Suspension of Trading on AIM

Astar Minerals plc

("Astar" or the "Company")

Suspension of Trading of AIM and Market Update

Astar Minerals (AIM:ASTA), an operator of quarries in British Columbia earlier today requested a suspension in the Company's shares pending clarification of the Company's financial position.

On 27 September 2012, Astar announced that it has signed heads of terms with Aggregates West, Inc and Valley View Sand and Gravels, Inc, (collectively "Aggregates West"), to operate a number of quarries based in an area between the US/Canadian border and Seattle.

Since then, the Company has made extensive efforts to raise finance in order to implement this agreement and to provide additional working capital for the Company, which includes being able to make the final payment under the CVA dated July 2011, due in December 2012, amounting to £250,000.

However, notwithstanding the attractiveness of the Aggregates West opportunity, the Company has been unable to raise sufficient funds on appropriate terms and so it will now not be possible to complete this transaction and make the payment under the CVA described above.

Given current difficult market conditions and the limited investor support for the sector and geography, the Board has decided to explore urgently alternative options for the Company which, may include, becoming an investment company focused on the natural resources sector. The Company is also seeking to agree a revised arrangement with its creditors.

Further announcements will be made in due course.

Lynda Chase-Gardener, Chairman said:

"The agreement with Aggregates West represented a quantum leap in the scale of operations, revenues and access to reserves for Astar. We are therefore disappointed that due to difficult market conditions and limited interest from investors it was not possible to raise the requisite level of funds. Your board is therefore considering other options to create value for shareholders."

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Notes to Editor:Astar Minerals opened Quadling Quarry in the spring of 2010. The Quarry is located adjacent to Highway 1, close to the cities of Abbotsford and Chilliwack, in the Fraser Valley Regional District of British Columbia, Canada.

The Quarry produces a wide range of quality crushed rock meeting MMCD specifications. It supplies crushed aggregate materials to local contractors, developers, the agricultural industry and private home owners throughout the Lower Mainland and Greater Vancouver Area.