Liberty to take Downtime for Maintenance

Edmonton, Alberta CANADA, February 22, 2011 /FSC/ - Liberty Mines Inc. (LBE - TSX), announced today that it has temporarily suspended its milling operation to address maintenance requirements and some issues with its tailings pond. In the meantime, the mining operations at its McWatters Nickel Mine will continue at limited capacity and the exploration activities at its other properties will continue as scheduled.

"Safety and environmental issues are always at the forefront of our considerations", said CEO Jay Richardson, "and this will enable us to re-engineer the mine and mill operations and to ensure that we continue to act responsibly and in the best long term interests of our employees, shareholders and the public."


About Liberty Mines Inc.

Liberty Mines Inc. is a producer of nickel and is focused on the exploration, development and production of nickel, copper, cobalt and platinum group metals from its properties in Ontario, Canada. It owns and operates the Redstone nickel concentrator near Timmins Ontario.


About Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co., Ltd.

Jilin Jien is one of the largest holding subsidiaries of Jilin Horoc Nonferrous Metal Group Co., Ltd., which was founded in 1960. Horoc and Jien own four nickel mines, one molybdenum mine, one silver mine, two smelters, seven refineries, and two chemical plants with total assets over RMB 3.0 billion. The company professionally provides all kinds of nickel, copper, cobalt salts and nonferrous metal products for plating, chemical plating, battery materials and metallurgy. Jilin Jien is one of the biggest producers of nickel sulfate in the world, with annual output of 25,000 tons. In September 2003, Jilin Jien Nickel Industry Co., Ltd. was listed on the A-share market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange with stock code of 600432.