Merc commences drilling at Colomac Gold Property

TORONTO, March 22, 2012 /CNW/ - Merc International Minerals Inc. ("Merc") (TSX Venture: MRK) is pleased to announce it has commenced its winter 2012 drilling program at its 100% owned Colomac Gold Property in the Northwest Territories.


Highlights:

- Merc has commenced its winter 2012 drill program at its Colomac Gold Property by deploying two diamond drills. Merc expects to drill 5,000 metres in the winter program followed up by an additional 10,000 metre drill program in the summer of 2012;

- Drills will test targets located within two high priority areas along the 7 kilometre long Colomac Dyke;

- Drilling objectives are to verify historic reports of a high-grade gold shoot at the Colomac Dyke South Zone, to confirm that gold mineralization extends to depth below the previously mined main pit at the Colomac Dyke Central Zone and to infill and expand the previously reported NI 43-101 compliant resource; and

- Construction of a large capacity exploration camp has commenced at Colomac, and is expected to be completed prior to the start-up of the 2012 summer drill program.


Following the receipt of its Land Use Permit, previously announced on February 29, 2012, Merc began moving materials to Colomac on the recently completed ice road. Construction of a large capacity exploration camp is currently in progress and is scheduled to be finished by early summer. The Colomac camp will become the main facility supporting all future activities within Merc's Indin Lake Gold Project area.

Both drills are currently drilling from ice setups on Baton Lake, testing mineralization to depth within the host quartz-feldspar porphyry dyke, (the Colomac Dyke). One drill will focus on infilling and expanding the current resource, as well as exploring for the presence of high-grade mineralized shoots below the main pit. The second drill is located 2.5 kilometres south along the west shore of Baton Lake. Drilling at this location will verify historical reports of a high-grade gold shoot discovered within the Colomac Dyke South Zone by Royal Oak Mines in 1997. This type of mineralization represents a new opportunity at Colomac, as high-grade shoots were previously not recognized or explored for, nor have they ever been included in any previous Colomac resource calculation. Drilling is expected to continue in this area into the summer program.

Merc President and CEO, David Wiley, commented, "We are especially excited to announce that we have kicked off our winter 2012 drill program. As previously mentioned, our focus with this phase of drilling at the Colomac Gold Property will be on expanding and upgrading our previously announced NI 43-101 Inferred Mineral Resource estimate. In particular, we look forward to learning more about the potential of the high-grade gold shoot that has historically been reported to exist at the Colomac Dyke South zone. If confirmed, we expect the high-grade shoot will have a positive impact on both the overall size and average grade of our resource."

For further information on the Colomac Gold Property, refer to Merc's January 26 and February 22, 2012 news releases.


Merc International Minerals Inc.

Merc is a Canadian-based exploration company focused on acquiring and developing gold mineral properties in the Northwest Territories. Its land position covers 222,293 acres or 900 square kilometres in the Indin Lake Gold Camp, located approximately 220 kilometres north of Yellowknife, NWT.

The technical aspects of this press release have been reviewed by Michael Byron, Ph.D., P.Geol., Chief Geologist and Director for Merc, who is the "Qualified Person" as defined by NI 43-101 for this project.


Neither the 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 news release.



Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, information with respect to the completion of the Offering, TSX Venture Exchange acceptance and use of proceeds. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "does not anticipate", or "believes" or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might", or "will be taken", "occur", or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is made, and is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Merc to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including risks associated with the exploration, development and mining such as economic factors as they effect exploration, future commodity prices, changes in foreign exchange and interest rates, actual results of current exploration activities, government regulation, political or economic developments, environmental risks, permitting timelines, capital expenditures, operating or technical difficulties in connection with development activities, employee relations, the speculative nature of gold exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves, contests over title to properties, and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined as well as those risk factors discussed in Merc's management discussion and analysis for the year ended July 31, 2011, available on www.sedar.com. Although Merc has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Merc does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.



For further information:

David Wiley, President and CEO
Merc International Minerals Inc.
(647) 260-1247
(416) 363-4567 (FAX)
Email: dwiley@mercinternational.ca

Daniel Boase, Investor Relations
First Canadian Capital Corp.
(416) 742-5600 ext 232
Email: dboase@firstcanadiancapital.com