MAM

Manicouagan Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: MAM) announced today that it has contracted with Geotech Ltd. of Aurora, Ontario to fly a 560 line kilometre helicopter borne VTEM PLUS survey over its 100% owned Brabant Lake Properties located in north central Saskatchewan, 175 kilometres north of the town of La Ronge. The survey is expected to commence before the end of January.

The detailed airborne VTEM PLUS (Versatile Time Domain Electro Magnetic) geophysical survey utilizing 100 metre line spacing will cover the entire land package of 28 square kilometres that includes the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit. In 2010 the land position was expanded, by staking to cover approximately 15 km of the favourable horizon which hosts the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit.

Based on a search of the assessment work files it is believed that this will be the first airborne survey flown over the Brabant Lake area since the late 1960's.

The purpose of this program is to identify electro magnetic anomalies along the favourable horizon which could indicate the presence of sulphide mineralization that would warrant follow-up investigation.

Joseph Baylis, Manicouagan's President and CEO said, "We believe that this comprehensive and systematic VTEM PLUS survey will be an excellent tool to demonstrate the exploration potential of the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit and the additional claims that we have added."

The NI 43-101 resource estimate for the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit with an effective date of July 27, 2008 is set out below:

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2008 MPH/P&E Resource Estimate (1), (2), (3), (4)
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                                          Zn      Cu      Pb      Ag      Au
                              Tonnes     (%)     (%)     (%)   (g/t)   (g/t)
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Indicated                  1,475,000    9.18    0.79    0.23    32.6    0.15
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Inferred                   2,975,000    5.55    0.55    0.13    13.9    0.10
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                                                                Ag
                            Zn lbs    Cu lbs    Pb lbs    millions        Au
                          millions  millions  millions      ounces    ounces
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Indicated                    298.5      25.7       7.5        1.55     7,100
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Inferred                     364.0      36.1       8.5        1.33     9,600
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(1) The resource for the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit was estimated on the
    basis of June 30, 2008 approximate $US three year trailing average metal
    prices of $1.27/lb zinc, $3.02/lb copper, $0.86/lb lead, $12.49/oz
    silver and $663/oz gold, and a US dollar exchange rate of $0.912. A NSR
    cut-off of CAD$75/tonne for underground mining and milling was utilized
    to report the resource.

(2) Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have
    demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may
    be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title,
    taxation, socio-political, marketing, or other relevant issues.

(3) The quantity and grade of reported inferred resources in this estimation
    are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to
    define these inferred resources as an indicated or measured mineral
    resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in
    upgrading them to an indicated or measured mineral resource category.

(4) Contained metals, expressed in pounds (lbs) and troy ounces (oz),
    presented in the table above are the product of resource tonnes
    multiplied by metal grades and are provided for information purposes
    only and are not meant to imply recoverable product as mineral resources
    which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic
    viability.

The mineral resources were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM"), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council on December 11, 2005.

Eugene Puritch, P.Eng. and Antoine Yassa, P.Geo of P&E, and Gerald Harron, P.Eng. of MPH are the authors of the Resource Estimate Technical Report on the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit which pertains to the 2008 MPH/P&E Resource Estimate and which was filed on September 12, 2008 with Manicouagan's filings on SEDAR. They are independent Qualified Persons in accordance with NI 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

Qualified Person

Exploration programs on Manicouagan's Brabant Lake Project are carried out under the supervision of Mr. Bruce W. Mackie, P. Geo., Mr. Mackie, a professional geologist, has reviewed and verified the technical content of the information contained in this release and qualifies under the definition of "Qualified Person" set out in National Instrument 43-101

About Manicouagan

Manicouagan Minerals Inc. is a Canadian based exploration company focused on advancing its gold projects in the Pickle Lake Gold Belt, Ontario. Manicouagan also has a pipeline of commodity projects including the Brabant Lake Zinc deposit in Saskatchewan, together with the Mouchalagane Nickel/Copper/PGE project and the HPM/Forgues Nickel/Copper/Cobalt project, both in Quebec. Additional information about the company can be found at www.manicouaganminerals.com.

Une traduction francaise de ce communique de presse est disponible a www.manicouaganminerals.com.

All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations are exploration risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulators.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy, accuracy or contents of this news release.

Contacts: Manicouagan Minerals Inc. Joseph Baylis President and Chief Executive Officer (416) 542-3980 Manicouagan Minerals Inc. Andreas Curkovic Investor Relations (416) 577-9927 investorrelations@manicouaganminerals.com www.manicouaganminerals.com