Mr. Cameron McCall reports

MACARTHUR MINERALS STAKES FURTHER ACREAGE FOR HARD ROCK LITHIUM

Macarthur Minerals Ltd. has applied for five additional exploration licences in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to expand its total tenement area to 1,379 square kilometres (341,000 acres).

The company continues to expand its acreage and has one of the largest acreages for hard-rock lithium of any junior exploration company globally and is one of a few TSX Venture Exchange-listed companies to have potential projects for lithium in Australia. The expansion of the company's acreage package is consistent with the company's focus on exploration of raw materials for the production of lithium batteries.

New Pilbara tenements

The location of the five new Pilbara exploration licence applications (E46/1133, E45/4747, E45/4748, E45/4749 and E45/4750) covers an area of 185 square kilometres (45,000 acres).

The applications contain similar geological settings to the Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum pegmatite deposits, which host the lithium projects of Australian Securities Exchange-listed companies, Pilbara Minerals Ltd. and Altura Mining Ltd.

Geological setting of new applications

Macarthur's new acreage applications in the Pilbara area are based on geological relationships that are broadly consistent with the currently accepted exploration/mineral system model for lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT type) rare element pegmatites. The applications comprise areas of greenstone belt (metavolcanic sequences), as well as earlier granitoids and gneisses likely to contain LCT pegmatites. They are located within five to 10 kilometres of approximately 2.9-billion-year-old posttectonic monzogranite (S type) intrusions, which are considered to be the source of magmatic fluids from which the LCT pegmatites crystallized. The fertile character of the highly fractionated younger monzogranites(1) and their potential link to lithium mineralization, adjacent to and within the new application, are supported by the numerous occurrences of lithium, tantalum, tin and beryllium associated with these monzogranites.

Lithium strategy

The company's strategy is to apply for prospective acreage proximate to known lithium occurrences or where there are either producing lithium mines or lithium mines under development. Consistent with this strategy, the company has acquired acreage in the Pilbara region where Pilbara Minerals has its Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project for which it recently raised $100-million (Australian) for further development and in the Ravensthorpe region where Galaxy Resources Ltd. has commenced production for spodumene and tantalum concentrate at its Mt. Cattlin project.

Macarthur is currently undertaking a detailed review of all its acreage and plans to commence a Stage 1 helicopter-borne reconnaissance program over the Pilbara acreage, which will be undertaken by the company's senior technical team.

Macarthur is currently evaluating its acreage and commencing discussions with various third parties concerning potential joint ventures to maximize the exploration effort throughout 2016.

The company has undertaken an extensive review of geological datasets for available acreage prospective for lithium in Western Australia based on geological attributes referred to above. That review indicates that available acreage in Western Australia having those geological attributes is becoming scarce.

Acreage package

The company now holds 19 exploration licence applications covering a total area of 1,379 square kilometres (341,000 acres) in the Pilbara craton, and in the Ravensthorpe and the Edah regions of the Yilgarn craton.

Shareholder inquiries

Macarthur has received numerous shareholder inquiries over the past 30 days. Macarthur currently has 81,623,799 shares on issue and there have been over 55 million shares traded so far in the month of April. Macarthur currently has 25.6 million warrants on issue with an exercise price of five cents, which expire in July and August, 2016.

Iron ore projects

The iron ore price has increased significantly over recent months up to today's price of $66 (U.S.) per tonne(2). As a result, the company is receiving renewed interest from third parties in its iron ore projects located west of Menzies in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia. As previously announced on Aug. 16, 2012, the company's Ularring hematite project has an indicated resource of 54.46 million tonnes at 47.2 per cent Fe and an inferred resource of 25.99 million tonnes at 45.4 per cent Fe, for which it has completed a prefeasibility study(3).

The company is having continuing discussions with third parties to dispose of its iron ore projects. During 2015, the company entered into a share sale agreement to dispose of all the shares of the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Macarthur Iron Ore Pty. Ltd., for $6-million (Australian). As announced previously on Feb. 1, 2016, the transaction did not complete due to depressed iron ore prices.

Qualified persons

Ralph Porter, MSc, BSc (geology), MAIG, MSEG, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is a full-time employee of CSA Global Pty. Ltd. and is a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Porter has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Dr. Andrew Scogings, MSc, PhD, MAIG, MAusIMM, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Registered Professional Geoscientist (industrial minerals), is a full-time employee of CSA Global and is a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Dr. Scogings has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Prof. Kenneth D. Collerson is a fellow of the AusIMM, is a member of the lithium advisory board of Macarthur and is a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Prof. Collerson has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

(1) S-type monzogranites are biotite-bearing granitoids considered to have formed by crystallization of melts from metasedimentary protoliths.

(2) Australian Financial Review, April 26, 2016.

(3) NI 43-101 technical report filed Oct. 1, 2012, titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Macarthur Minerals Limited, Pre-Feasibility Study, Ularring Hematite Project, Western Australia."

We seek Safe Harbor.