Mr. Mark Cruise reports

TREVALI TO ACQUIRE MODERN MILL COMPLEX IN NEW BRUNSWICK

Trevali Mining Corp. has entered into a definitive combination agreement to acquire Maple Minerals Corp., a private New Brunswick-incorporated company, that owns the Caribou milling and mine complex located in the Bathurst mining camp of northern New Brunswick.

Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, a wholly owned subsidiary of Trevali, Trevali (New Brunswick) Ltd., and Maple will amalgamate in a three-cornered amalgamation with Trevali, and Trevali will issue to the former shareholders of Maple 20 million common shares of Trevali and four million common share purchase warrants with each warrant exercisable at the greater of $2.00 per share or the market price of Trevali's common shares (calculated on a five-day VWAP (volume-weighted average price) basis immediately prior to closing) for two years following the closing date of the transaction. Based on the closing price of Trevali on the Toronto Stock Exchange on May 11, 2012, the transaction implies an acquisition price of approximately $23.8-million for Maple.

"We are extremely pleased to enter into a definitive agreement to acquire this highly strategic asset. Simply put, it provides Trevali with a substantially cheaper and faster milling solution with minimal production disruption for the company. It should strategically position Trevali to maximize shareholder value in light of anticipated near-term global zinc deficits," stated Dr. Mark Cruise, Trevali's president and chief executive officer. "We look forward to continue to work closely with the Province of New Brunswick, the world's most favourable mining jurisdiction, and our Mi'gmag First Nation partners in order to expand our mining operations in a timely and responsible manner. Subject to receipt of all necessary approvals and permits, Trevali is confident it can quickly provide an additional 120 to 150 initial full-time employment positions in a very short time frame as well as expand upon our very successful first nations underground core mining training program. Medium to longer term, the company hopes to be in a position to provide 400 to 450 full-time positions within the region."

Highlights:

• Provides Trevali with a modern 3,000-tonne-per-day concentrate processing plant including a metallurgical and geochemical laboratory, and permitted tailings treatment facility;
• Addition of a former-producing mine with significant resources that can be rapidly and cost-effectively brought on-line;
• Highly preferable from a social and sustainability perspective -- near-term creation of an additional 120 to 150 full-time employment positions making Trevali one of the larger employers in northern New Brunswick and utilization of a working brownfield industrial site versus a greenfield site;
• Very significant financial, technical and timing derisk versus permitting and building a new stand-alone milling complex for the company's Halfmile and Stratmat deposits;
• Due to superior quality of the Halfmile-Stratmat mineralization (coarse with good metallurgical characteristics), modelling of the mill grinding circuit indicates that it is readily modifiable to produce saleable zinc, lead and copper concentrates;
• Deposit remains open for expansion at depth and along strike -- deepest underground intercept to date returned 34.77 metres at 7.22 per cent zinc, 2.69 per cent lead, 0.25 per cent copper, 76.8 grams per tonne silver and 2.19 g/t gold;
• Potential to provide a smooth transition and minimize production disruptions at Halfmile as Xstrata's Brunswick 12 mine closes in 2013;
• Will enable long-term mine plan optimization and operational efficiencies at the Halfmile and Stratmat deposits;
• Includes an environmental closure bond of $4.67-million currently in place;
• Near-optimal timing from a production scheduling perspective for the company to benefit from predicted significant zinc deficits as Brunswick 12 shuts down followed by closures of several other globally significant marque zinc producers in Europe, Africa and Australasia;
• Further strengthens and confirms Trevali's position as an up-and-coming zinc producer.

Caribou deposit

The most recent National Instrument 43-101-compliant resource for the Caribou polymetallic deposit was prepared by Micon International in 2006 (see attached table).

                                                        Contained metal
Caribou                                      Ag     Zn     Pb     Cu     Ag
resource(i)      Tonnes  % Zn  % Pb  % Cu  (gpt) (Mlbs) (Mlbs) (Mlbs)  (Moz)

Indicated                            N/A                         N/A       
resources     3,810,000   7.5  3.26   (i)     92    629    273    (i)   11.2
Inferred                             N/A                         N/A       
resources     3,944,300  7.36  3.59   (i)    107    639    312    (i)   13.5

(i) Based on 554 diamond drill holes and 6,000 chip samples, and using a
    9-per-cent lead-plus-zinc cut-off grade; copper and gold were not 
    estimated
(ii) Zn: zinc; Pb: lead; Cu: copper; Ag: silver
(iii) gpt: grams per tonne; Mlbs: million pounds; Moz: million ounces

Between 2006 and 2007, the previous operator invested approximately $100-million to $120-million in a major overhaul and modernization of the processing plant and mine infrastructure (effectively new milling and grinding circuits -- Isa mills and on stream analyzers to optimize recoveries). The mine operated for approximately 13 months prior to going into receivership in 2008 due to depressed commodity prices and adverse global financial conditions.

Immediately prior to shutdown, Mill records indicate recoveries of 71 per cent lead and 83 per cent zinc to produce saleable concentrates. No copper concentrates were produced and may represent additional near-term upside.

Trevali believes that the deposit contains good to excellent exploration potential, and production can be fast-tracked to provide additional mill feed (and employment opportunities). Specific upside includes:

• Currently defined deposit remains open along strike and at depth.
• Silver and gold may be underestimated by up to 20 per cent to 30 per cent as there was no routine precious metal analysis.
• Significant copper feeder zones were not mined due to lack of a copper circuit. A historic non-NI 43-101 resource for one such near-surface zone suggests that it could contain 2.5 million tonnes at 0.89 per cent copper, 3.2 per cent zinc, 1 per cent lead and 40 grams per tonne silver; however, the company cautions that this work is historical in nature and that more work is required in order to define an NI 43-101 resource.

Transaction details

In addition to the execution of the agreement, Trevali has also entered into a transition services agreement (TS agreement) with Maple pursuant to which Trevali will, among other things, manage the Caribou mine operations for the period up to closing. Trevali has also provided Maple with equity advances in the amount of approximately $400,000 as of the date hereof and has further agreed to provide additional equity capital to Maple to enable Maple to meet its financial obligations for the Caribou mine as such obligations fall due prior to closing.

The majority shareholder of Maple -- MMC Holding, a private limited company incorporated under the laws of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg -- has also entered into a lock-up agreement pursuant to which MMC has agreed, among other things, to support the transaction and cause its shares to be voted in favour of the transaction. At closing, MMC has further agreed to enter into a voting support and standstill agreement pursuant to which, among other things, MMC will support, for an agreed period of time, the company's board nominees and agree to restrictions on the disposition of certain of the Trevali common shares issuable to MMC at closing. MMC has also agreed to guarantee the representations and warranties given by Maple under the combination agreement, and has further agreed to escrow a certain number of shares to be received at closing to support its guarantee.

Upon completion of the transaction, Trevali will have 181,131,713 common shares issued and outstanding (based on 161,131,713 common shares issued as of today's date) with the current shareholders of Maple holding approximately 11.04 per cent of the common shares of Trevali.

The closing of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions including, but not limited to, receiving the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange, the approval of the Maple shareholders and on Trevali (working with Maple) entering into, on or before Dec. 31, 2012, an environmental agreement with the Province of New Brunswick similar in form and substance to that enjoyed by previous operators of the Caribou mine. There is a finder's fee of 2 per cent payable to Minvisory Corp., an arm's-length third party, upon closing.

The company is optimistic that the transaction can close over the course of the next several months.

Qualified person and quality control/quality assurance

Dr. Mark D. Cruise, EurGeol, Trevali's president and chief executive officer, and a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Dr. Cruise is not independent of the company, as he is an officer and shareholder.

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