VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sep 9, 2014) - Focus Ventures Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:FCV) ("Focus") is pleased to announce the selection of a team of three consulting engineering companies to prepare the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) study for the Bayovar 12 Project. The three firms selected are: Golder Associates ("Golder"), Jacobs Engineering ("Jacobs"), and M3 Engineering and Technology ("M3"). Focus selected the three firms based on their outstanding qualifications and specific experience in the Bayovar phosphates, and each will complement one another very well without a lot of overlap in capabilities. The ability to cover all the required disciplines with only three contractors will provide a significant cost advantage.

Golder will lead the Bayovar PEA work in geology, mine engineering, geotechnical engineering, geohydrology, environmental and community relations studies and permitting. Golder will qualify as the NI 43-101 Independent Qualified Person (QP) for the study areas over which they have the lead roles.

Jacobs will design the metallurgical test program. They will also perform the testing and provide process and plant design. Jacobs' project team has extensive experience in phosphate beneficiation projects all over the world and, in particular, the Bayovar district of northern Peru. Their team of beneficiation engineers has operated phosphate beneficiation plants, performed research and development for phosphate beneficiation, and designed and started up modern phosphate beneficiation plants. Jacobs operates a complete metallurgical laboratory and pilot plant in Lakeland, Florida with specialized capabilities for phosphate beneficiation and phosphoric acid production testing.

M3 will provide the full range of engineering disciplines and they will serve as overall study manager and as the NI 43-101 QP for the study and areas over which they have the lead role. M3 is a full service engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCM) firm with significant experience in mining and mineral processing. They have provided services for over 9,500 projects for some 1,000 clients in their 28-year history. M3 has an exemplary record as a QP for NI 43-101 compliant studies.

The preliminary PEA schedule indicates a completion date of Q3 2015 for the study.

Focus senior management Simon Ridgway, CEO, David Cass, President, and Tim Oliver, Director of Projects, recently met with key PEA team members from Golder, Jacobs and M3 in Jacobs' Lakeland, Florida office to launch the PEA effort. Renowned phosphate beneficiation expert, Glenn Gruber, P.E., also attended. Focus has retained Mr. Gruber as an independent consultant to help guide the Bayovar 12 beneficiation process, development and plant design.

Tim Oliver, Director of Projects, remarked: "We are very pleased to have Golder, Jacobs and M3 involved in the PEA process. They are an impressive collection of mining talent. The team's deft coordination in planning and scheduling the upcoming PEA work bodes well for optimal integration of geology, mining, processing and plant design that we know is necessary for profitable phosphate rock production at Bayovar 12."

Bayovar 12 Resource Estimation

Focus recently announced its maiden resource estimate for the Bayovar 12 phosphate project (see Focus news release dated 8 September, 2014). The independent estimate and report, based on Focus' initial 20-hole drill program, was prepared by Golder supervised by Jerry DeWolfe, MSc. P.Geo, and an Independent Qualified Person responsible under NI 43-101.

The resource estimate is based on 20 boreholes drilled over 650 ha of the 12,575 ha property, at drill spacings of 800m. The resources are distributed between 13 individual soft, free digging, horizontal phosphate beds hosted within the Diana Formation, a sequence of diatomites that begin as shallow as 26m below surface. The mineralization is open in all directions. The grades and widths of individual beds are very consistent, unaffected by faulting or structural features, and easily correlated across the deposit. Vale are believed to be mining the same beds at their Bayovar Mine 15km to the west of Bayovar 12.

Background

The Bayovar 12 concession shows potential to host a large sedimentary phosphate deposit. The Bayovar district is situated in the Sechura Desert, a north-trending basin approximately 22,000 square kilometres in area comprising Miocene-aged sedimentary rocks. Phosphate was discovered in the 1950s during drilling for petroleum. It occurs as beds of pelletal phosphate within the Diana Formation, a sequence of phosphate-bearing diatomites and sandstones. The phosphate layers are remarkably regular in P₂O₅ content over long distances, a typical characteristic of marine phosphate deposits. At Vale's Bayovar mine, the soft and friable nature of the phosphate rock and diatomite permits mining by conventional truck and shovel without the use of explosives.

On January 14, 2014, the Company's Peruvian subsidiary, Agrifos Peru SAC, signed a formal option agreement for the acquisition of shares in Juan Paulo Quay SAC, the titleholder of the Bayovar 12 non-metallic mining concession. Agrifos can earn a 70 per cent interest of the issued share capital of JPQ by investing in exploration and making a series of cash payments up to the completion of a positive prefeasibility study, after which Agrifos will have the first right of refusal to purchase the remaining 30 per cent of JPQ.

Qualified Person

The scientific and technical information in this release were prepared under the supervision of David Cass, Focus's President, who is a member of the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia, and a Qualified Person in accordance with National Instrument 43-101.

The Resource Estimation was prepared by Golder Associates, under the supervision of Jerry DeWolfe, MSc. P.Geo, an Independent Qualified Person defined under National Instrument 43-101.

About Focus

Phosphate rock is a raw material for fertilizers and vital to world food production. Focus is acquiring and developing quality phosphate projects in Latin America where the discovery and development of new deposits is becoming increasingly important given the growing demand and limited local supply of phosphate for fertilizer production. For further information, please call 604-630-5544 or visit our web site www.focusventuresltd.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

David Cass, President

Symbol: TSXV-FCV

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