TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 24, 2011) - Colossus Minerals Inc. (the "Company" or "Colossus") (TSX:CSI) today announced that it has encountered additional high-grade mineralization in initial results from a new 25,000 metre surface drill program at the Serra Pelada Gold-Platinum-Palladium Project, the Colossus-COOMIGASP Joint Venture located in Para State, Brazil.

HIGHLIGHTS

• SPD-095 intersected three high grade subzones in the Central Mineralized Zone ("CMZ"), including:
  1.80 metres at 63.83 g/t gold, 3.37 g/t platinum and 3.92 g/t palladium
  6.93 metres at 59.66 g/t gold, 70.68 g/t platinum and 45.95 g/t palladium
  7.81 metres at 136.43 g/t gold, 294.20 g/t platinum and 121.40 g/t palladium

• The latter two subzones exhibit the highest grades of platinum so far encountered in Colossus drilling at the Serra Pelada Project and are open to the northeast and southwest

• SPD-086A extends the GT zone 75 metres to the northeast toward the Western Zone and also exhibits high platinum grades and a high platinum/palladium ratio, including 1.50 metres at 22.25 g/t platinum plus 1.34 g/t palladium

• SPD-089 included 14.00 g/t gold over 1.14 metres approximate true thickness and demonstrated a lateral strike of approximately 15 metres for the high grade core of the Portal Zone in its vicinity.

Vic Wall, Colossus VP Exploration comments, "After focusing on condemnation drilling and other activities to support development, we have launched a 25,000 metre surface drill program to develop the resource and realize the potential of the Serra Pelada gold-PGE Project. Five drill rigs are now operational and additional high capacity rigs will be added in the coming months. We are particularly excited by the intersection of very high-grade gold-PGE subzones in the CMZ extensions and are following up on these and stepping out further on the CMZ. The prospects of the conjunction of the GT and Western zones are looking good and we look forward to further extensions and discoveries of mineralized zones in the Serra Pelada Joint Venture's expanded land package."

DETAILS

Gold-platinum-palladium mineralization at Serra Pelada overprints metasediments occupying the hinge and limbs of a northwest-facing, southwest-plunging, reclined synclinorium that plunges gently southwest from the historical open pit. The CMZ comprises mainly steeply dipping bodies in the fold hinge zone but extends onto the upper and lower limbs of the fold. Characterized by intense hydrothermal carbonaceous and argillic alteration, mainly of siltstones, the CMZ is inboard of siliceous alteration partially mantling the synclinorial hinge. Shallowly dipping gold-platinum-palladium mineralization, for example the Western and GT zones, occurs within siliceous, argillic- and carbonaceous alteration and iron oxide-rich breccias on the fold limbs. This release documents results (Table 1, below) from step-out drilling in the extensions of the CMZ and also in extensions of the GT- and Portal lower-limb mineralized zones.

TABLE 1: Significant drilling results

Central Mineralized Zone

SPD-095 (Figure 1) was drilled easterly from Section 150SW on the Joint Venture's extended ground package toward Section 100SW into a CMZ target area which could not be previously drilled from the original 100 hectare concession (Area A). The upper-most mineralized intercept (Table 1) is hosted in sandstones and appears to represent the margins of a high-grade gold, upper limb zone previously encountered in SPD-028A. The deeper intercept, from 233 metres down-hole, also appears to be shallowly-dipping mineralization hosted in metasiltstone and representing approximately true thickness of a high-grade gold, upper limb zone which correlates with a similar position in SPD-072 (8.35 metres at 53.13 g/t gold, 0.06 g/t platinum and 0.12 g/t palladium), some 40 metres to the southwest.

Two steeply dipping, ultra high-grade gold-PGE subzones were intersected further down-hole in SPD-095. Both of these subzones exhibit high gold grades but also high PGE/gold and high platinum/palladium. A 0.7 metre intercept in the more easterly subzone assayed 713 g/t gold, 2251 g/t platinum and 727 g/t palladium, the highest platinum grades so far encountered in Colossus drilling at the Serra Pelada Project. Both subzones are open to the southwest, northeast, and at depth, and will be pursued in further drilling.

Step-out holes SPD-076 and SPD-079 were drilled on Section 175SW also targeting CMZ extensions, but due to topographic restrictions on drill pad placement were unable to test the southwest extensions of high grade subzones encountered in SPD-072 on 150SW. SPD-079 encountered a low-grade subzone outboard of these subzones. SPD-084 and SPD-084A on Section 300SW were abandoned due to drilling problems, well short of their targets. These problems have been resolved and drilling on the more southern extensions of the CMZ will re-commence shortly.

GT Zone

SPD-086A (on Section 100NE) extended the GT zone some 75 metres to the northeast of the thick intersection of this lower limb mineralized SPD-057. The drill-hole intersected high-grade (22.25 g/t platinum over 1.5 metres approximately true thickness) above several lower grade intercepts in dolomitic sandstones below the lower fold limb.

Further drilling is underway to delineate the anticipated gold-rich part of the GT zone in this area and also to test the potential continuity of the GT zone with the PGE-rich Western Zone some 350 metres to the northeast (Figure 1).

Portal Zone

SPD-089 was drilled about 25 metres north of the high-grade discovery intersection (SPD-066) (Figure 1) in the lower limb Portal Zone. Intersecting 1.14 metres (approximately true thickness) SPD-089 demonstrates that the high-grade "core" of the portal zone is at least 15 metres wide in this area. SPD-093 drilled between SPD-063 and SPD-066 intersected a 5.4 metre thickness of lower grade material on the margin of Portal Zone core.

SPD-090, SPD-091 and SPD-092 were step-out holes to find the up-plunge extensions of the Portal Zone to the northeast. Each hole encountered low-grade lower limb gold mineralization but were apparently drilled off-strike of the core of the Portal Zone.

All other drilling was undertaken in the now-completed sterilization program on the Serra Pelada plant site area. Although all holes intersected gold mineralization in lower limb settings at relatively shallow depths none of the intercepts are of potentially economic grades.

Technical Information

Diamond drilling was HQ cored. Sampling of core (by Colossus personnel) and sample preparation (by Intertek Limited, Parauapebas) were carried out under strict protocols recommended in the National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report dated January 31, 2010 on the Serra Pelada Project. After photographing and logging, core intervals (drilling advances, averaging one metre in length) were cut and/or split in half, yielding samples of two to three kilogram mass. Where core recoveries were low, intervals were composited to yield approximately one kilogram minimum sample masses. Intertek pulverised one or two kilogram splits (>95% passing 106 microns) from the crushed (>95% passing 1.7 mm), dried samples. Duplicates, blanks and certified gold-PGE reference materials were inserted in the sample train by Colossus personnel prior to Intertek preparation work.

Intertek inserted additional blanks, duplicates and high grade gold/PGE reference materials in the assay stream and replicate or duplicate assays were performed routinely and on most medium to high grade materials. Fire assays for gold, platinum and palladium were on 25 gram subsamples utilizing a lead-rich collector material and AA finish by Intertek. The assay lab dispatched assay certificate originals directly to Resource and Exploration Mapping Ltd., an independent company, which manages Colossus' database. 

The Intertek assay results for blanks, duplicates, replicates and also all reference materials were well within generally accepted QA/QC measures. 200 gram aliquots of medium and high grade pulps were rotary split from each pulp by Intertek and one of these samples was securely shipped directly by Intertek to Genalysis Limited, Perth Laboratory for check assaying.

Dr. Vic Wall, the Vice President, Exploration of Colossus, is a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for this release and has verified the contents disclosed.

To view figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/csi324fig1.pdf

About Colossus:

Colossus is a development-stage mining company focused on bringing into production the high-grade gold-platinum-palladium Serra Pelada project, located in the mineral prolific Carajas region in Para State, Brazil. Between 1980 and 1986 Serra Pelada was host to the largest precious metals rush in Latin American history. Coverage by 60 Minutes of this famous mining rush can be viewed at the following link: http://sixtyminutes.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=299887.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD‐LOOKING INFORMATION

Except for statements of historical fact relating to Colossus, certain statements in this press release relating but not limited to the Company's exploration and development plans, activities and intentions, constitute "forward‐looking information" within the meaning of the Securities Act (Ontario) or "forward‐looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements represent management's best judgment based on current facts and assumptions that management considers reasonable. Forward‐looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "target", "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", believe", "anticipate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "appear to", "may" or "will" occur. Forward‐looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward‐looking statements. The factors include but are not limited to risks related to the joint venture operation, actual results of exploration activities, the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, delays in obtaining government approvals, the uncertainties of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, the uncertainties inherent to conducting business in Brazil and the rest of Latin America, the availability of equipment and supplies, unexpected adverse climate conditions, the reliance on only a few key members of management, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form filed with Canadian provincial securities regulatory authorities and other regulatory filings which are posted on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Unless required by law, Colossus undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward‐looking statements.