VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- International Barytex Resources Ltd. (the "Company") and other shareholders (the �Minority ECCH Shareholders�) of East China Capital Holdings Ltd. (�ECCH�) have entered into an agreement with Touch Lucky Investments Ltd. (�TLIL�) for the sale of a 100% interest in ECCH. ECCH is a partially owned subsidiary of the Company and holds a 75% interest in the Shituru Copper project located at Likasi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (�DRC�)(the �Agreement�). TLIL is a company incorporated under the Laws of the British Virgin Islands. This Agreement is an arm�s length transaction.

Pursuant to its option agreement with the Minority Shareholders, the Company may currently acquire a 60% interest in ECCH with this increasing to 86 2/3% by financing the Shituru project to commercial production and making other cash and share payments.

The Agreement is subject to the completion of a due diligence review by TLIL to be completed by no later than January 22, 2009 and is also subject to a possible adjustment to the purchase price in the event the interests of ECCH in the Shituru project are decreased as a result of ongoing negotiations with the DRC Government. The sale of ECCH is also subject to approval by the Company�s shareholders and the TSX Venture Exchange (�TSXV�).

The closing date for the sale of ECCH is March 23, 2009 (the �Closing�). The purchase price to be paid by TLIL for ECCH is $17 M USD, payable to the ECCH shareholders as follows:

• $1.0 M USD forthwith following signing of the Agreement (60% to the Company and 40% to the Minority ECCH Shareholders), refundable in certain specified events;
• $1.275 M USD to the Company on Closing in recognition of prior exploration and feasibility work funded by the Company;
• $8.725 M USD on Closing (60% to the Company and 40% to the Minority ECCH Shareholders); and
• $6.0 M USD on or before June 22, 2009 (60% to the Company and 40% to the Minority ECCH Shareholders).

The Company�s total share of the ECCH sale proceeds is 10.710 M USD. In the event Suite 1700 - 700 West Pender Street Vancouver, BC V6C 1G8 Tel: (604) 688-9368 Fax: (604) 688-9336 email: investor@barytex.com www.barytex.com TSX-V: IBX TLIL elects to proceed with the purchase following the completion of its due diligence review, TLIL has also agreed to make available to the Company a $1.5 M USD line-ofcredit facility.

The Company, through its option agreement with the ECCH Minority Shareholders, remains responsible for all costs and activities associated with progressing the Shituru project during TLIL�s due diligence period. Following an election by TLIL to proceed with the purchase of ECCH on or before January 22, 2009, the Company will continue to manage the project, on behalf of TLIL until Feb 22, 2009.

As part of the ECCH sale, the Company has also arranged an initial private placement of 4,773,630 shares and a subsequent private placement of 3,226,370 shares respectively (8,000,000 shares total), at a price of $0.12 CDN to Sea Wave Investment Ltd. (�Sea Wave�). The initial placement is subject to TSXV acceptance. As the completion of the subsequent private placement will result in Sea Wave becoming a control party of the Company, the subsequent placement will be subject to both shareholder approval and acceptance by the TSXV. Completion of the second share placement will result in 24.4% of the Company being held by Sea Wave on a diluted basis (including warrants currently held by Sea Wave).

A special meeting of the Company�s shareholders to approve the sale of ECCH and the subsequent Sea Wave placement has been set for December 4, 2008.

President Leo King states, �The agreement provides an opportunity to allow the Shituru project to move forward through the development phase at a time when it is increasingly difficult to secure project financing. TLIL brings both access to capital and familiarity with the DRC. Given the extreme volatility in the debt and equity markets we feel this agreement is in the best interests of both the project and the Company�s shareholders. Furthermore, the completion of these transactions will leave the Company well financed as is undertakes a search for new business opportunities to pursue.�

Signed

Leo King

For further information contact:

International Barytex Resources Ltd.
Leo King, President or Alf Hills, CEO
Tel: 604-688-9368 Fax: 604-688-9336

Renmark Financial Communications Inc.
Jen Power: jpower@renmarkfinancial.com
Dan Symons: dsymons@renmarkfinancial.com
Montreal - Tel: 514-939-3989 / Fax: 514-939-3717
Toronto - Tel: 416-644-2020 / Fax: 416-644-2021

On behalf of the Board of Directors
INTERNATIONAL BARYTEX RESOURCES LTD.

�Leo King� Leo King President and Director

Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release