Richard FiferRichard Fifer on internet

Petaquilla Minerals Ltd PTQ

8/9/2010 10:58:35 AM

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Aug 09, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX News Network) –

Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. (TSX: PTQ)(OTCBB: PTQMF)(FRANKFURT: P7Z) (“Petaquilla” or the “Company”) today announced positive drill and trench results from the Tucan Project on its Oro Del Norte exploration concession located in central Panama. The Tucan Project is approximately 20 kilometres northeast of the Company’s Molejon Mine site, within trucking distance of the mill if a commercially viable deposit is discovered. Petaquilla has also identified five other prospective gold and copper bearing targets in other areas of its concession.

As previously announced March 4, 2010, the Company has been aggressively exploring the concession and has defined an area known as the Tucan Project containing significant surface rock chip samples with dimensions of approximately 2.0 kilometres x 1.5 kilometres. The Tucan Project contains numerous drill ready targets.

Diamond Drilling Program

During the second calendar quarter of 2010, the Company commenced Phase 1 of its planned 5,000 metre diamond drilling program on the first of the identified drill targets. The below results are the first to be released from this drilling program on the Oro Del Norte concession where three drill rigs are currently turning.

To date, 17 diamond drill holes for a total of 2,741 metres have been completed on the initial four target areas within the Tucan Project testing the mineralized structures identified by surface mapping and trenching.

Results for the first 15 drill holes have been received.

Drill result highlights include:

Table 1:
Hole ID   From    To   Intercept Length    Au   (metres) (metres) (metres)  (g/t)
TCDH-001  15.46  22.35   6.89     1.89  includes  15.46   16.15     0.69    11.25
TCDH-002  63.00  64.00   1.00     2.47
TCDH-002   81.30 94.70   13.40    1.47  includes  91.30   94.70     3.40     3.48
TCDH-003   41.00 43.00    2.00    3.39
TCDH-005   24.30 32.05    7.75    0.99  includes  26.30   27.35     1.05     2.51
TCDH-007   57.45 59.50    2.05    1.38  includes  57.45   58.00     0.55     3.59
TCDH-007   97.00 98.00    1.00    1.48
TCDH-011   0.00   1.50    1.50    3.06
TCDH-011  34.50  35.40    0.90    1.32
TCDH-011  60.55  61.70    1.15    2.42
TCDH-011  96.70  98.00    1.30    1.50
TCDH-012  90.50  92.00    1.50    2.33  includes  90.50   91.25     0.75     3.06
TCDH-014  55.80  59.00    3.20    2.32  includes  55.80   58.00     2.20     2.77
TCDH-014  59.75  64.00    4.25    1.45  includes  59.75   61.55     1.80     2.54
TCDH-015 171.25 175.00    3.75    0.70
TCDH-015 178.00 180.00    2.00    1.48  includes 179.00  180.00     1.00     2.28
TCDH-015 183.00 184.00    1.00    1.04

Notes:
1. Assay results for drill holes TCDH-001 to TCDH-010 have been analyzedby ALS Chemex
in North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
2. Assay results for drill holes TCDH-011 to 015 have been analyzed by Petaquilla's
on-site analytical laboratory, which is not a certified independent laboratory,
located at the Company's Molejon Gold Project. Duplicate samples have been collected
and sent to ALS Chemex in North Vancouver for verification and the Company is awaiting
the results of independent analysis. The Company utilizes the service of its in-house
laboratory as it is able to provide a 24 hour turnaround for assay results and, thus,
enabling the Company to quickly verify its exploration strategy on the ground.
3. Drill intersections tabulated under 'Intercept Length' are reported as drilled
thicknesses. Based on core axis to structure angles, true widths are estimated to be
70% to 90% of the interval lengths.

These initial drill holes were completed on the first four drill targets to determine both the style and grade of mineralization in addition to the attitude of the mineralization in this structurally controlled environment. This drilling has achieved these objectives. The mineralized structures tested to date are both steeply southwest and northeast dipping and have a northwest to southeast strike. Additional data obtained from oriented drill core samples has identified the mineralization to be predominantly structurally controlled, having multiple phases of mineralization and containing post mineralization cross cutting structures which offset the main mineralized body.

This drilling has identified numerous gold intercepts in three sub-parallel epithermal vein systems over an area of 1.3 kilometres x 0.4 kilometre.

All three veins systems are open along strike and will continue to be the focus of the drilling effort during this next phase of the drilling program which will now progressively step out toward the southeast of the project area to evaluate their strike extent.

In addition to the above, numerous drill ready targets identified during the late 2009/early 2010 exploration work remain untested and will be drilled during this second phase.

Trenching Program

In conjunction with the diamond drilling program now underway, the Company has completed 243 trenches for a total of 3,972 metres.

The trenching program has resulted in the discovery of two additional sub parallel gold mineralized structures located 170 metres north and 80 metres south respectively to the principle structure which was identified by detailed mapping and sampling completed in the first quarter of 2010.

Results for the first 227 trenches totaling 3,636 metres have been received. Highlights of the trenching results are listed below.

Trench result highlights include:

Table 2:
Trench ID    From   To   Intercept Length    Au   (metres) (metres) (metres)  (g/t)
 ONT-16-6    9.00  13.00    4.00    2.21   includes  12.00   13.00    1.00     5.68
 ONT-16-11   4.00   8.00    4.00    1.22   includes   5.00    6.00    1.00     4.59
 ONT-16-13   8.00  17.00    9.00    0.60   includes  11.00   12.00    1.00     2.84
 ONT-16-14  14.00  17.00    3.00    0.89
 ONT-16-14  19.00  20.00    1.00    8.68
 ONT-16-19   3.00   7.00    4.00    0.80   includes   4.00    5.00    1.00     2.19
 ONT-17-28  19.00  20.00    1.00    3.99
 ONT-17-29   1.00   5.00    4.00    0.95   includes   4.00    5.00    1.00     2.16
 ONT-17-31  11.00  14.00    3.00    0.96
 ONT-17-35   8.00  17.00    9.00    0.79   includes  13.00   14.00    1.00     4.59
 ONT-18-19   2.00   4.00    2.00    2.89   includes   2.00    3.00    1.00     5.43
 ONT-18-24  19.00  21.00    2.00    0.92
 ONT-18-38  16.00  29.00   13.00    1.02   includes  17.00   18.00    1.00    10.88
 ONT-19-28   3.00   8.00    5.00    0.91   includes   7.00    8.00    1.00     3.59
 ONT-21-9    0.00   8.00    8.00    1.86   includes   1.00    3.00    2.00     2.45
 ONT-21-11  15.00  17.00    2.00    2.32   includes  15.00   16.00    1.00     3.03
 ONT-21-16   1.00  15.00   14.00    0.54   includes  10.00   11.00    1.00     1.54

The trenching program will continue aggressively expanding into new areas on the concession which the Company believes is prospective for intrusive related epithermal gold bearing vein systems as evidenced by the discovery during this phase of work.

The Company is encouraged by the positive results achieved by the first phase of exploration trenching and drilling on the Oro Del Norte Concession. Interpretation of both the drill and trench data collected to date confirms the Company’s geological and exploration models for the property.

Petaquilla believes that its 100% owned concessions surrounding its Molejon Gold Project are prospective for intrusive related epithermal gold vein systems and porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum deposits.

Petaquilla is solely funding exploration on its 100% owned concessions.

Mr. John Kapetas, P. Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and the Company’s Vice President Exploration & Resources Development, has been overseeing the exploration field program. Mr. Kapetas is ensuring that the appropriate quality assurance protocols are being followed and that the data is being qualified under strict quality controls. He has reviewed and verified the technical mining information contained in this news release.

About Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. – Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. is a gold producer operating its gold processing plant at its 100% owned Molejon Gold Project in Panama. Anticipated throughput for the project during the first year of commercial production is estimated to be 2200 tonnes per day. Commercial production commenced January 8, 2010. The Molejon mine site is located in the south central area of the Company’s 100% owned 842-square kilometer concession lands, a region known historically for gold content.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of PETAQUILLA MINERALS LTD.

Richard Fifer, Director and Non-Executive Chairman of the Board

MINING

$ 23.8 million were generated in the extraction during the first half of 2010 however, in 2009 it was only $ 1.7 million, experts say these numbers reflect the operation of one business.
Chi Grace Kelly
PA-DIGITAL
Panamanian gold exports are primarily destined to Canada. With over 30 years of exploration of potential gold deposits in the country and surviving the ups and downs of international price changes, the mineral extraction of gold quoted today in Panama is a reality that, despite opinions for and against, has in just months, skyrocketed.
The revival of gold export from the country changed from 5.749 in 2009 to 33369.168 ounces of gold during the first half of 2010, according to the Comptroller General of the Republic, adding that revenues in this activity rose from $ 1.5 million to $ 23.8 million in that period.
The figures, according to the Mining Chamber of Panama and experts in the field is due exclusively to the Gold Petaquilla SA, operations in the Donoso district of Colon, which entered its first semester of commercial extraction of gold, and already pays royalties to the State, of which not all agree on the amount.
The.Petaquilla Gold Inc.mine confirmed by its CEO Richard Fifer, has managed to extract about 32,000 ounces of gold during these seven months, which averaged 6.000 ounces of gold per month, and could potentially produce 10,000 ounces per month, once it reaches a point of working at maximum capacity, which would be in 2012. So, today the total extraction coincides almost entirely with the country’s export figures.
The country under the contract signed between the State and Petaquilla Gold SA, gets 2% royalty on sales of the company, which would result in $1.7 million, and the change promoted by the current Government of 4% royalties would be $ 4.8 million that the company would cancel the first semester
this year.
This figure is minimal, in the opinion of Felix Wing, Executive Director Environmental Advocacy Center (CIAM), which explains that “these royalties do not compensate all the tax exemptions or tax credits provided for in the Contract. ”
In this regard, Rodrigo Esquivel, director of Petaquilla Gold SA, said that ” income tax would be paid when the investment is recovered which could be in 2015, but they are contributing to the country generating at least 750 direct jobs.
“We pay all rights under law for all out employees, insurance and taxes, worker-employer share “said Esquivel.
Fifer, founder of the company, added

Richard Fifer believes that mankind with its achievements with their strengths and defects has been able to achieve a balance between the uses of natural resources essential for survival while maintaining respect for the environment. In the beginning we were fruit pickers, somehow, accidentally or not, we tested the flesh of animals, then began to grow our own products, making us sedentary, while domesticated animals would supply our nutritional needs.

Along with all this development, Richard Fifer states that we used tools, this is how the Stone Age began, therein man created tools out of rocks as their hunting implements, for defense and managed to cover other needs. Later we came to know the different uses of iron and thus was born the iron age, so that mining has been a faithful companion of humanity from its remotest beginnings using iron preceded by the use of copper and tin, known as the Bronze Age.

Humans have had to draw on mineral resources to survive and to lay the foundations of progress. Richard Fifer believes there is no civilization or culture that has not collected and processed natural resources and minerals which, as a primary sector of all economies, has been fundamental to the very existence of the planet.

Richard Fifer states that gold appears in all these cultures as a good and not just any good, but the good that establishes the pattern of value or merchandise reference value and all important treatises economists from Smith, Ricardo, Marx and all their contemporaries.

That’s why exploration, search and study of new deposits of gold, is nothing other than a natural process of growth and development of humanity, Richard Fifer believes this to be a fact. The countries that are blessed with these sites, are also in the obligation to explore them responsibly, so it is imperative that the application of modern cleaner technologies be developed. Let us celebrate today in a responsible manner the beginning of a new era in mining and Petaquilla Gold, with its project Molejón, the flagship of modern mining in the region, will play its role in the history of that process, which started when our ancestors understood that with a rock you could develop tools.

Apr 10 – 16, 2006 Volume 92 Number 7 – 0 comments
Plans to Split Gold and Copper Assets
By: Stephen Stakiw

________________________________________
893,000
Ounces of gold outlined at Molejon using a 0.5 gram gold cutoff.
1,800
Tonnes of throughput on a daily basis.
35%
Internal rate of return providing for a 2-year payback.
10
Expected years of production.
Panama City, Panama — Petaquilla Minerals (PTQ-T, PTQMF-O) is aggressively advancing its plans to bring the Molejon gold-silver deposit, in north-central Panama, to production.
Proposed open-pit development of the project, which recently received Panamanian government approvals for a multi-phase mine plan on the large mineral concession, is now being advanced through infill, confirmation and advanced exploration drilling.
Molejon forms a portion of the 135-sq.-km Minera Petaquilla project area, which hosts several mineral deposits, including the large Botija and Petaquilla copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry bodies. The company is targeting the gold deposit as a stand-alone operation that may springboard future development of the copper deposits.
Petaquilla is fortunate to be able to leverage a significant amount of existing infrastructure and previous exploration work on the project area toward its goal. The ground was worked extensively in the mid-1990s when the company’s predecessor, Adrian Resources, along with partners Inmet Mining (IMN-T, IEMMF-O) and Teck Cominco (TEK.SV.B-T, TCKBF-O), drill defined resources on the Molejon gold and Petaquilla copper deposits, completing a bankable feasibility study on the latter. Petaquilla Minerals holds 52% and Inmet 48%, with Teck holding an option to earn half of Petaquilla’s interest by completing a final feasibility study (done in 1998) and funding the company’s entire share of costs to place the main copper project into production.
Petaquilla’s main exploration office, constructed in the 1990s by the partners, was built as a mine and administrative centre. The facility is ideally situated in central Panama, not far off the Pan-American Highway, and serves as an ideal staging post to the project, located farther north in the densely forested, tropical zone, near the Caribbean coast. The property is accessible primarily by helicopter, although during a recent visit by The Northern Miner, an access road was under construction.
In mid-2005, Petaquilla signed agreements with Inmet and Teck Cominco to acquire full title to Molejon and any other gold deposit on the Minera Petaquilla land package, subject to royalties. The move gives Petaquilla control of the project, aiding development decisions and project financing. Tenure to the entire project would convert from annual exploration licences to an exploitation permit for up to 60 years (three 20-year concessions renewable automatically) once a mine permit is received for Molejon, extending the window for possible future development of the large copper deposits.
The Panamanian government recently OK’d Petaquilla’s mine plan, under proposals initially tabled in 1997, providing the prospective developer guaranteed stable land tenure. In addition, a favourable tax structure has been tabled, allowing for accelerated depreciation and depletion allowances along with an import duty exemption for essentially all equipment and supplies necessary for the project. The operation will also enjoy an income tax holiday (except for a mineral production royalty) until all of the construction financing costs are retired. Further, there will be no withholding tax on interest or dividend payments to foreign lenders or shareholders, respectively.
Expanding Molejon
Petaquilla resumed activity at Molejon in 2004, triggered by an upswing in the metal price and junior mining equity market, looking to expand areas of known gold mineralization. In late 2005, SRK Consulting revised a 1995 resource estimate on the epithermal gold deposit, resulting in a 35% boost to 11.2 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 2.5 grams gold, or about 893,000 contained ounces gold, using a 0.5 gram gold cutoff.
Programs of trenching and drilling are providing infill confirmation of previous work, and are also aimed at expanding mineralized zones.
Last year’s trenching encountered significant high-grade gold in the Molejon Main zone. At the 244 area (defined by a silicified hill 45 metres in diameter), trench 205B returned 51.5 metres grading 16.9 grams gold per tonne, including 25.4 metres of 28.3 grams gold. Two consecutive 1.5-metre intervals in the trench averaged 106 and 101 grams gold, respectively. Exploration indicates the area is completely mineralized, with good extension potential both to the northwest and southeast. Additional sampling on the Central, Main and Northwest zones have also successfully tested extensions to known mineralization.
A 5,000-metre drill program, started early this year, is testing depth potential of the zones and will serve as a check to some previous holes. Previous drilling, conducted in 1994-95, consisted of 124 holes on a 50-metre grid with 40- to 70-metre hole spacing.
This year’s first hole, MO-06-01, was drilled about 5 metres from previous hole MO-95-244 and returned 8.5 metres (from surface) grading 32.5 grams gold per tonne in a quartz breccia zone.
The program will provide data for a feasibility study and the design of a planned starter pit for the operation.
Initial mine modelling at Molejon outlines a 10-year mine life with a 1,800-tonne-per-day operating rate, expected to begin with a high-grade starter pit in the 244 area. The project is anticipated to deliver a 2-year payback with about a 35% internal rate of return.
Petaquilla Minerals has been working with International Finance Corp. (IFC), the financing arm of the World Bank, which has carried out due diligence on the company’s development plans. Upon final mine plans, the IFC will review its involvement options; previous reports had it considering backing 25% of the project through debt financing and possibly taking a 10% equity interest in Petaquilla, thereby reaching its maximum exposure of 35%.
Divide and conquer
Petaquilla has tabled plans to split into two separate public companies, one developing Molejon and other possible gold deposits, and the other holding the large copper assets. Management says this will offer shareholders an improved valuation for the minerals portfolio. The process, subject to shareholder approval, is expected to be completed by mid-year.
The company recently entered into a preliminary agreement with one of China’s largest integrated metal producers for the development of the Petaquilla copper deposits. The agreement reviews a potentially significant equity investment in the new Petaquilla copper entity by the unnamed Chinese company, as well as the potential acquisition of the interests and rights currently held by partners Inmet and Teck Cominco. The Chinese mining group also proposes participation in project financing and construction, in addition to an offtake agreement for of copper concentrates.
The Chinese group was lured by the sheer size of the Petaquilla copper deposits. “In the mid-1990s, we were ranked as one of the top five copper projects by research group CRU International, and of those five, three are now in production,” says company director Richard Fifer. “Hopefully, Petaquilla will be the fourth.”
To generate the feasibility study, Fifer says the three partners spent $60 million and conducted 120,000 metres of drilling between 1995 and 1997.
The 1998 bankable feasibility study, completed by engineering firm AMEC, reviewed the three main porphyry deposits on Minera Petaquilla and indicated a pre- National Instrument 43-101 minable reserve calculation of 1.1 billion tonnes grading 0.5% copper, 0.09 gram gold and 0.015% molybdenum. The report proposed a 120,000-tonne-per-day throughput and a 23-year mine life with a relatively low stripping ratio of 0.97:1. Initial capital spending was pegged at US$1.1 billion to put the mine into production.
Minera Petaquilla largely sat stagnant after 1998, following the commodity price collapse and a weakened junior mining market. Metals prices have improved significantly since the 1998 feasibility study, when gold was less than US$300 per oz. and copper traded around US70¢-US80¢ per lb.
Hydrometallurgical copper processing has also evolved dramatically since the 1990s, and may have application potential at Petaquilla, where significant amounts of secondary copper sulphides exist — specifically in Botija, Petaquilla, and Cuatro Crestas. The molybdenum component in the copper porphyry may also prove to be a sweetener given the metal’s recent price rally.
With 70.1 million shares outstanding, Petaquilla Minerals posts a $115-million market capitalization given its recent $1.65-per-share trading level. The company’s shares have traded in a 52-week range of 37¢ to $1.93.
© 1915 – 2010The Northern Miner. All Rights Reserved.

EDITORIAL
periodistas@laestrella.com.pa

Minera Petaquilla Gold, born of the efforts of many including Richard Fifer, is located in the district of Donoso, Colon Province PANAMA. The television program "Mining News", which will air on Hosanna Vision Sunday from 4:00 to 5:00 pm, Petaquilla Gold opens a channel of communication by providing information and teaching on related activity nationally and internationally.
This program will be conducted by mining engineer and Social Communicator, Carlos E. Salazar, who will report on relevant aspects of the mining industry.
He will also explain about the processes used by mining concessions for exploration, development and exploitation, the legal framework for Mining in Panama, myths and truths and the reality of the Petaquilla mining project Gold.
"Mining News" is informative and educational and beneficial for the communities involved as well as the country as a whole.
"The program wil scientifically explain all the issues," Salazar said.
BENEFITS
The Government adopted in September 2005 by order of the MITI, the Development Plan of various phases of the Petaquilla project. The first of these being the Molejón Gold deposit which began in 2006. This project has boosted the economy and well-being in that area, such as building a rural hospital, a hostel for students, a chapel, 50 miles of roads and production modules. Along the lines of infrastructure, there are permanent programs for reforestation.

\

Friday June 9, 2000
El Panama America
Irasema Muñoz
Cocle – El Panama America
AMUC presents a model for tax collection
Members of the association coordinated strategies so that through services such as Edemet IDAAN-EDECHI rates are charged.
The municipalities engaged with the Association of Municipalities Cocle (AMUC), presented the Intermunicipal Council a model for elective collection, allowing for timely collection of garbage and waste

It was noted that the municipalities perform the collection along with the license plate fee. It was mentioned that municipalities charge for the collection parallel with the license plates fees, and this has caused unrest among the users.
The license fee and registration of the plates are checked in Panama and San Miguelito, so few car owners withdraw their plates in the respective municipalities, a situation that affects the funds of the municipality.
In this respect, the governor of the province of Cocle, Richard Fifer, said he has talked with the company Edemet-EDECHI and the Institute of Aqueducts and Sewage Systems (IDAAN), which has the database of users of these services in order to establish a system of tax collection through their receipts.
Fifer said that in the last five months they have developed a working model that includes financial elements, a technical critique and an effective collection strategy.
Also specifies that a contract was drawn up requiring a letter of commitment and a financial guarantee from the private banking sector and all municipalities, which will be completed with the approval of a project that in its first phase, will require a feasibility study that would take 9-12 months.
In the opinion of the authority, less than 30% of users pay the of garbage collection services fee which in turn represents a deficit for each municipality.
Fifer said, the value of this project is approximately US$15 million, however, warned that there are many conditions that must be studied and what is required is a guarantee for this process and not for the project.
AMUC learned that members approved a resolution asking the Minister of Government and Justice, Winston Spadafora and the chairman of the board of the Transit Authority for the implementation of a law governing the issuing of license plates in the municipality where the vehicle owner resides.
The application seeks to generate economic growth for the municipalities of this province, which it currently does not earn.
On that note, the Mayor of Nata, Ivis Navarro stressed that this alternative would represent a valuable increase for municipalities that have no income.

Friday December 17, 1999
El Panama America
Controversy over extension of basin
Vielka Cádiz Franco
Chiriqui / EPASA

Translated to english
The administrator of the Panama Canal, Alberto
Aleman, the Governor of the province of Cocle, Richard
Fifer, and Monsignor Uriah Ashley, will meet today to
coordinate a project for the communities that could be affected by
work to expand the Canal Basin.
Fifer said the project includes information on the benefits to be received by
sectors to be relocated because of work conducted in the areas.
He said the project is in draft form, so still no definite answer can be given to
Cocle residents and members of the Panama Canal Commission
do the studies, but will not render details until it has finished.
In that sense, Fifer asked the inhabitants of Coclesito Indian River to be patient and
promised that as soon as a formal structure of the project exists they will be the first to know.
For his part, Bishop Ashley called on the authorities to take into account the sector of farmers
who are concerned with the construction of lakes to expand the Panama Canal watershed.
Ashley asked local authorities present at the ceremony to ensure the religious coprovincianos rights, who currently do not know what their future will be due to projects to come.
In the midst of the ceremony, Ashley Bishop referred to youth suicide, another problem the Cocle community faces. .
Ashley said the increase in cases of suicides among teens due to drug abuse and
alcohol has grown and he has asked parents to support their children, because this is not the
sole responsibility of the authorities.
The responsible ministry is very concerned and wants to help young people and especially families,
but they can not do everything; they must also depend on the support their own families so that the work is productive. said Echevers.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Apr 13, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. is pleased to announce it has signed an engagement letter pursuant to which it will work with a leading financial institution to execute a US$70 million gold linked facility under which the Company would be required to deliver 91,710 ounces of gold over a five year term. The terms of this facility are outlined in an indicative financing term sheet, which includes other price participation terms that enable the Company to participate in gold prices up to US$1,250 per ounce for the committed ounces. The transaction is subject to structuring and underwriting fees totaling 4% of the facility amount. No other upfront fees, warrants or interest are to be paid to the financial institution during the term of the facility. This transaction is subject to technical, legal and financial due diligence and the execution of final, legally binding transaction documentation.

The IRR of the facility is 8.5%, assuming that gold prices stay within the agreed limits of the price cap. The term-sheet includes an "optional early termination" clause whereby the Company has the option to early repay the outstanding balance of the gold facility in the event gold prices move upwards and beyond the level of US$1,250 per ounce. This optional early termination clause is subject to a 5% premium payment calculated on the early repayment amount.

The terms of the engagement letter incorporate, inter alia, the possibility of a simultaneous or subsequent participation of one or several leading Panamanian banks which have expressed their interest in funding up to US$35 million of the total US$70 million financing requirement. In such event, the gold facility would then be reduced by the amount equivalent to the Panamanian banks’ participation. No early termination premium of 5% is to be payable in case the Panamanian banks’ participation is to occur subsequent to the closing of the initial US$70 million facility.

The amount of 91,710 ounces that would be committed to the gold facility represents approximately 8.5% of the Company’s total gold resources or 4.2% if the facility is to be reduced to US$35 million as a result of the above mentioned participation by Panamanian banks. The proceeds of the facility will be used principally to redeem all of the Company’s outstanding senior secured notes, in the combined amount of US$69.6 million in principal, plus any accrued interest up to the date of redemption. These senior secured notes would otherwise mature at various dates during the next 12 months.

The five year term of the gold facility, coupled with an attractive embedded cost of capital, will substantially strengthen the financial profile of the Company, providing additional liquidity to further develop its production capabilities and exploration potential. Mr. Joao Manuel, Petaquilla’s President and CEO commented, "We are very pleased to have signed this engagement letter with such a reputable leading player in the global commodities market. This gold facility will enhance the Company’s balance-sheet, by reducing the financial risk implicit in the outstanding high-yield senior secured notes, while extending the repayment of the credit facility to five years. Furthermore, the flexibility of this instrument ensures that the Company’s shareholders will preserve their ability to benefit from the upside value of eventually higher gold prices in the future."

The Company further announces that it will now focus its efforts on the very promising exploration potential of its Oro del Norte concession, where it has initiated a drilling program aimed at confirming the prospective gold grades identified during the early superficial rock sampling and trenching stages, while also advancing the Molejon heap leach project, which will add approximately 150,000 ounces, over the life of mine, to the existing process operation, and completing the spin out of its infrastructure affiliate, Petaquilla Infrastructure Ltd. Once executed, this gold facility will provide a solid financial basis for such developments, ensuring the sustainable, long-term value creation for shareholders.

About Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. – Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. is a gold producer operating its gold processing plant at its 100% owned Molejon Gold Project in Panama. Anticipated throughput for the project during the first year of commercial production is estimated to be 2200 tonnes per day. Commercial production commenced January 8, 2010. The Molejon mine site is located in the south central area of the Company’s 100% owned 842-square kilometre concession lands, a region known historically for gold content.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of PETAQUILLA MINERALS LTD.

Richard Fifer, Chairman of the Board of Directors  

Every Sunday at 4:00pm local time, on the Hossana Vision Network don’t miss the program "Actualidad Minera"  giving all an opportunity to become more informed on all things mining in Panama.  One of the pioneers of this line of work, Petaquilla Project under the direction of Richard Fifer, will be looked at in detail explaining the different processes usedby the company and allowing the viewer to become better informed with facts on an industry that will help Panama grow and prosper.

The moderator is Carlos E Salazar, mining engineer with extensive experience and knowledge on the subject.

After many years of hard work and dedicated effort, Minera Petaquilla Gold and Richard Fifer are starting to see the fruits of their labors.  In September 2005, Richard Fifer as President of Petaquilla was granted the opportunity to begin the development plan of several phases of the mining project.  The initial project being Molejon Gold deposit in which work began in 2006.  With the efforts of Richard Fifer offering jobs to those in the area, this has boosted the economy and allowed many to have that which they dream of having for their families, health, food and shelter.  In order to provide the basic needs to the community, normally handled by the government, Petaquilla under the direction of Richard Fifer has built a health clinic, lodging for students, a religious edifice and 50 miles of road which has brought the initial stages of prosperity to the area.