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Champion Minerals Inc.: Champion Minerals to Drill the Fermont Iron Property

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 12, 2009) - CHAMPION MINERALS INC. ("Champion" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CHM) is pleased to announce that a 5000 m drill program is being initiated to delineate iron mineral resources on the Fermont Iron Property (the "Property") located in the Fermont Iron Ore District ("FIOD"), 250 km north of the St. Lawrence River port town of Port-Cartier and centered 60 km southwest of Fermont in northeastern Quebec.

The Phase 2 Drilling Campaign

Champion plans to drill a total of 5,000 m on three of the Property's projects (Bellechasse-Midway, Fire Lake North, and Moire Lake East) that contain approximately 233,000,000 tonnes of historical resources that grade 30% iron (Refer to the Property's historical mineral resources table below that also includes the National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 non-compliant statement) which is typical of the iron grades for the FIOD and the Labrador City and Wabush iron mines.

The historical data from these projects were compiled and drill hole and magnetic sections were used to determine potentially large iron formations for drilling. Preferential targets are located within a few kilometres of existing road infrastructure and are those selected by the Company's geologists with the best potential to be validated as NI 43-101 compliant resources with upside potential. Drill targeting benefited from the high resolution airborne Magnetic and Electromagnetic (VLF-EM) geophysical survey that was completed in August 2008. Some targets are a follow-up to the helicopter-borne reconnaissance prospecting program completed in October 2008. Two kilometric ridges of iron formation located on the and Fire Lake North project adjacent to the north of ArcelorMittal's Fire Lake open pit mine were deemed prospective by Champion for immediate drilling.

According to historical work, one of the two ridges, the Don Lake iron formation has no known resources outlined as it has not been previously drill tested. This kilometric outcrop ridge hosts coarse grained specular hematite mineralization at surface very similar to the "quartz-specularite ore" from the FIOD. It is located within an airborne magnetic anomaly that is 2 km long and 500 m wide. The magnetic anomaly suggests the presence of magnetite rich iron formation that is interbedded with the moderately magnetic quartz-specularite iron formation sampled at surface, both styles of mineralization which are common in the FIOD.

At the Moire Lake East project located adjacent to the east of ArcelorMittal's Mont Wright Mine, Champion will be twinning selected holes to validate the extent and grade of the iron mineralization from the vertical section interpretation that was compiled from the previous work records.

Champion staked additional claims in the FIOD following the reconnaissance program in October 2008. A total of 146 claims covering 77 km2 were added to the Property for a total area of 341 km2. A total of 66 new claims covering 35 km2 were added to the Audrey-Ernie Lake property. Fire Lake North had 31 (16.4 km2) new claims added and was merged with the former Don Lake property. The new combined property contains the two kilometric quartz specularite ridges that are planned to be drill tested. A total of 28 new claims (14.6 km2) were added to the Harvey-Tuttle Lakes property. Other additions include 13 new claims (6.89 km2) which were added to the Hope Lake SW property, and 2 new claims (1.04 km2) which were added to the Oil Can Lake property. A new addition was the Jeannine Lake property, consisting of 6 new claims for a total of 3.18 km2.

The Fermont Iron Property

The FIOD is a highly prospective area, as are the Labrador City and Schefferville mining camps, with the demand for iron increasing to unprecedented levels over the last five years. Champion's goal is to advance its portfolio of iron properties and unlock the potential to host significant resources in the FIOD and Schefferville mining camps. Champion's Fermont Iron Property hosts very significant historic pre-NI 43-101 Mineral Resources of 610 million tonnes @ 29.4% Iron located adjacent to, or in proximity of, operating iron mines, development projects, and brownfield exploration projects.

The Property's pre-NI 43-101 Mineral Resources are divided among 7 of the 15 claim blocks as follows:

Historic Mineral Resources(i) from Champion Minerals Fermont Iron Property

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 GRADE NUMBER OF
PROJECT NAME TONNES (% Iron) DRILL HOLES
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MOIRE LAKE 101,000,000 30.8 65
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O'KEEFE-PURDY-AUDREA LAKES 25,000,000 35.5 18
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BELLECHASSE-MIDWAY 91,400,000 30.0 N/A
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FIRE LAKE NORTH 40,600,000 32.0 15
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AUDREY-ERNIE LAKES 23,000,000 33.2 2
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BIG THREE LAKES 25,000,000 34.0 N/A
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SILICATE-BRUTUS LAKES 304,000,000 29.4 18
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TOTALS 610,000,000 29.4 118
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(i) The mineral resources outlined are historical in nature, are
 non-compliant to National Instrument (NI) 43-101 Mineral Resources and
 should not be relied upon. There has been insufficient exploration to
 define NI 43-101 Mineral Resources and it is uncertain if further
 exploration will result in these numbers being delineated as Mineral
 Resources.

There are five major iron deposits in the FIOD area of Quebec. These include ArcelorMittal's ("AM") Mont Wright Mine (1,000 million tonnes @ 30% Fe), Fire Lake Mine (341 million tonnes @ 33.4% Fe) and the Mt. Reed Occurrence (421 million tonnes @ 31% Fe) (sources: [ www.arcelormittal.com ]; MRNF Quebec Files); Consolidated Thompson Iron Mines Limited ("CTIML") Bloom Lake Deposit (638 million tonnes @ 29.8% Fe) (source: CTIML Sedar filings available at [ www.sedar.com ]); and CTIML's (formerly Quinto Mining Corporation) Peppler Lake Iron Project containing 250 million tonnes @ 28.2% Fe (source: Quinto Mining Corporation SEDAR filings available at [ www.sedar.com ]). Regional activity in the FIOD has increased significantly in the last 5 years with existing mines expanding their activity, highlighted by AM commencing production at the Fire Lake open pit mine operation and CTIML planning to take Bloom Lake from the exploration phase to a production decision within 5 years. These two projects underscore the potential of the FIOD. Recent consolidation in the area saw CTIML complete the acquisition of Quinto Mining Corporation in July 2008 in a transaction valued at approximately $150 million.

Champion's Moire Lake East mineral concession is adjacent to the east of AM's Mont Wright Mine and in proximity to CTIML's Bloom Lake Deposit that is currently being developed and is expected to produce 8 million tonnes of iron concentrate per year at a concentrate grade of 65% Iron or greater (source: CTIML NI 43-101 report dated November 12, 2008 available on [ www.sedar.com ]). Champion's O'Keefe-Purdy-Audrea Lakes, Harvey-Tuttle Lakes, Bellechasse-Midway, Midway SE, Oil Can Lake, Don Lake, Fire Lake North, Hope Lake, Hope Lake SW and Casse Lake properties are in close proximity to the CTIML's Peppler Lake Iron Project and AM's Fire Lake Mine, currently in seasonal production.

A series of new processed geophysical maps illustrating the near surface magnetic signatures of the iron formations for all of the 15 projects in the Property are available on the Company's website at [ www.championminerals.com ].

About Champion Minerals Inc.

Champion is a junior exploration Company focused on discovering and developing significant metal resources in eastern Canada, particularly in Labrador and Newfoundland and northeastern Quebec. The Company's projects include the Attikamagen Iron Property, located in western Labrador and northeastern Quebec, and the Fermont Iron Property in northeastern Quebec and the Powderhorn and Gullbridge Base Metal Projects located in central Newfoundland.

Mr. Jeff Hussey, P. Geo., Vice President Exploration for Champion, is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical information reported in this news release under National Instrument 43-101 regulations.

Statements in this release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" and readers are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual developments or results, may vary materially from those in these "forward-looking statements.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.