TORONTO, Aug. 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Inmet Mining Corporation (IMN-
TSX) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of a 70 percent
indirect interest in the Las Cruces copper project, located in Spain and has
issued 5.6 million Inmet common shares (or approximately 11.7 percent of
Inmet's issued and outstanding shares) to a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Leucadia National Corporation (Leucadia). Leucadia will retain a 30 percent
participating interest in Las Cruces.

    PROJECT DEVELOPMENTS

    -   A very experienced management team, located in Spain, is now in place
        to manage the development of the project. Mr. Francois Fleury, who
        was responsible for the construction and operation of Inmet's Troilus
        operation, has been appointed Managing Director of Las Cruces.
        Joining him are Mr. Phil Dunston, Manager, Construction, whose most
        recent experience included the development of Oxiana's Sepon copper
        project in Laos; Mr. Wayne Hopkins, Manager, Metallurgy, who has
        extensive experience in Solvent Extraction Electrowinning (SX/EW)
        technology and has been with Acer Kvaerner for more than thirteen
        years; Mr. Americo Villafuerto, Manager, Mining, who was involved in
        the development of Barrick's Pierina mine in Peru; and Mr. Fernando
        Fernandez, Director, Business and Administration, who has previously
        led the Spanish team through permitting efforts and land
        acquisitions. This senior team will complement the present staff of
        Las Cruces, which has brought the project forward over the past
        years.

    -   SNC Lavalin and Outokumpu Technology have been retained as engineers
        for the project and have commenced basic engineering. SNC Lavalin
        will be the lead engineer under an engineering, procurement and
        construction management (EPCM) arrangement for all aspects of the
        project, excluding the development of the open pit. Outokumpu
        Technology will provide the design for the chalcocite leach
        technology and the SX/EW plant. SNC Lavalin has also retained Intecsa
        Uhde, a Spanish engineering firm, to provide services in Spain. The
        basic engineering work, which commenced in July, is expected to be
        completed in early 2006. Construction of the process plant and other
        major facilities is expected to commence in the middle of 2006. The
        open pit will be developed by a third party mining contractor and
        removal of the overburden material is expected to commence in the
        second quarter of 2006. All construction and development activities
        are expected to be completed by the beginning of 2008.

    -   Inmet and Leucadia have signed a commitment letter with four lenders
        to underwrite the project financing consisting of a ten year senior
        secured credit facility of up to US $240 million and a senior secured
        bridge credit facility of up to (euro) 69 million to bridge finance
        subsidies and value-added tax. Las Cruces will be the borrower under
        both facilities. Under the terms of the commitment letter, Inmet and
        Leucadia will guarantee 70 percent and 30 percent, respectively, of
        the obligations outstanding under both facilities through to the
        completion of the project. The underwriting group is led by CIBC
        World Markets as sole lead arranger, and includes The Bank of Nova
        Scotia, Societe Generale and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria as
        co-arrangers and co-syndication agents. Syndication of the facility
        is expected to begin later this year with a targeted closing of the
        facilities early in 2006.

    PROJECT SUMMARY

    The Las Cruces project is a high-grade copper deposit, located
approximately 20 kilometres northwest of Seville, Spain. The Las Cruces
deposit will be mined primarily as an open pit mine and copper cathode will be
produced on site applying Outokumpu atmospheric leaching and conventional
SX/EW technology. The feasibility study construction costs were estimated to
be approximately (euro) 290 million. In addition, interest, reclamation,
bonding requirements and other financing costs are expected to be
(euro) 46 million. The central and regional governments in Spain have agreed
to provide subsidies amounting to approximately (euro) 53 million, subject to
the completion of construction activities and reaching certain employment
levels.
    Las Cruces is expected to commence commissioning of the production
facilities early in 2008 and reach full capacity by the middle of 2008. The
feasibility study estimates a mine life of fifteen years at a cash operating
cost of (euro) 0.33 per pound of copper (or US $0.40 per pound at current
exchange rates).
    The following table summarizes the mineral reserves for the Las Cruces
project.

    --------------------------------------------------------
    Mineral Reserves     Tonnes (millions)       Grade (%Cu)
    --------------------------------------------------------
    Proven                      9.8                  6.6
    --------------------------------------------------------
    Probable                    6.2                  6.7
    --------------------------------------------------------
    Total                      16.0                  6.6
    --------------------------------------------------------

    The above mineral reserves were presented in a technical report dated
May 27, 2005 prepared for Inmet by Pincock, Allen & Holt, which technical
report is in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 and was filed on SEDAR
on June 1, 2005. The reserves were estimated using an engineered mining plan
and allowances for both losses in mining and dilution, using a cut-off grade
of 1.0 percent copper and a copper price of US $0.76 per pound.
    Inmet's President and Chief Operating Officer, Jochen Tilk, said: "Las
Cruces is a significant development project for Inmet. With the excellent
project team we now have in place and the expertise provided by SNC Lavalin
and Outokumpu, we are confident that Las Cruces will contribute to Inmet's
growth by delivering low-cost copper production in 2008."

    About Inmet - Inmet is a Canadian-based global mining company that
produces copper, zinc and gold. We have interests in four mining operations in
locations around the world: Cayeli, Pyhasalmi, Troilus and Ok Tedi.

    This press release is also available at http://www.inmetmining.com


    CAUTIONARY STATEMENT

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information to help investors understand a company's future prospects. This
presentation contains statements about our future financial condition, results
of operations and business.
    These are "forward-looking" because we have used what we know and expect
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We believe the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable. However, actual events and results could be substantially
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or events that happen after the date of this interim report. You should not
place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. As a general policy, we do
not update forward-looking statements.

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