Project Portfolio Update

Vane Minerals PLC
09 March 2006

                          VANE Minerals Plc (AIM: VML)


                          Additional Uranium Projects
                     Termination of Choix copper agreement


VANE Minerals Plc ('VANE' or 'the Company') today announces an agreement
regarding additional uranium projects in the Colorado Plateau Uranium District
of the United States, and also provides an update on the Choix copper prospect
in Mexico.


Happy Jack Mine


VANE Minerals (US) LLC ('VANE (US))' has entered into an agreement with private
company Happy Jack Minerals covering the Happy Jack Mine and surrounding claims
located in San Juan County of south-eastern Utah in the Colorado Plateau Uranium
District.  The property consists of seven patented lode claims, seven unpatented
claims, and 29 unpatented lode claims staked by VANE during the due diligence
period, all of which are now included in the agreement.


Under the terms of the agreement VANE (US), has agreed to:


•         submit an exploration plan within 6 months of the date of the
agreement;

•         commence exploration within 6 months of the plan being approved by
the local authorities and commit a minimum of $75,000 within 12 months of
starting exploration.  Expenditures in excess of the minimum shall be applied to
future years' work commitments; and

•         commit a further $125,000 to surface and underground exploration
annually from the end of the initial work commitment to mine feasibility
commencing.  Expenditures in excess of the minimum shall be applied to future
years' work commitments.



The Happy Jack Mine agreement is for an initial period of five years, extendable
for a further five years on reaching production.  If production does not begin,
a sum of $100,000 shall be payable for the further 5 year term.  The owner shall
grant VANE automatic five year extensions thereafter if production is occurring.




The agreement provides for the following payments by VANE (US) to the owners of
the Happy Jack Mine and surrounding claims:



•         An initial payment of $10,000 on signing the agreement;

•         A further payment of $10,000 at the end of the initial work
commitment in the event VANE (US) elects to continue with the agreement;

•         A payment of $20,000 on completion of the second work commitment;

•         A payment of $30,000 on completion of the third work commitment,
unless the decision to commence commercial production has been made; and

•         payment of an advance royalty of $100,000 to the owner, at the
announcement of the decision to commence commercial production.



When production is reached, VANE (US) will pay a production royalty of 5% on
minerals mined from within the original areas held by the owner, and a
production royalty of 2.5% on minerals mined from the additional areas claimed.



The Happy Jack Mine, operated principally by Atlas Minerals, produced 3.1
million pounds of U3O8 between 1949 and 1982 when, along with most of the mines
on the Colorado Plateau, it closed due to low uranium prices.  VANE (US)
geologists have delineated a resource of approximately 155,000 pounds U3O8
contained in several pods, some of which are accessible via existing mine
workings and which could therefore be put into production with minimal
development work.



A review of previous drilling results has revealed nine additional exploration
targets in which previous drilling intersected ore-grade mineralisation but was
never explored with additional drilling or sampling. VANE (US) geologists
estimate a potential resource on the property of 1,000,000 pounds U3O8.



Additional breccia pipe deposits



The only mines to continue uranium production in the Colorado Plateau past the
mid-1980s were the high-grade breccia pipe deposits of northern Arizona where
VANE (US) has recently located four new US Lode Mining Claims, thereby adding
two additional breccia pipe targets to its existing portfolio of 17 breccia pipe
targets.  During the past year, VANE has been sampling known ore-bearing pipes
at ground surface to develop proprietary geochemical techniques to differentiate
barren from uraniferous structures.  Using these techniques VANE (US) recently
completed geochemical sampling over three of its northern Arizona breccia pipe
targets, all of which were found to have indications of uranium mineralisation.
Deep drill tests on at least two of the breccia pipe targets are planned for
later in 2006.  Historically, economic mineralised breccia pipes have contained
between 1 million and 6 million lbs U3O8.



Choix Copper Project



Assay results from the six holes completed in December 2005 at the Choix copper
prospect in the State of Sinaloa, Mexico, have been received.  These results are
disappointing and indicate that the strongly mineralised porphyry outcrops at
surface lack 'roots' and are actually isolated xenoliths or blocks 'floating'
upon the underlying batholithic rocks.



The highest values found in the drill hole samples, 0.14% copper, illustrates
the abrupt decline in copper values from the surface, 1.50% copper, to depth and
consequently VANE has now discharged all obligations regarding the Choix
property. VANE has no further financial obligations in this respect.  The
prospect represented a very attractive, easily accessible, undrilled copper
target which was inexpensively acquired and quickly tested with the overall
expenditure on the project less than $100,000.



Outlook



As the Company moves forward, its conviction in the continuing strategy of
testing a large number of attractive targets quickly and inexpensively remains
unshaken.  The Company is confident that tests of a number of similar future
prospects will provide a high probability of success.



Chairman Michael Spriggs commented: 'VANE is pleased to announce the acquisition
of additional uranium projects, building on its already strong portfolio.  The
Company intends to explore the breccia pipe targets by drilling in order to
realise the potential resource.  Although the results of the Choix copper
project have disappointed, they have shown that the Company is capable of
effectively turning these projects over cheaply and efficiently.  The Company's
ability to utilise its Freeport database and the contacts of the principals to
create substantial deal flow, together with the cash flow from the Diablito gold
/silver project in Mexico, enable VANE to evaluate a large number of prospective
projects, and we will continue to do so.'



Enquiries:



VANE Minerals Plc                 Ambrian Partners Limited
Matthew Idiens                    Richard Brown
[phone]              [phone]



Parkgreen Communications              Daniel Stewart & Co
Justine Howarth / Cathy Malins        Alex Davies
[phone]                  [phone]





About VANE Minerals:



VANE Minerals was founded by the former international exploration team of
Freeport McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., one of the world's largest producers of
copper and gold.  The team negotiated exclusive access to Freeport McMoRan's
global exploration database, made up of 7,000 plus files generated over nearly
100 years of exploration and, following the review of these files, VANE is
ideally placed to capitalise on project acquisition opportunities.  The Company
has assembled a highly qualified and experienced management team with a proven
track record in exploration and development, who have spent their entire careers
searching for and defining large scale mineral deposits.



The Company's principal objective, as set out at the time of its listing in June
2004, is to be a self-funding exploration company.  As such, the initial focus
has been to identify high grade gold-silver projects which can be brought into
production as quickly as possible in order to provide revenue towards funding
the development of potentially much larger projects.  VANE is well on its way to
achieving this objective as production began at the Diablito mine in Mexico in
November 2005.  The Company will use the revenue generated by this first
producing mine to help fund development work across its attractive portfolio of
gold, silver and uranium assets in Mexico, Paraguay and the US.



For further information, please review: www.vaneminerals.com.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange