Acquisition

RNS Number:3476B
Toledo Copper Corporation PLC
29 July 2004



                         TOLEDO COPPER CORPORATION PLC



                 ACQUISITION OF NICKEL PROJECTS IN PHILIPPINES

                  AND NOTICE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING



London 29 July 2004 Toledo Copper Corporation PLC (AIM : TCU) announces that it
has reached agreement to acquire an interest in two large nickel laterites
located on the Island of Palawan in the Philippines.

The first property, the Berong Nickel Project, is being developed initially for
a direct shipping operation to ferro-nickel smelters in Japan while feasibility
studies are conducted into a later, on-site large scale operation utilizing acid
leaching or smelting.  A pre-feasibility study into the direct shipping
operation was completed by mining engineer Rescan Engineering Ltd (now Hatch
Associates Limited, Vancouver).

Acid leach metallurgical test work has been conducted on the second property,
the Celestial Nickel Project, and a pre-feasibility study conducted by
international engineering group H.A. Symons Ltd (now Amec) has demonstrated
economic viability, subject to more detailed work being carried out for a
bankable feasibility study.

Internationally, the Philippines has a very competitive edge for the supply of
nickel, being located close to the major markets and having a low cost
structure.  Historically, the Philippines has a long, well established mining
history.

The Directors believe these acquisitions will complement the Company's
previously announced option to acquire a 40% interest in the Toledo copper mine
and its agreement to provide management services for that project.



Information on the Berong Nickel Project

The Berong Nickel property comprises four nickel laterite deposits (Berong,
Moorsom, Long Point and Tagkawayan) having an aggregate area of 10,659 ha.
These are located adjacent to the coast in mid western Palawan adjacent to the
South China Sea.  The Company will hold a 44% economic interest in the property.
The remaining interests will be held by Australian Stock Exchange listed
Investika Ltd (20%) and Philippines Stock Exchange listed Atlas Consolidated
Mining and Development Corporation (36%).

The nickel resources within the four deposits of the property, based on 2,069
test pits (spaced at 300m x 300m) have been calculated by independent geological
consultants to be 275 million dmt @ 1.30% Ni and 0.074% Co. at a cut-off
grade-of 0.90% Ni.  The resource is one of the largest in the world; possibly
the 4th largest based on contained nickel of 3.5 M tons (8 B lbs).

Extensive testing of the property was carried out during the late 1960's and
early 1970's, culminating in an independent bankable feasibility study by
Parsons Juerden of San Francisco into the development of an ammonia leach plant
producing 60 million lbs of nickel metal per year.  The planned development was
shelved in 1973 due to spiralling oil prices and a declining nickel price.

A further 1,197 test pits were sunk in a selected area of 324 ha in Berong on a
50m and 25m spacing to establish the direct shipping ore content. An independent
pre-feasibility study was carried out by Rescan of Canada into a direct shipping
operation from Berong in 1996.

As part of the 1996 pre-feasibility study of Rescan, John Nillson, an
independent Canadian consultant, estimated the ore reserves within the selected
area to be 2.105 million dmt @ 2.3% Ni.  At a cut-off grade of 2.0% Ni, the
estimated indicated resource within the selected area was estimated to be 4.2
million dmt @ 2.3% Ni.  At a reduced cut-off of 1.8% Ni, the resource increases
to 7.0 million dmt @ 2.1% Ni, a grade that is currently acceptable to the
Japanese ferro-nickel producers.

Initially the focus of the Company's activities will be the development of a
direct shipping operation from the selected area at Berong.  The first shipment
is scheduled for March 2005.

The 1996 Rescan pre-feasibility costs have been updated and the estimated
funding requirement to positive cash flow is US$6 million.  The operating cash
break-even cost of the direct shipping operation is estimated to be $1.30/lb of
payable nickel, or 35c/lb of contained nickel, which at 300,000 tpa, will be
approximately 15 million lbs per year.  It is expected payment will be 25% of
the LME price, FOB basis, on the contained nickel.

Negotiations for sales agreements are well advanced with Japanese ferro nickel
smelters via Japanese trading companies.  Once operations have commenced, it is
the intention of the Company to expand production to 500,000 tpa at an
appropriate date.

The direct shipping project is planned to generate a significant cash flow.
Part of this cash flow will be utilized to fund the Company's ongoing program of
completing a bankable feasibility study into a subsequent large scale (+50
million lbs/year) operation, for which four development options have been
identified.

A direct shipping operation, similar to that planned by the Company, has been
conducted in Palawan for the past 25 years at Rio Tuba, where the construction
of a $200 million HPAL processing plant, by the Sumitomo consortia, is almost
complete.

The consideration for the Company's 44% economic interest in the Berong Nickel
Project will be satisfied by the Company issuing 150 million fully paid ordinary
shares to the vendors and the payment to them of US$400,000.  The Company will
also commit to advance by way of interest free loan, US$2million to the project
to be utilized for exploration and development, such loan to be repaid out of
project cash flow.

In addition to the economic interest, the agreement provides that the Company
will be engaged to provide management services for the Berong Nickel Project.



Information on the Celestial Nickel Project

The Celestial Nickel laterite property covers an area of 2,835 ha and is also
located on Palawan Island in the Philippines.  This property is well advanced
and has substantial permitting already in place.  The Company will initially
hold a 52% economic interest in the property with the remaining interests held
by Brooks Nickel Ventures Inc (Brooks, 24%) and Celestial Nickel Mining
Exploration Corporation (Celestial, 24%).  The Company will have the right to
increase its economic interest to 71.2%.

The property has been well explored, yielding a current resource estimate of 77
million tons of 1.25% Ni and 0.10% Co within an area of 800 ha.  This is
reported in a 1998 pre-feasibility study performed by HA Symons.

Metallurgical test work was carried out by Sherritt International Consultants
Inc. (now Dynatec) for suitability for a High Pressure Acid Leach (HPAL) plant,
and a proposal was generated to use this technology to produce 40,000 tons of Ni
metal per annum at a capital cost of US$ 840M (US$9.55/annual lb of capacity),
with a projected operating cost of US$1.38/lb before cobalt credits.  The H.A.
Symons study is quite comprehensive, and recommends proceeding to the full
feasibility study.

Subsequent experience with HPAL in Australia has lead to wide scepticism as to
its economic viability, notwithstanding that it has worked profitably in Cuba
for decades.  The process has since been refined by BHP Billiton, Sumitomo and
others and now represents a credible alternative for bringing this property into
profitable production.

However, in the last two years several new technologies have been developed,
including atmospheric heap leaching and elevated temperature vat leaching, which
together with advancements made in the metal recovery and refining process,
suggest that better alternatives to HPAL are now practical, offering, lower
capital cost, lower operating cost and less down time.

The previous operators of the property have already performed metallurgical
tests on an atmospheric vat leach with modest success, achieving a recovery of
about 65%.  The Company believes that this method has excellent potential, and
that an advanced form of this technology with better recovery potential is now
available.  It is proposed as part of the future program to conduct an
evaluation of vat leaching and other alternative technologies.

The property also contains indications of the presence of direct shipping ore
which requires further investigation.

The consideration for the Company's 52% economic interest in the Celestial
Nickel Project will be satisfied by the Company issuing to the vendors 75
million fully paid ordinary shares, 75 million options over ordinary shares in
the Company exercisable at 2.5p per share within two years and the reimbursement
of costs incurred by them of US$100,000.  The Company will also commit to
advance US$2 million to the project to be utilized for exploration and
development.  In addition, the Company will pay Celestial US$200,000 per annum
up until the time the Celestial Nickel Project commences commercial production.

The Company also holds the option to increase its interest in the Celestial
Nickel Project to 71.2% by acquiring shares from Brooks and Celestial on the
payment of further monies.

In addition to the economic interest, the agreement provides that the Company
will be engaged to provide management services for the Celestial Nickel Project.



Extraordinary general meeting

In order to provide funding for these two acquisitions as well as general
working capital, the Company will seek to raise additional equity capital.
Accordingly, the directors have resolved to call an extraordinary general
meeting, to be held on Tuesday 24 August 2004, whereat the directors will seek
authority to allot ordinary shares on a non-pre-emptive basis to a maximum of
nominal amount of approximately #1,500,000.

To more fairly describe the activities of the Company following these two Nickel
acquisitions, a resolution will be put to shareholders at the extraordinary
general meeting to change the Company's name to Toledo Mining Corporation plc.



Enquiries

Chris Kyriakou

Chairman

Tel: [phone]


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