Vancouver, British Columbia – November 17, 2011 – Mercator Minerals Ltd. (TSX:ML) (“Mercator” or the “Company”) today announced that it has arranged a non-brokered private placement with purchasers to purchase 11,428,572 units (“Units”) at a purchase price of $1.75 per Unit (the “Issue Price”) for aggregate gross proceeds of $20 million (the “Offering”).  The sale of the Units under the Offering has been fully allocated to a limited number of accredited purchasers, and is subject to necessary regulatory approvals and the execution and delivery of customary documentation. 

Each Unit will consist of one fully paid and non-assessable common share in the capital of the Company and one-quarter of one non-transferable warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of $2.50 for a period of 36 months from the closing date.

The Company intends that the proceeds received from the sale of Units will primarily be used to compress the construction schedule for the development of the El Pilar project, including completion of detailed engineering work, payment of the Change of Land Use (“CUS”) permit fees, payment for land and right of way costs and final permitting, to allow for the delivery of a “construction ready” project, which should allow for a quicker start-up when construction financing for the El Pilar project is available.  The proceeds may also be used for general corporate and working capital purposes.

“Completion of this financing should allow Mercator to continue to rapidly advance our very attractive El Pilar heap leach copper project in Mexico towards a production decision until project funding is arranged,” said Bruce McLeod, President and CEO of Mercator.  “With the recent successful completion of the performance test at our Mineral Park copper-molybdenum mine, cash flow from operations should start to become available for other activities in the second quarter of 2012 but, in the interim, this modest financing would support advancement of critical items so that we can continue on our path to growing copper production on a value accretive basis for our shareholders.”

A 3% finder’s fee may be paid on all or a portion of the private placement.  This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy the securities in any jurisdiction.

For further information please visit www.mercatorminerals.com or contact;