PTR MINERALS LTD — Capital/Financing Update 2004

Jul 26, 2004

27 July, 2004

PETRATHERM TO DRILL FIRST HOT ROCK

WELL EARLY IN FOURTH QUARTER

Petratherm Limited (ASX code: "PTR") - which listed on the ASX today - will drill its maiden well early in the fourth quarter, in its search for potential hot rock resources.

"A final decision will be made shortly on which tenement will be drilled first but we plan to drill one well on each of our three areas," Petratherm's Chief Executive Officer, Mr Peter Reid, said today.

The first well, with a 600-700 metre deep total depth, will be sunk on either Petratherm's Callabonna or Paralana acreage, northeast of Leigh Creek in South Australia. This well will test the thermal gradient in the sequence above the targeted heat source and enable the temperature of the heat source at depth to be reliably determined.

With a third tenement nearby and north of Olympic Dam, all three Petratherm tenements are in a zone thought to contain hot rocks at 8-25 times the heat generating capacity of most granites.

"We will have a gravity crew on the ground shortly to complete a detailed survey prior to final site selection for what will be one of Australia's first wells drilled specifically as part of a hot rocks exploration strategy," Mr Reid said.

"The results of the wells will be used to determine the temperature and other characteristics of potential hot rock sources at depth.

"Results from this one-well-a-block strategy could determine whether Petratherm has a viable hot rock energy resource ahead of drilling the target at depth for delineation purposes and ultimately production of heat into a power generation plant."

Petratherm plans to locate hot rocks close to market and at relatively shallow depths, which are key economic drivers behind geothermal energy.

Following a successful $4 million capital raising, Petratherm joined the ASX today as the 65th South Australian company to be registered currently on the Exchange and with 35.6 million ordinary 20 cent shares on issue and 473 shareholders. The Company is also applying for a $4 million Federal Government research grant.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Peter Reid	Petratherm Limited	08 - 8366 6055 or 0407 955 141
Kevin Skinner	Field Public Relations	08 - 8234 9555 or 0414 822 631

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