently published contract price of US$75/lb Ta2O5 in
concentrates, and a price of US$37/tonne of feldspar concentrate).

 The Company is of the opinion that, whilst the scoping study is of necessity
based on estimated figures for grade, tonnage, capital and operating costs,
these already attractive project economics can be improved further as:


 1. There is potential to increase the known tonnage of mineralisation.

    Mineralisation is open in all directions and there is the possibility that
    further drilling will increase available resources.

 2. The grade of the mineralisation could be higher than initially indicated.

    The tantalum grade considered during the study, 289 g/t Ta2O5, is an
    average of the grades of surface channel samples and smaller samples from
    narrow diameter diamond drill holes.

    Drill samples may not be sufficiently large to be representative of grade
    as the larger surface channel samples average 436 g/t Ta2O5 and the
    largest sample taken to date, the metallurgical sample, had a grade of
    620g/t Ta2O5.

 3. The project is located adjacent to an existing feldspar production plant
    and considerable capital and operating costs savings are likely if plant
    and/or infrastructure can be shared.

 4. The scoping study has not considered recovery of potentially valuable
    by-products quartz and mica.



The study notes that the Rosendal project lies within an established mining
area where pegmatites have been mined for more than 300 years, and mining
operations are continuing. The area has a sparse population with the nearest
house some 1.4km away. There are no special or protected natural habitats in
this particular area nor or there any endangered species, historic sites, area
of groundwater significance or areas of special landscape, topography or
geomorphology.

Given the Rosendal project's favourable coastal location, at the heart of
European markets, and Finland's political stability, the Company intends to
fast track the further evaluation and development of the Rosendal deposit, and
plans further drilling next month.

Further information:

Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman, Tertiary Minerals plc. Tel: [phone]

Ron Marshman, City of London PR Ltd. Tel: [phone]