Additional Resources-Varvarinskoye Update-5-Star CAT Rating

    FOR:  EUROPEAN MINERALS CORPORATION

TSX SYMBOL:  EPM
AIM SYMBOL:  EUM

May 9, 2008

European Minerals Corporation: Additional Resources-Varvarinskoye Update-5-Star CAT Rating

LONDON, ENGLAND--(Marketwire - May 9, 2008) - European Minerals Corporation (TSX:EPM)(AIM:EUM) ("EMC" or the
"Company") is pleased to report an increase in the gold and copper resources at its Varvarinskoye gold/copper
project in Kazakhstan and provide an update on progress at the mine.

Additional Resources

- Assay results from diamond drilling completed in the 2007 field season combined with historical data have
enabled the Company to outline significant additional resources beneath the current pit design which is
approximately 300 metres below ground surface.

- The Company's internally generated resource estimates were calculated under the definitions and guidelines
specified in National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators ("NI 43-101") and utilized
the key assumptions, parameters and methods used in the preparation of the resource estimates contained in the
technical report dated November 2004 and amended March 2005 entitled "Varvarinskoye Gold-Copper Project -
Northern Kazakhstan - Technical Report" prepared by MDM Ferroman (Pty) Limited and Mintec Inc. in accordance
with NI 43-101 (which is available for review on the SEDAR database at www.sedar.com) and on the same basis
outlined in the 2007 estimated mineral resource previously reported (see the Company's press release dated
January 15, 2007).

- The revised resource estimates increase the previously announced estimated measured and indicated mineral
resources by approximately 26 million tonnes of ore (at 1.24 g/t gold, 0.32% copper(i)) containing
approximately one million ounces of gold and 157 million lbs of copper, representing an increase of
approximately 20% of the total estimated measured and indicated mineral resources tonnages and an increase of
approximately 25% in contained gold and 35% in contained copper for the estimated measured and indicated
mineral resources. Appendix 1 provides a more detailed analysis of the additional mineral resource estimates
and a table containing the previous estimate of measured and indicated mineral resources, as announced in
January 2007 (Table 2).

(i) % copper based on HGCF only

Varvarinskoye Update

- Further positive progress has been made in bringing the plant to commercial production. During April,
mechanical availability of the process equipment was about 93% with no unplanned shutdown of major equipment.
Completion of commissioning and commencement of operating ramp up during a severe winter has been successfully
achieved with no major impact on operations. Gold continues to be poured on a regular basis; six shipments have
now been delivered to the Metalor refinery in Switzerland. The Company's subsidiary, JSC Varvarinskoye
("JSCV"), has approximately 4,000 tonnes of copper gold concentrate (18% copper and 22 g/t gold) bagged at its
Tobol railhead, awaiting Russian Railway wagons to dispatch the concentrate to a smelter in May.

- Other highlights as of end of April:-

-- JSCV has made adjustments to the crusher which has improved product size, alleviating downstream transfer
restrictions to the grinding mills.

-- The copper flotation circuit is operating at about 60% design throughput. Polysius, the mill manufacturer,
will visit Varvarinskoye in mid May to advise on how to increase the throughput so that the milling circuit
will meet its design specification.

-- The direct gold milling and leach circuit reached 45% of design throughput in April. Plans are in place to
continue ramp up in the next few months as the grinding ball charge is increased and design modifications to
the mill discharge pump motors are completed.

-- Water return to plant from tailings dam has been achieved following the spring thaw.

-- The site evaluation visit by Ausenco Limited of Perth as part of a Scoping Study for a possible expansion of
the Varvarinskoye plant was completed in April.

5-Star CAT Rating

-- Borusan Makina Kazakhstan LLP ("BMK") operates the Maintenance and Repair Contract (MARC) on JSCV's mining
fleet. BMK have informed EMC that the BMK Varvarinskoye maintenance workshop has been awarded a Caterpillar 5-
Star rating for contamination control. Varvarinskoye is the first operational mine site in the CIS to achieve
this 5-Star rating and rewards the combined efforts of the BMK and JSCV teams over the three years that the
MARC has been operating.

-- Ozgur Gunuaydin, BMK's General Director in Kazakhstan, commented "the control of microscopic particulate
contamination is very important in the successful operation of modern mining machinery such as Caterpillar.
This can assist in avoiding unexpected shutdowns of equipment and reduces maintenance and operating costs."

Bert Kennedy President and CEO of EMC commented today:

"We continue to make good progress increasing our tonnage throughput in the Varvarinskoye process plant. A late
spring has eventually arrived and the working conditions for our site team should improve. During a severe
winter we have had no freezing of our water reticulation system and the delivery of our electrical power supply
by our 70km line was continuous with no significant shutdowns despite temperatures dropping to minus 40o
Centigrade with frequent blizzards. I cannot praise the dedication of our employees too highly in commissioning
the plant through such a severe winter which other major regional mining companies have also noted adversely
impacted on their operations. Metallurgical performance continues to be good and both process streams have been
running steadily for the past six weeks. We are now regularly delivering gold dore to Metalor in Switzerland
and our first concentrates are ready to ship. Over the coming months we intend to complete our design
modifications in the plant and ramp up to commercial production. We have always believed in the Varvarinskoye
project and the announcement of the increase to the measured and indicated mineral resource estimates, although
these are situated beneath the lowest elevation of the current pit design, further enhances the value of our
ore body. We have also just commenced an independent study to investigate the possibility of increasing the
total through put at Varvarinskoye beyond our feasibility design of 4.2 million tonnes of ore per year. Our
management and employees have created a producing mine at Varvarinskoye from a green field site in less than 30
months. I believe this achievement ranks as highly as any in the world of mineral developments over the last
few years."

Qualified Person

Bert Kennedy, the Company's President and Chief Executive Officer, is the "qualified person" (as such term is
defined in NI 43-101) responsible for all technical and scientific information in this press release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains or refers to forward-looking statements. All statements, other than statements of
historical fact that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or
anticipates will or may occur in the future are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements
include statements contained in this press release regarding estimates and/or assumptions in respect of mineral
resources, future exploration, development and operational plans and objectives (including the possible
expansion of the plant). These forward-looking statements reflect the current expectations or beliefs of the
Company based on information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking statements are subject to a
number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from
those discussed in the forward-looking statements, and even if such actual results are realized or
substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects
on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current
expectations include, but are not limited to: the grade and recovery of ore which is mined varying from
estimates; capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates; inflation; changes in exchange
rates; fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the commencement of full scale operations, the Company's
Varvarinskoye Project caused by unavailability of equipment, labour or supplies, climatic conditions, delays in
the delivery and installation of plant and equipment or otherwise; termination or suspension of the Company's
debt facility; uncertainty of the outcome of any litigation; inability to delineate additional mineral
resources; and other factors. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and,
except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to
update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or
otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are
reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and accordingly undue reliance
should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein.

The mineral resource figures disclosed to in this press release are estimates and no assurances can be given
that the indicated levels of minerals will be produced. Such estimates are expressions of judgment based on
knowledge, mining experience, analysis of drilling results and industry practices. Valid estimates made at a
given time may significantly change when new information becomes available. While the Company believes that the
resource estimates disclosed in this press release are well established, by their nature resource estimates are
imprecise and depend, to a certain extent, upon statistical inferences which may ultimately prove unreliable.
If such estimates are inaccurate or are reduced in the future, this could have a material adverse impact on the
Company.

Appendix 1

The key assumptions, parameters and methods used in the preparation of the following mineral resource estimates
are detailed in the technical report dated November 2004 and amended March 2005 entitled "Varvarinskoye Gold-
Copper Project - Northern Kazakhstan - Technical Report" prepared by MDM Ferroman (Pty) Limited and Mintec Inc.
in accordance with NI 43-101 (which is available for review on the SEDAR database at www.sedar.com) and on the
same basis outlined in the 2007 estimated mineral resource previously reported (see the Company's press release
dated January 15, 2007). The effective date for the following mineral resource estimates is April 30, 2008.

/T/

Table 1: Additional Mineral Resources as at April 30, 2008

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             MEASURED MINERAL RESOURCES
                               @ 0.01 gpt Gold Cut-off
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ore Type     K Tonnes   Gold gpt     % Copper     Oz Gold     Lbs Copper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HGCF            4,348       1.51        0.705     211,082     67,577,491
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGCF            6,642       1.07        0.076     228,491            N/A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL          10,990       1.24        0.324     439,573     67,577,491
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
                              @ 0.01 gpt Gold Cut-off
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ore Type     K Tonnes   Gold gpt     % Copper     Oz Gold     Lbs Copper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HGCF            6,938       1.38        0.582     307,828     89,020,602
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGCF            8,052       1.13         0.08     292,541            N/A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL          14,990       1.24        0.312     600,369     89,020,602
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 MEASURED & INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
                       @ 0.01 gpt Gold Cut-off
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ore Type     K Tonnes   Gold gpt     % Copper     Oz Gold     Lbs Copper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HGCF           11,286       1.43         0.63     518,909    156,598,093
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGCF           14,694       1.10         0.08     521,032            N/A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL          25,980       1.24         0.32   1,039,941    156,598,093
------------------------------------------------------------------------


Table 2: Previously Published Mineral Resources as at December 15, 2006

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                             MEASURED MINERAL RESOURCES
                               @ 0.01 gpt Gold Cut-off
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ore Type     K Tonnes   Gold gpt     % Copper     Oz Gold     Lbs Copper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HGCF           20,900       1.33         0.61     890,455    279,688,647
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HGCP            5,923       1.12         0.46     212,352     59,804,873
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGCF           54,509       0.89          N/A   1,558,146            N/A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGCP            2,919       1.05          N/A      98,468            N/A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL          84,252       1.02         0.57   2,759,420    339,493,520
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
                              @ 0.01 gpt Gold Cut-off
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ore Type     K Tonnes   Gold gpt     % Copper     Oz Gold     Lbs Copper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HGCF           10,474       1.06         0.42     355,305     96,057,671
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HGCP            1,127       0.88         0.62      31,867     15,311,584
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGCF           26,387       0.88          N/A     743,256            N/A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGCP              912       0.91          N/A      26,637            N/A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL          39,901       0.93         0.44   1,157,065    111,369,256
------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 MEASURED & INDICATED MINERAL RESOURCES
                       @ 0.01 gpt Gold Cut-off
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ore Type     K Tonnes   Gold gpt     % Copper     Oz Gold     Lbs Copper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HGCF           31,374       1.24         0.54   1,245,759    375,746,318
------------------------------------------------------------------------
HGCP            7,050       1.08         0.48     244,218     75,116,458
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGCF           80,896       0.89          N/A   2,301,401            N/A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LGCP            3,832       1.02          N/A     125,106            N/A
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL         123,153       0.99         0.53   3,916,485    450,862,776
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Note:- HGCF is High Grade Copper Feed - flotation ore
       HGCP is material stockpiled for treatment in the future
       LGCF is Low Grade Copper Feed - Gold leach ore
       LGCP is Low Grade Copper Feed - Gold leach ore from the
        weathering zone

/T/



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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Investor Information:
European Minerals Corporation - United Kingdom
Tony Williams
Chairman
[phone]

OR

European Minerals Corporation - United Kingdom
Bert Kennedy
President & CEO
[phone]

OR

Vanguard Shareholder Solutions Inc. - North America
Keith Schaefer
1-866-448-0780
Email: [e-mail]

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European Minerals Corporation