IODM LIMITED — Capital/Financing Update 2008

Jul 23, 2008

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Suite 202, 122 Walker St North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia Phone : 02 9955-7130 Fax : 02 8920-3576 Email: info@paradigmmetals.com.au www.paradigmmetals.com.au

ASX/Media Release 24 July 2008

ASX Code: PDM

Paradigm – Exco Joint Venture to Evaluate Oil Shales near Cloncurry

• Based on a data review, Paradigm - Exco permits near Cloncurry contain 100 km[2] of oil-bearing shale at least 10m thick beneath 10-30m of sedimentary cover

• An oil grade of 40-60 litres per tonne of oil shale was estimated by past explorers

• A drill program, which has started, is targeting shallow sections of oil shale where past data are sparse and to reassess oil grade

• Drilling will also assess the vanadium, molybdenum, and uranium potential

Oil shale potential of Toolebuc Formation

Paradigm Metals and Exco Resources (PDM-EXS) entered into a joint venture in February 2008 to carry out a multi-commodity exploration program on jointly-owned tenements 50km east of Cloncurry. Commodities being sought include uranium, vanadium, molybdenum and oil shale. The size of the joint tenement package is approximately 500 km[2] (see Figure 1 ).

The Toolebuc Formation, the principal target rock unit, is a flat-lying limestone and oil shale sequence up to 30m thick lying within the Eromanga Basin in northwest Queensland.

Given the current energy concerns facing the world’s economies, the PDM-EXS joint venture is keen to revisit the oil shale potential near Cloncurry to reassess the size and grade of the deposits as defined by previous explorers.

Previous oil shale exploration

Oil shale exploration took place from Cloncurry to Julia Creek in the 1970s and early 1980s. Large near-surface deposits were found, but the oil content of the shale was too low to be considered economic for open cast mining at that time. Grades were estimated to average 40l/t (0.25 barrels/t) through the prospective sequence, but were 60l/t in the lower half of the oil shale.

Based on more than 100 holes drilled by past oil shale explorers, potential exists for 100 km[2] of primary oil shale at least 10m thick beneath 10-30m of cover within the PDM-EXS joint venture permits (see Figure 1 ). A larger region within the permits is partially eroded or contains oxidised oil shales prospective for vanadium and molybdenum. The depth of weathering is 12-15m, above which the oil has been partially or completely leached.

The PDM-EXS Joint Venture has previously announced extensive vanadium and molybdenum mineralisation from drill holes in oxidised or partially eroded Toolebuc Formation (i.e., the blue area in Figure 1 - see previous ASX release dated 12 May 2008).

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Constraints to oil shale mining

Oil shale deposits have generally been considered unfavourable alternatives to conventional hydrocarbon deposits (eg. oil, gas) due to the environmental impact of extensive open cast mines, and the cost of conversion to oil and/or gas. Oil shales contain kerogens which require ‘cracking’ at elevated temperature to separate the oil and gas.

Due to current high oil prices, oil shales are again being evaluated around the world as possible alternative sources of energy, including in the United States. Companies such as Shell and Schlumberger are investigating new technologies to exploit the oil shale using in situ mining methods. If economically viable and environmentally acceptable methods are developed, oil shales could become an important source for world energy in the future.

Aims of current drill program on PDM-EXS tenements

An air-core drilling program, which has just commenced, will assess the thickness of the Toolebuc oil shales where past data are sparse and re-evaluate grade. The drill program has three main objectives:

• sampling of oil shale where it has a low strip ratio and is above average thickness;

• exploring for uranium concentrations in the reduced Toolebuc sequence; and

• assessing vanadium-molybdenum concentrations in the thickest oil shale sections.

Please direct enquiries to:

Graham Carman, Managing Director for Paradigm Metals Ltd - Phone: (02) 9955-7130 Michael Anderson, Managing Director for Exco Resources Ltd - Phone: (08) 9211-2000

Figure 1: Map showing previous drill holes and oil shale isopachs, Cloncurry project

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