MEDIA RELEASE                                                                                       15 April 2008

India Resources secures future copper production base

Diversified minerals developer and producer India Resources (ASX:IRL) has identified mining blocks at the Surda copper project sufficient  to meet the six years production target at an increased production rate.

Chairman Andrew Simpson said the Company had reviewed and analysed all of the project’s historical geological data, generated from past operations by Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), with the results supporting IRL’s increased production targets.

“The review shows that there is seven million tonnes of mineralisation at a grade of 1.2% already developed and that is enough to feed future production for six years,” Mr Simpson said.

The Company is aiming to double the current target production of 450,000 tonnes of ore per annum.

With seven million tonnes of developed mineralisation identified, the Company remains on track toward its ultimate production target of 9,000 tonnes of copper in concentrate (the concentrate grade from the Mosaboni plant is 25%).  The deposit remains open down dip and along strike, giving further potential for expansion.

The identified mining blocks form part of a historical “geological ore reserve” (not JORC standard) estimate in July 2004 by mine owners HCL of 26.1 million tonnes at 1.2% Cu. 

Mr Simpson said IRL is currently undertaking a feasibility study into the development of a decline between the two existing mine shafts which would eventually access additional mineralisation.   

IRL has made significant progress in the development of Surda, since the Company listed on the ASX in June 2007. Following commencement of mining in December 2007, IRL commenced its first sales of copper concentrate in January.

Mine production at Surda achieved the targeted levels of 10,700 tonnes in January, 12,700 tonnes in February and 16,000 tonnes in March. 

IRL is also set to continue to ramp up production with the recent commissioning of a second ball mill, which has achieved monthly mill capacity of 35,000 tonnes.

Andrew Simpson                               Eoin Rothery                                  Warrick Hazeldine

Chairman                                           Managing Director                          Purple Communications

Tel: +61 (0) 8 9450 8822                      Tel: +61 (0) 8 9324 7009                  Tel: +61 (0) 8 9485 1254

                                                          Mob: +61 (0)420 904 332                 Mob: +61 (0)417 944 616

Specific commentary with regard to ASX requirements:

IRL is mining at the Surda project from previously identified mining blocks, part of a historic reserve estimate by Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL). The Company has released the estimate in order to keep the market informed, as the Company is currently mining based on the estimate. As the estimate is non-JORC compliant, IRL has applied for and obtained a waiver from the ASX of Listing Rule 5.6 in order to allow it to report the non-JORC compliant estimates. In order to obtain the waiver, IRL is required to inform the market of the following matters:

1          The HCL reserve estimate is not reported in accordance with the JORC Code and it is uncertain that following evaluation and further exploration that the reserve estimates set out in this announcement will ever be reported in accordance with the JORC Code. ASX has granted IRL a waiver of Listing Rule 5.6 to allow it to report the historical estimates. 

2          HCL published reserves for all of the mines on the Singbhum Copper Belt while they were in operation; the latest is the 2004 report “Ore Reserve of the ICC Group of Mines”.   This reserve has been previously externally published, for example in a report by A.F. Ferguson entitled “Preliminary Information Memorandum, Hindustan Copper Limited” published by the Indian Government Department of Disinvestment in April 2002.

3          The reserve is the most recent published estimate, and is relevant for the following reasons:

(i)         it is being used in mine planning and operations;

(ii)         production has been in accordance with the estimate;

(iii)        it provides necessary background for the planned JORC Code compliant estimate to be announced later in the year; and

(iv)        the Surda project is the Company’s main asset, and the only mine currently in production.

4        All previous drilling at Surda is diamond drilling, surface and underground and so is regarded as quite reliable, with reasonable recoveries.  However, as is common practice in India, the core has not been preserved in any systematic way and much of it is lost.  An on-site lab at the Mosaboni concentrator plant was used for all of the drill and grade control sampling.  The lab was abandoned in 2004 and records were essentially lost of any quality control programs that may have been carried out.  Drive sampling was by way of channel rock chip sampling across the backs and walls of the drives.  The sheer number of samples (12,334) makes up a very comprehensive volume of information on the grade of the deposit and its variation.    Locations are considered reasonably accurate as diamond holes and workings were surveyed by the on-site mine survey team at the time.  However, very few down hole survey readings were recorded. 

From a data spacing point of view the number of surface holes (83) is considered on the low side; spacings of up to 210m in strike and 300m down dip were allowed for inclusion in the category of “possible ore”.  However the number of underground holes (3,058) gives greater confidence in the mining block numbers presented here.  A density of 2.88 has been used in line with previous HCL experience in mining the deposit since 1952.  No audits have been encountered in a review of the HCL work. 

5        The HCL historic estimate is material to IRL as IRL is now mining in many of the areas estimated above.  IRL is evaluating these estimates essentially by bulk mining from these blocks - mining is currently being carried out from Blocks 7, 14, 18, 30, 32, 37 and production is in line with the estimates presented here.  IRL is currently conducting a surface diamond drilling program to verify the estimates.  IRL is also investigating lab calibration and specific gravities. 

IRL has been engaged in a modern survey of the old workings: to date 90% of the accessible areas have been surveyed and the survey is expected to be completed by the end of April 2008. 

The evaluation is being funded from the capital raising IRL undertook in November 2007, and there is no impact of the cost of this evaluation on IRL’s exploration projects.  

6        The HCL estimate is called a “Reserve” and reported in six categories:

The “Block Reserves” are calculated in the area of current workings and are divided into “Proved”, “Probable”, “Possible” on the basis of their location in relation to the 2 haulage shafts.  “Proved” Blocks lie mainly between levels 1 and 8, “Probable” Blocks lie mainly between levels 6 and 11, while “Possible” blocks are mainly below level 9.  “Drill Reserves” are estimated on the basis of surface drilling and are divided on the basis of hole spacing – up to 100m of dip extent for a single hole as “Proven”, 150m as “Probable” and 175m as “Possible”.  Strike extents are less – 60m for an individual hole as “Proven”, 90m as “Probable” and 105m as “Possible”.  There is no direct comparison between this HCL estimate and a JORC standard estimate.  The categories are substantially different and would be completely overhauled in a JORC estimate.  Much of the “Drill Reserve” would certainly be reclassified as “Inferred Resource” or discounted.  However, much of the “Block Reserve” could be classified as “Probable” or “Proved” Ore Reserves given that these blocks are delineated by underground drilling and drives above and below, with stope outlines defined in a mining plan.

7        The most recent estimate available to the Company is in the form of the individual mining blocks presented below.  This breaks down much of the HCL “Block Reserves” into individual mining areas, showing individual locations and allows a greater degree of confidence.  This information has been extracted from the overall HCL “Reserve” estimate. 

8        IRL is continuing to work on gathering the information necessary for estimating a JORC standard Resource and Reserve for the Surda operation, however due to the complexity of the workings and records this is still some way off.  We now estimate that a JORC estimate will be completed sometime in the 3^rd quarter of 2008, to be reported in October this year.  

9        The information presented here is consistent with the ASX Companies Updates 11/07, and 05/04.

10       A Statement by a Competent Person is included below.

The geological and assay statements and commentary in the above update are based on information compiled by Eoin Rothery who is a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.  Mr Rothery has reviewed the information and has satisfied himself that the values quoted and the parameters used in the study are reasonable and accurately reflect the operations involved. Mr. Rothery is a full-time employee of India Resources Ltd and holds the position of Managing Director.  Mr. Rothery has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration to quality as a Competent Person as defined in the 2004 Edition of the “Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves”. Mr. Rothery consents to the inclusion in the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears.

Surda Mining Blocks and Conceptual Decline

The diagram shows the Surda mine in long section looking from the east north east.  Shafts are shown as green angled lines, while levels are shown as the horizontal lines.  Several unmined or partly mined blocks have been identified from the Hindustan Copper Limited records and are shown on the diagram as orange blocks, numbered 1 – 39.  Three further blocks have been identified and estimated in a similar fashion.  A mining block is classified as such if it has been developed with both a footwall drive and a hanging wall drive.  Width and grade come from drive samples and underground and surface drilling.  The deposit dips at 30 to 35 degrees towards the viewer, and so the blocks appear shorter than their real dimension.  There is 35m between levels. 

The mining blocks presented here have been extracted from a Hindustan Copper Limited “geological ore reserve” estimate in July 2004 for the whole mine area of 26.1 million tonnes at 1.2% Cu.  The tonnage and grade estimates here are historic estimates from previous mine records and should be regarded as the centre point of a range from 90% to 110% of the true value that might appear in a JORC standard ore reserve.  The use of the term “ore” in this release does not imply that these are JORC standard numbers, but reflects the mining history of this deposit from which 8.9 million tonnes of copper ore at 0.95% Cu has been extracted from neighbouring mining blocks estimated by the same methodology since production started in 1956. Nevertheless, as these tonnages and grades are not JORC standard there is an uncertainty over the numbers and whether they reflect the true values; the reader should bear this in mind when assessing the project. 

The block dimensions presented here are averaged; each block is given a more detailed volume estimate based on its individual geometry.  

About India Resources

IRL is headquartered in Perth, Western Australia with the primary objective to maximize shareholder wealth by capital growth and dividend through the discovery of economic mineral deposits and the development of profitable mining operations. IRL’s head office is located at 989 Wellington St., West Perth, WA 6005.

IRL is applying Australian exploration expertise and cost effective mining techniques to project in India, to capitalise on country huge growth and market opportunities.  The Company’s portfolio of assets comprises:

Hindustan Copper Limited - Surda Mine

The Company has the benefit of an alliance with Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL - a Government of India enterprise) with the initial focus on identifying existing operations and areas where large-scale mineralisation has been proven. HCL is the sole integrated producer of primary copper in India and is listed on the Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Madras exchanges.  IRL, in alliance with HCL, has re-opened the Surda Mine with an initial objective of delivering annual production of 4,500 tonnes of copper metal in concentrate.

Hindustan Copper Limited – Exploration MOU

IRL has the benefit of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for general exploration on HCL’s various leases including tenure around HCL’s current operations at Malanjkhand and Khetri. IRL will undertake detailed evaluation of exploration areas to be determined in consultation with HCL.

Askot Project

IRL has taken a placement comprising about 17% of the share capital of Pebble Creek Mining Ltd. (TSX-V – PEB), a Canadian company listed on the Toronto Venture Exchange.  Pebble Creek’s main asset is the Askot Project: a VMS deposit of copper, lead, zinc, gold and silver mineralisation in northern India.  Pebble Creek is currently compiling a resource estimation. 

Aravalli Project

The Company has acquired two Reconnaissance Permits (RPs) in Rajasthan (north western India). The Aravalli Proterozoic metamorphic belt is prospective for copper, lead, zinc as well as gold. IRL has recently completed a reconnaissance drilling program with positive results.

Diamonds

The Company’s diamond initiative focuses on the Bhandara Diamond Project which currently consists of five granted RPs in Orissa, as well as three RP applications in Chhattisgarh, located in the region of several kimberlite fields. In addition bulk sampling is planned at two diamondiferous kimberlites on IRL’s granted PLs of the Dharwar Project in Andhra Pradesh. 

Coal, Iron Ore

As has happened in China, India’s rapidly growing economy is driving a surge in demand for power and steel. IRL is currently seeking suitable projects for rights to explore and develop coal or iron ore in India.

Visit: www.indiaresources.com.au

***

The new Spam Act commenced on 10 April 2004. This Act is aimed at reducing the amount of unauthorised emails you receive.  You have been receiving e-mails containing information and news releases from us on behalf of our clients because you are an important contact of Purple Communications, a boutique stakeholder communications consultancy.   If you do not wish to receive such emails from Purple, please click mailto: purple@purplecom.com.au subject=UNSUBSCRIBE or reply to this email and put UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line and we will not email you again.

 If you do not reply, we will continue sending you relevant news and information via email. However, all future emails will allow you to unsubscribe.

Issued by

Purple Communications

Level 3, 28 Kings Park Road, WEST PERTH WA 6005

Ph: 08 9485 1254     Fax: 08 6263 0455

purple@purplecom.com.au