Mt Isa Metals Limited (ASX:MET) Maiden Resource Estimate Of 740,000 Tonnes For Barbara North Lode Copper Deposit

Brisbane, Mar 1, 2010 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Mt Isa Metals Limited (ASX:MET) is pleased to announce that a maiden resource estimate has been completed for the Barbara North Lode copper deposit based on the limit of early stage drilling.

The combined Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource estimate is 740,000 tonnes at 1.23% Cu containing 9,100 tonnes of copper, based on an 0.5% Cu minimum cut-off grade. The resource estimate was completed by Hellman & Schofield Pty Ltd, an independent geological consultancy.

The Barbara Copper Prospect is located approximately 50km north-east of Mt Isa and forms part of the Company's broader Leichardt Exploration Project. The Barbara Copper Prospect-North Lode is held in joint venture between Mt Isa Metals Limited (49%) and Syndicated Metals Limited (51% and manager).

The early stage drilling completed at North Lode during 2009 focused on a limited area of the total Barbara mineralised system and was carried out to an average maximum depth of 150 metres from surface.

The mineralisation defined to date at North Lode has a 300 metre strike length, dips at 50DEG to 60DEG to the south-west, and appears to have a moderate to steep south-east plunge.

The North Lode mineralisation is open down plunge below 150m depth.

The Barbara North Lode resource estimates based on a 0.5% copper and 1.0% copper cut-off grade are tabulated below (tables 1 and 2). Note that approximately 10% of the resource (in terms of tonnes) is within the oxidised and partially oxidised domains.

----------------------------------------------------Category   Tonnes   Cu%  Au g/t Cu Tonnes  Au Ounces----------------------------------------------------Indicated 281,000  1.35   0.1     3,790       900Inferred  459,000  1.16   0.1     5,310     1,480Total     740,000  1.23   0.1     9,100     2,380----------------------------------------------------Table 1. Barbara North Lode ResourceEstimate (0.5% Cu cut-off).

Average density of 2.89t/m3 for sulphide, 2,59t/m3 for oxide; minor rounding errors; significant figures quoted do not imply precision and are used to minimize round-off errors.

----------------------------------------------------Category   Tonnes   Cu%  Au g/t Cu Tonnes  Au Ounces----------------------------------------------------Indicated  137,000  2.04   0.1    2,800        440Inferred   185,000  1.83   0.1    3,380        600Total      322,000  1.92   0.1    6,180      1,040----------------------------------------------------Table 2. Barbara North Lode ResourceEstimate (1.0% Cu cut-off).

Average density of 2.89t/m3 for sulphide, 2,59t/m3 for oxide; minor rounding errors; significant figures quoted do not imply precision and are used to minimize round-off errors.

Forward Program

A new 5,000 metre RC and diamond drilling program has been proposed for the Leichardt JV aimed at expanding the current copper resource and testing a number of other advanced coppergold targets.

Drill targets recently identified in close proximity to the Barbara North Lode include:

- Green Zone - a 400m long mineralised structure defined at surface by visible copper minerals and rock chip samples including 10m @ 1.00% Cu.

- North Gossan - recently identified surface gossan co-incident with a +100ppm Cu in soil anomaly.

Drilling is expected to commence in early March.

Contact

Mr Peter Spiers Managing Director Ph: +61-7-3303-0624 Mob: +61-409-407-265 Mr Duncan Cornish Company Secretary Ph: +61-7-3303-0624 Mob: +61-407-623-302 Email: info@mtisametals.com.au Website www.mtisametals.com.au