Blackstone Acquires 100% Interest in Norway Projects From Xstrata Nickel

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 07/20/10 -- Blackstone Ventures Inc. (TSX VENTURE: BLV) announces that Blackstone and Xstrata Nickel have renegotiated the terms under which Blackstone will acquire 100% of the shares in Sulfidmalm A/S.

Under the original terms of the agreement Blackstone would have acquired 100% of the shares in Sulfidmalm and hence 100% of Sulfidmalm's interest in all its Norway nickel exploration projects for a total cumulative payment of US$15.5 million to be completed no later than December 31, 2012 of which a total of US$6.5 has already been paid to Xstrata Nickel. The Norway nickel projects include the Stormyra, Dalen and Ertelien Nickel-Copper Deposits.

Under the amended terms, Blackstone will, subject to regulatory approval, issue Xstrata Nickel a total of 6 million (6,000,000) Warrants. Each Warrant shall entitle Xstrata Nickel to subscribe for one common share of the company at an exercise price of $0.50 at any time prior to the day that is 24 months from the signing of this amendment, In exchange for the issuance of these Warrants, Blackstone will have completed the acquisition of all the shares of Sulfidmalm held by Xstrata.

In accordance with the amended agreement, Blackstone will subsequently make further production related payments to Xstrata Nickel of up to US$9,000,000 contingent on the occurrence of certain events relating to the Properties as follows:

--  payment of $US3,000,000 after approval of the board of directors of
    Sulfidmalm to proceed with development of a project on the Properties;
--  payment of $US3,000,000 within one year of the commencement of
    Commercial Production on the Properties; and
--  payment of $US3,000,000 within two years of the commencement of
    Commercial Production on the Properties.

As reported in a news release dated January 13, 2009, Blackstone has received NI43-101 compliant mineral resource estimates from Reddick Consulting Inc. on its Ertelien, Stormyra and Dalen Nickel-Copper Deposits in Norway.

Highlights of these resource estimates include:

--  Total Inferred Resources of 9.1 million tonnes with 103.3 million lbs of
    contained nickel and 65.2 million lbs of contained copper
--  Indicated Resources of 4.6 million tonnes with 30.0 million lbs of
    contained nickel and 12.1 million lbs of contained copper.
--  Significant room for expanding the Dalen deposit along a 2 kilometre
    trend
--  Down plunge potential to expand Ertelien deposit

These resource calculations are the first ever completed on any of these projects and confirm that there is considerable nickel potential in Norway. The resource calculations completed for the Stormyra, Dalen and Ertelien Deposits compliment additional nickel-copper resources which have been outlined by the company at its Sweden properties. As reported in a news release dated May 5, 2009, Blackstone received NI43-101 compliant mineral resource estimates from Reddick Consulting Inc. on its Ror (Rormyrberget), Lainejaur and Lappvattnet nickel-copper sulphide deposits in Sweden.

Highlights of the Swedish resource estimates include:

--  Total Inferred Resources of 8.2 million tonnes with 90.6 million lbs of
    contained nickel and 19.6 million lbs of contained copper
--  Significant potential to upgrade resources at the Ror deposit
--  Potential to expand resources at depth at Lainejaur and Lappvattnet

Collectively in Norway and Sweden the company now has 194 million lbs of nickel and 85 million lbs of copper in the inferred resource category and 30 million lbs of nickel and 12 million lbs of copper in indicated resources. All of the company's projects with new nickel-copper resources are well positioned with respect to infrastructure, including power, transportation and workforce. Blackstone will be reviewing the potential of upgrading these resources and developing a preliminary assessment to evaluate the economics of future mining once metal prices improve.

On behalf of Blackstone Ventures Inc.

Dean MacEachern, President

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements - This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the business and anticipated financial performance of the Company. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from results contemplated by the forward-looking statements. When relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to update any forward looking statements, oral or written, made by itself or on its behalf.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts:

Blackstone Ventures Inc.

Investor Relations

604-687-3929
www.blv.ca