Manicouagan Upgrades and Expands Resource at Brabant Lake Zinc Deposit

TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – July 29, 2008) – Manicouagan Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:MAM) announced today a new resource estimate for its wholly owned Brabant Lake Zinc deposit in Saskatchewan. The resource estimate was completed by MPH Consulting Limited of Toronto (“MPH”) in conjunction with P&E Mining Consultants Inc. of Brampton, Ontario (“P&E”).

This new resource estimate supersedes the prior NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource estimate previously determined by Deptuck et al in 1994 and disclosed in a NI 43-101 Technical Report completed by MPH with an effective date of September 15, 2006. This report is available with Manicouagan’s filings on SEDAR or at www.manicouaganminerals.com.

The current and prior resource estimates are tabulated below.

____________________2008 MPH/P&E Resource Estimate(1)(2)(3)(4) ——————————————————————– ——– ____________ Tonnes__Zn%__Cu%__Pb%____Ag__ Au____Zn____Cu____Pb____Ag____ Au ____________________________________ g/t__g/t__ lbs__ lbs__ lbs__mill-____oz ______________________________________________ mill- mill- mill- ions______ ______________________________________________ ions__ions__ions____oz______ ——————————————————————– ——– Indicated 1,475,000 9.18 0.79 0.23__32.6 0.15 298.5__25.7__ 7.5__1.55__7,100 ——————————————————————– ——– Inferred__2,975,000 5.55 0.55 0.13__13.9 0.10 364.0__36.1__ 8.5__1.33__9,600 ——————————————————————– ——– ______________________1994 Deptuck Resource Estimate(4) ——————————————————————– ——– ____________ Tonnes__Zn%__Cu%__Pb%____Ag__ Au____Zn____Cu____Pb____Ag____ Au ____________________________________ g/t__g/t__ lbs__ lbs__ lbs__mill-____oz ______________________________________________ mill- mill- mill- ions______ ______________________________________________ ions__ions__ions____oz______ ——————————————————————– ——– Inferred__4,858,000 5.19 0.57 0.28 22.59 0.22 555.9__61.1 30.00__3.53 34,400 ——————————————————————– ——– (1) The resource for the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit was estimated on the basis of approximate $US three year trailing average metal prices of $1.27/lb zinc, $3.02/lb copper, $0.86/lb lead, $12.49/oz silver and $663/oz/gold, anda $US exchange rate of $0.912. An NSR cut-off of $75/tonne for underground mining and milling was utilized to report the resource. (2) Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant issues. (3) The quantity and grade of reported inferred resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred resources as an indicated or measured mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to an indicated or measured mineral resource category. (4) Contained metals, expressed in pounds (lbs) and troy ounces (oz), presented in the table above are the product of resource tonnes multiplied by metal grades and are provided for information purposes only and not meant to imply recoverable product as mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

The 1994 Deptuck Resource estimate and the 2008 MPH/P&E Resource Estimate are not directly comparable due to differing resource categories and estimation methodologies.

The bulk of the mineralization classified as an indicated resource in the 2008 MPH/P&E Resource Estimate is a direct result of the Company’s 2006-2008 drilling campaign, which focused on the largely unexplored Lower Zone of the Brabant Lake Zinc Deposit. The grades of zinc (9.18%) and copper (0.79%) reported in the indicated category represent a significant improvement – 77% and 39%, respectively – as compared to the previously estimated resource grades. There is potential to expand the indicated resource inventory with additional drilling of the inferred resource areas.

Joseph Baylis, Manicouagan’s President and CEO stated that “we are very pleased with the results of our focused drilling on the higher grade Lower Zone which has resulted in the delineation of an indicated resource with significantly higher grades than those previously included in the inferred category. The Brabant Lake Zinc deposit has excellent infrastructure and consequently we expect that the economic threshold will be lower than for projects in more remote locations. The next step will be to incorporate the new resource estimate into a preliminary assessment/scoping study to determine a course of action to advance this project.”

The 2008 MPH/P&E NI 43-101 Resource Estimate incorporates previous drilling by Westore-Paramount in 1956-1958 (39 drill holes, 4,267 metres), Bison in 1964 (2 drill holes, 962 metres), Rio Tinto in 1965-1966 (15 drill holes, 3,686 metres), Gamsan in 1988 (18 drill holes, 3,716 metres), Phelps Dodge in 1992-1993 (5 drill holes, 2,333 metres) and Manicouagan Minerals in 2006-2008 (50 drill holes (48 completed), 15,605 metres).

In calculating the new resource estimate, sulphide mineralization was outlined on nominal 25 metre spaced sections in the main portion of the deposit with nominal 50 metre spaced sections for the strike extensions. Dip lengths occur up to 650 metres and the overall strike length of the deposit is approximately 800 metres. Sixty-six (66) drill holes that intersected mineralization on these sections form the basis of the resource estimate, while an additional sixty- three (63) holes were incorporated to build the total geological model. Inverse distance squared grade interpolation was utilized to determine block model grades.

The mineral resources in this press release were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council December 11, 2005.

Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. and Antoine Yassa, P.Geo of P&E Mining Consultants Inc., and Gerald Harron, P.Eng. of MPH Consulting Limited are the authors of the Resource Estimate Technical Report on the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit to be filed within 45 days of this news release with Manicouagan’s filings on SEDAR. They are independent Qualified Persons in accordance with NI 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and have reviewed and are responsible for the information presented in this news release.

Exploration programs are being carried out under the supervision of Rod Thomas, Vice President – Exploration of the Company. Mr. Thomas, a professional geologist, has reviewed and verified the technical content of this press release on behalf of Manicouagan Minerals and is a “Qualified Person” as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Manicouagan employs 43-101 compliant QA/QC procedures at all points in the sampling, handling, storage and shipment of samples. Blind standards and blanks are inserted into the sample sequence in the field. Analytical services are provided by TSL Laboratories of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Samples are crushed, riffle split and pulverized to yield a 250 gram pulp with approximately 95% -150 mesh. Ag, Cu, Pb and Zn assay is by multi- acid digestion; samples for Ag (g/tonne) and base metals (%) are weighed at 0.5 g. Samples for Au fire assay/gravimetric are weighed at 1 AT (29.16 g). Details on analytical techniques employed by TSL Laboratories (ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation may be found on the laboratory’s website at www.tsllabs.com.

The Brabant Lake property consists of 21 contiguous claims registered as ML 5054 and is located immediately east of Highway 102 some 175 km from the all services community of La Ronge, Saskatchewan.

Manicouagan Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:MAM) is a Canadian based exploration company with a diversified portfolio of Canadian exploration properties including the Brabant Lake Zinc/Copper deposit in Saskatchewan and the Mouchalagane Nickel/Copper/PGE project in Quebec.

Additional information about Manicouagan Minerals and its exploration projects can be found at www.manicouaganminerals.com.

All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company’s expectations are exploration risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators.

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