11:31 EDT Monday, October 18, 2010

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Oct. 18, 2010) - Iberian Minerals Corp. (TSX VENTURE:IZN) today announced the completion of the 30% expansion at its Aguas Tenidas mine in Spain and that it is now running the plant at the fully expanded rate of 6,000 tonnes per day of processed ores. The mine and plant expansion were key parts of an overall $43M investment budget at Aguas Tenidas in 2010 designed to increase plant throughput, improve plant metallurgical performance and lower operating costs.

Plant Upgrades

In upgrading the processing plant, improvements were made to increase circuit throughput and grinding mill performance, increase the capacity and performance of flotation circuits and increase tailings thickening capacity.

A second identical primary crusher which was already on site was refurbished and has been installed beside the operation's original crusher, and will be operational October 22nd.The original primary crusher will remain operational as a backup. Iberian has also added a secondary cone crusher which will reduce the ore feed size to the SAG mill to 45 millimeters and as such improve consistency and capacity in the grinding circuit.

Related upgrades outside the plant included the completion of a second deep cone thickener, to insure efficient tails management at the current expanded processing rate, and sized to meet any projected future production increase.

An expansion to the existing paste tailings facility (TSF) is currently underway which will be completed in Q1 2011. The expansion involves the raising of the TSF by 10 meters, which will increase the life of this facility by three years.

Mine Upgrades

In order to meet the expanded processing capacity, new 40 tonne trucks have been ordered with two now operating on site. The 10 new trucks will replace the 14 current 32 tonne trucks giving increased capacity at lower cost.

The Company had previously (May 2010) negotiated a 7 day work week with the Aguas Tenidas union, which has yielded the increased development and mining capacity to meet the expanded plant processing rate now in place.

Development has been accelerated with the use of contract miners working alongside the Company's own teams.

The first secondary stopes are expected to be mined in November following several months of test work performed to date which has shown excellent results. Mining of secondary stopes will allow for lower development costs, as much of the waste rock that initially had to be brought up on surface will now be left underground.

Mr. Daniel Vanin, President & CEO of Iberian said: "With Aguas Tenidas now operating at the expanded design capacity, we are looking forward to seeing increased production numbers. We will continue to optimize the mine and plant, and work to lower our production costs. We will now be able to turn some of our focus towards exploration and planning of future development at the mine."

Iberian also reports that Trafigura Beheer B.V. ("Trafigura") has exercised warrants to purchase 22,000,000 registered shares of Iberian at a strike price of CA$ 0.52 per registered share for total cash proceeds of CA$ 11,440,000. Following the issuance of these registered shares Iberian will have a total of 360,055,865 registered shares issued and outstanding. Trafigura's ownership interest in Iberian will increase to approximately 49.2%.

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.

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:

Iberian Minerals Corp.
Laura Sandilands
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
416-815-855