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Iberian Minerals Reports Record Sales and Operating Results for 2010

16:30 EDT Wednesday, March 30, 2011

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 30, 2011) - Iberian Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:IZN) today announced financial and operating results for the year ended December 31, 2010, with comparative figures for the year ended December 31, 2009. The 2010 audited consolidated financial statements and related notes, and Management Discussion and Analysis may be found on www.sedar.com. Unless stated otherwise, all reported figures are in U.S. dollars. The Company reported net loss of $84.4 million for 2010, representing $0.25 per share.

Overview of 2010:

Financial:

• Recorded net loss of $84.39 million or $0.25 per registered share which included:

  • Sales of $226.72 million and gross margin of $(29.54) million;

  • A realized loss of $108.14 million on commodity hedges (included in sales);

  • An unrealized non-cash loss of $40.96 million on derivative financial instruments outstanding, as a result of the increase in metal prices in the year.

• As at December 31, 2010 MATSA held 2,870 FMT of copper in concentrate at port awaiting shipment with approximate market value of $24.4 million, which subsequently occurred in Q1 2011.

• Cash flow provided by operations before changes in non-cash working capital was $25.25 million. Cash flow provided by operations after changes in non-cash working capital was $4.25 million.

• Recorded net loss of $67.32 million or $0.19 per registered share which included:

  • Sales of $61.75 million and gross margin of $(5.97) million;

  • A realized loss of $38.61 million on commodity hedges in the period (included in sales);

  • An unrealized non-cash loss of $62.06 million on derivative financial instruments outstanding, primarily as a result of the significant increase in market copper price in the period.

• Cash flow provided by operations before changes in non-cash working capital was $0.59 million. Cash flow provided by operations after changes in non-cash working capital was $3.82 million.

• Condestable Mine processed copper ore at budgeted rates. The average copper ore grade was 1.16% in 2010 versus 1.22% in 2009.

• CMC processed 2,234,498 tonnes of ore in 2010 versus 2,159,549 tonnes of ore in 2009 (increase of 3%).

• Copper concentrate production in 2010 was 92,264 DMT versus 95,339 DMT in 2009 (decrease of 3%).

• Contained copper production in 2010 was 23,153 tonnes versus 23,882 tonnes in the prior year.

• The Cash Operating Cost (see Note 1 below) in 2010 was $1.04 per payable pound of copper versus prior year of $0.90.

• Copper ore grade was 1.16% versus 1.21% in the fourth quarter of 2009.

• CMC processed 567,566 tonnes of ore in the period versus 544,084 tonnes for the same period of the prior year (increase of 4%).

• Copper concentrate production in the period was 23,383 DMT versus 23,429 DMT in the prior year period.

• Contained copper production in the period was 5,891 tonnes versus 5,879 tonnes in the prior year period.

• The Cash Operating Cost for the period was $1.08 per payable pound of copper versus prior year of $0.94.

• Completed the previously announced purchase from Corianta S.A. of all remaining interest in the Raul Mine, which forms part of the Condestable operation (the "Raul Transaction"). The purchase price was $28.00 million. As such, CMC is no longer obligated to make royalty payments that it was previously required to pay in connection with the lease of the Raul Mine.

• Completed the closing of a $55.00 million senior secured debt facility which ultimately funded the Raul Transaction.

• MATSA processed 1,681,140 tonnes of ores in 2010; 1,173,152 copper and 507,988 polymetallic.

• Produced 88,999 DMT of copper concentrate, 36,196 DMT of zinc concentrate, 6,071 DMT of copper/lead bulk concentrate and 1,179 DMT of lead concentrate. Contained metal production was 20,351 tonnes of copper, 17,323 tonnes of zinc, 229 tonnes of lead and 655,319 oz of silver.

• The Cash Operating Cost was $2.22 per payable pound of copper.

• MATSA processed 480,786 tonnes of ore in the period versus 360,458 during the fourth quarter of 2009 (increase of 33%).

• Produced 22,295 DMT of copper concentrate (2009 – 20,398 DMT), 15,105 DMT of zinc concentrate (2009 – 2,473 DMT) and 1,179 DMT of lead concentrate (2009 – nil). Contained metal production was 4,933 tonnes of copper (2009 – 5,074 tonnes), 7,209 tonnes of zinc (2009 – 1,218 tonnes), 229 tonnes of lead (2009 – nil) and 151,051 ounces of silver (2009 – 72,141 ounces).

• The Cash Operating Cost was $2.11 per payable pound of copper. Cash Operating Cost in this period began to reflect the impact of the 30% plant expansion as it was positively affected by lower per tonne operating costs and higher production of zinc, lead and silver.

• The primary undertaking for MATSA during 2010 was the project to expand mining and processing plant operations by 30% to allow for an annual operating rate of 2.2Mtpa of processed ores. The expansion was completed at the end of the third quarter of 2010. Major components of the expansion included the purchase of additional mine mobile equipment and acceleration of stope development, and processing circuit expansion, including expansion of both the copper ore and poly-metallic ore circuits to capacity of 3,000 tpd (combined 6,000 tpd), associated electrical upgrades, pumps and piping and installation of a second tailings deep cone thickener.

• Completed the closing of a $50.00 million senior secured, revolving debt facility.

• Received the €10.09 million grant from Junta de Andalucia in Spain.

Summarized Financial Results

The following table presents a summarized Statement of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2010 with comparatives for the year ended December 31, 2009.

Effective April 1, 2010, the Company's functional currency became U.S. dollars. The Company also converted its reporting currency to U.S. dollars. In accordance with GAAP, the Company restated all amounts presented for comparative purposes into U.S. dollars.

For accounting purposes, prior to September 30, 2009, MATSA was in a pre-production phase. As such, sales and costs and expenses of mining operations incurred in this phase were not recognized in the operating statement for the first nine months of 2009. Commercial production at MATSA was declared with effect from October 1, 2009. Sales and costs of expenses of mining operations for MATSA have been recognized in the operating statement of the Company in 2010 and the fourth quarter of 2009 only.

Outlook

The production guidance for 2011 issued by Iberian in a press release dated January 20, 2011 remains unchanged. Iberian expects to produce 108 million lbs of copper, 75 million lbs of zinc and 8 million lbs of lead in 2011 together with by-product gold (15,500 oz) and silver (1 million oz). The cash cost per payable pound of copper produced is expected to be $1.15 for Condestable and $1.75 for Aguas Tenidas for 2011.

The Company is currently evaluating its option to buy out Trafigura's 45.96% Net Profit Interest ("NPI") in CMC which was contingent consideration to be paid by Iberian to Trafigura as part of the acquisition of CMC in 2008. The NPI runs for four years from 2011 to 2014. Iberian may elect to buy out the NPI for $60 million by June 30, 2011. Concurrently with the NPI analysis, the Company is evaluating possible financing options for this proposed transaction.

About Iberian Minerals Corp.

Iberian Minerals Corp. is a Canadian listed global base metals company with interests in Spain and Peru. The Condestable Mine, located in Peru approximately 90 km south of Lima operates at 2.2 million tonnes per year producing copper, and associated silver and gold in a concentrate. The Aguas Tenidas Mine is in the Andalucia region of Spain approximately 110 km north-west of Seville and operates a 2.2 million tonnes per year underground mine and concentrator that produces copper, zinc and lead concentrates that also contain gold and silver.

Note 1 - The Cash Operating Cost per pound of payable copper is a non-GAAP performance measure. It includes cash operating costs, including treatment and refining charges ("TC/RC"), freight and distribution costs, and is net of by-product metal credits (zinc, gold and silver). The Cash Operating Cost per pound of payable copper indicator is consistent with the widely accepted industry standard established by Brook Hunt and is also known as the C1 cash cost.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS:

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" and "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws. Except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained herein constitutes forward- looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward looking information may include, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the future financial or operating performances of the Corporation, its subsidiaries and their respective projects, the timing and amount of estimated future production, estimated costs of future production, capital, operating and exploration expenditures, the future price of copper, gold and zinc, the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, the realization of mineral reserve estimates, the costs and timing of future exploration, requirements for additional capital, government regulation of exploration, development and mining operations, environmental risks, reclamation and rehabilitation expenses, title disputes or claims, and limitations of insurance coverage. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are based on a number of assumptions and subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Many of these assumptions are based on factors and events that are not within the control of the Corporation and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from results anticipated by such forward-looking statements include changes in market conditions and other risk factors discussed or referred to in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Corporation's annual information form dated March 29, 2010. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Laura Sandilands
Iberian Minerals Corp.
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
416-815-8558