Production Inreases At Mineral Park Mine 

VANCOUVER, BC - Mercator Minerals Ltd. that in the first quarter the Mineral Park Mine, in Mohave County, Arizona produced 5,432,225 pounds of copper in concentrates (2009 - 2,306,308 pounds), 638,512 pounds of molybdenum in concentrates (2009 - 94,094 pounds), 64,952 ounces of silver (2009 - 12,240 ounces) and 777,410 pounds of cathode copper (2009 - 1,175,128 pounds).

Mill throughput totaled 2.04 million tons (2009 - 1.45 million tons) or 22,340 tons per day (2009 - 16,176 tons per day), and averaged 0.224% copper (2009 - 0.274% copper), 0.039% molybdenum (2009 - 0.021% molybdenum) and 0.115 oz/ton silver (2009 - 0.046 oz/ton silver). Mill recoveries averaged 60.1% for copper, 40.3% for molybdenum and 27.4% for silver. As previously announced recoveries in the first quarter were affected by circuit testing and tonnage testing and have seen significant improvements since. The Company has determined that underperforming recoveries were the result of insufficient retention time in the rougher flotation tanks and not enough horse power in the motors driving the agitators in the roughers. During the first part of the quarter, the Company added horsepower to two of the rougher motors and set up a bank of molybdenum rougher flotation cells to add retention time to the rougher tails. The net effect of these tests indicated positive results.

"Production at Mineral Park continues to improve, through the end of the quarter, with March and April showing clear indications of the improvements that have been made and we continue to make at Mineral Park," said Mike Surratt President and CEO. "We are making steady progress" Surratt stated. "With the increased horsepower and the incorporation of additional rougher flotation, leading to increased recoveries, we are increasingly confident that we can meet or exceed our design parameters over the coming months", said Michael L. Surratt, President and CEO.

The company's address is 1971 Sandown Place, North Vancouver,BC V7P 3C3, 604-981-9661, fax: 604-960-9661.