AGM Statement

Tertiary Minerals PLC
31 January 2006





http://www.tertiaryminerals.com/
AIM: TYM

                             TERTIARY MINERALS PLC

                                 ANNUAL MEETING

                      TERTIARY ANNOUNCES PROGRESS AT GIANT
                           GHURAYYAH TANTALUM PROJECT
                                        

   • Finalisation Of JV Agreement For World's Largest Tantalum Deposit Due
     This Quarter

   • Samples From Deposit Now Being Shipped For Metallurgical Testwork

   • New Diamond Targets For Sunrise Associate Result From Database
     Acquisition
_________________________________________________________________________

Local funding of up to US$7m, for the full costs of feasibility studies on the
giant Ghurayyah tantalum project by its two powerful Saudi Arabian partners,
will give Tertiary Minerals the financial freedom to continue other exploration
ventures, chairman Patrick Cheetham told the annual meeting in London today. He
revealed that Tertiary's Saudi partners hold significant stakes in major Saudi
banks.

The full 50:50 Joint Venture Agreement ('JVA') with the Saudi partners is
expected to be signed within the current quarter. More recently, as part of a
preliminary agreement, the Saudi consortium completed the £500,000 purchase of
Tertiary shares at 10p and, after signing the JVA, can build up to a 15 per cent
stake through conversion of a loan at the higher of 15p per share or 80 per cent
of the market price in the 30 days before conversion.

Ore samples from Ghurayyah are currently being shipped for metallurgical
testwork.

Mr. Cheetham said demand for tantalum is on a steady climb at around 5 per cent.
annually and would be given an added fillip towards the end of this year as the
U.S. Strategic Reserve of the mineral - accounting for 10 per cent of annual
supply - was completely run down. Ghurayyah in production at 600,000 lbs of
tantalum pentoxide a year could about replace this supply.

'New applications of tantalum, for example in the medical field and aerospace
industry, plus the ongoing development of new electronic devices - most
requiring tantalum capacitors - makes it an interesting metal for the future.

'Although capacitors themselves have become smaller, and use less tantalum,
their application has multiplied. For example the latest PlayStation contains 27
tantalum-based capacitors'.

Tertiary directors believe that at the development stage of Ghurayyah - the
biggest known tantalum deposit in the world - bank funding would be obtained
locally on 'soft terms' and could possibly reduce Tertiary's equity requirements
in the 50:50 joint venture to about 6 per cent of the US$100m estimated capital
cost.


Turning to Tertiary's 26 per cent stake in associate Sunrise Diamonds, Mr.
Cheetham said a first-pass review of the recently acquired BHP Billiton diamond
exploration database in Finland had thrown up fresh targets outside the Kuusamo
area where it is already searching for further kimberlite pipes. The company is
moving quickly to establish new claim blocks covering the areas pinpointed, he
added.

Observing that Tertiary's shareholder base was mostly made up of small
shareholders, he said the Ghurayyah project, because of its size and promising
future returns, should soon attract the interest of U.K. institutions to the
register.

Further information:

Patrick Cheetham, Executive Chairman, Tertiary Minerals plc. Tel: +44 (0)
1625-626203
Ron Marshman/John Greenhalgh, City of London PR Limited. Tel: +44 (0)
20-7628-5518




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            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange