Talvivaaran Kaivososakeyhtiö Oyj - Financial Statement Release

Talvivaara Mining Company annual accounts review for year ended 31 December 2008

Transforming a project into a mine


Highlights of 2008

• Commercial scale mining commenced with a first blast on 1 April 2008
• Talvivaara placed an offering of EUR 84.9 million of convertible bonds on 14
  May 2008 
• Production scale materials handling processes, including crushing, stacking
  and bioheapleaching of ore, commenced during the month of July 2008 
• USD 320 million project finance facility was drawn down starting 3 September
  2008 
• First metal sulphides from the Talvivaara mine were precipitated on 1 October
  2008 
• A 42% increase in measured and indicated mineral resources to 642 million
  tonnes was announced on 4 December 2008
• Operating loss for the year was EUR (4.3) million (2007: profit of EUR 2.3
  million) 
• Capital expenditure for the year was EUR 429 million (2007: EUR 134 million)
• Cash at year end EUR 82.7 million (2007: EUR 153.5 million)

Highlights since the end of the review period

• First lot of 100 tonnes of nickel sulphide to off-take partner Norilsk Nickel
  Harjavalta Oy was shipped on 19 February 2009 
• Finnvera Plc has granted an up to EUR 50 million investment and working
  capital facility to Talvivaara Project Ltd. to be utilised during 2009 
• Planning for a secondary listing on the main list of NASDAQ OMX Helsinki
   stock exchange ongoing 


CEO Pekka Perä:

“2008 was a very difficult year for the financial markets and much of the world
economy, but, despite the decline in the nickel price it was generally a good
one for Talvivaara. We achieved all our planned milestones, from the start of
mining in April to the first metal production, on time, in October. On top of
that, we further strengthened our financial position through a successful EUR
85 million convertible bonds offering in May. 

Like any new project, we have however had teething problems. The ramp-up
process, including mining, bioheapleaching and metals recovery, has generally
progressed very well, but we have faced challenges in ramping up our crushing
circuit. Corrective actions with the crushing equipment have been taken, but
some further de-bottlenecking still remains to be done. 

While achieving the planned level of production remains our main focus in 2009,
we are, given the present unpredictability of base metals prices, also focusing
on conserving our cash resources. Accordingly, we have deferred all capital
expenditure which is not necessary for achieving the budgeted production, until
2010. I am, however, very happy to confirm that we are continuing our
recruitment efforts according to plan to strengthen our already skilled team of
professionals. All in all, I look forward to continued delivery on our plans
and making great progress in the year ahead.” 


Enquiries:

Talvivaara Mining Company Plc. 
Pekka Perä, CEO				Tel. +358 20 712 9800 
Saila Miettinen-Lähde, CFO			

Merlin						Tel. +44 207 653 6620
David Simonson
Tom Randell
Anca Spiridon

Cocomms
Anna-Mari Tiilikainen 				Tel. +358 9 6689 6925 



Presentation and live webcast on 4 March 2009 at 13:00 GMT/15:00 EET 

A combined presentation, conference call and live webcast on the Annual Results
will be held on 4 March 2009 at 13:00 GMT/15:00 EET at Hotel Scandic
Simonkenttä, Simonkatu 9, Helsinki, Finland. The presentation will be held in
English. 

Link:
http://qsb.webcast.fi/c/customers/customers_2009_0304_talvivaara_results_2008/ 

A conference call facility will be available for a Q&A with senior management
following the presentation. 
Europe & U.K Participants: +44 (0)20 7162 0025
US Participants:  +1 334 323 6201
Conference ID: 827977 

Further details on the event can be found on the Talvivaara website,
www.talvivaara.com. The webcast will also be available for viewing on the
Talvivaara website shortly after the event until December 2009.

Attachments:

03-04 09 talvivaara annual results 2008.pdf