Frontera Copper Reports Third Quarter 2005 Results.

TORONTO -- (All dollar amounts are expressed in United States currency unless otherwise noted)

Frontera Copper Corporation (TSX:FCC)(TSX:FCC.NT)(TSX:FCC.WT) is pleased to announce results for the three and nine month periods ending September 30, 2005.

Financial Results

Frontera reported a net loss of $1,778,374 ($0.037 per share) for the third quarter of 2005 as compared to a loss of $234,420 ($0.021 per share) for the third quarter of 2004. For the nine months ended September 30, 2005, Frontera reported a net loss of $2,740,985 ($0.062 per share) as compared to a loss of $957,038 ($0.090 per share) for the nine months ended September 30, 2004. The increases in net losses were primarily due to higher administrative expenditures related to an intensified level of corporate activity and development activity at the company's wholly-owned Piedras Verdes project in Sonora, Mexico and interest and accretion expense on notes issued during 2005. The administrative expenditures and the interest expense were partially offset by higher interest income earned from the investment of the company's excess cash balances.

At September 30, 2005, Frontera had a working capital surplus of $76,832,026 as compared to $46,736,685 at December 31, 2004. At September 30, 2005, $53,606,375 of working capital was represented by cash which has been placed in escrow and restricted for project purposes and future interest payments associated with the notes issued in June and July of 2005. The company also had long-term restricted cash of $6,334,874 as of September 30, 2005 which included $2,945,000 related to the December 15, 2006 interest payment on the notes issued in 2005 and $3,389,874 related to commitments under an agreement with a mining contractor.

The company had capitalized mineral property, plant and equipment, and deferred exploration and development expenditures as of September 30, 2005 totalling $18,082,064, an increase of $13,237,335 from December 31, 2004. Significant expenditures during the nine month period included plant and equipment - $6,976,666, geological consulting - $1,871,672, option and advance royalty payments - $1,590,000, surface land agreements and village relocation - $1,303,436, and permitting - $927,241.

Frontera's consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2005 and related management discussion and analysis are available on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com.

Company Developments

Frontera continued to advance the development of the Piedras Verdes project and during the quarter achieved important milestones. In May 2005, the Company announced the results of an updated technical report which considered the use of contract mining on the terms set out in the letter of intent signed between Frontera and Spanish mining contractor PEAL OP, S.A. In July, the company signed an agreement with PEAL Mexico, S.A. de C.V., a wholly-owned subsidiary of PEAL OP, S.A., for the provision of contract mining services at the Piedras Verdes project. Under the terms of the agreement, PEAL will provide mining services at the Piedras Verdes project for a six month pre-production period followed by a contract period of five years. PEAL's mining equipment is enroute from Spain and will be on site at the Piedras Verdes project in the fourth quarter of 2005 in order for pre-production mining to begin.

Frontera announced in September that it had received two Change of Land Use permits. These permits, issued by the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) of Mexico, were the final permits required for the company to begin construction of the mine site, power line and access road. Construction of the power line and access road are underway and construction of the mine site will begin in the fourth quarter of 2005.

M3 Engineering & Technology Corporation, Frontera's engineering, procurement and construction management contractor for the Piedras Verdes project, continued to advance project engineering. In the April 2005 technical report, initial project capital expenditures assuming the use of a mining contractor, totaled $75.9 million, including working capital. As the engineering has progressed, Frontera management has acted aggressively and committed to over $27.3 million of equipment and services to counter the delivery and cost pressures mining development projects around the world are facing, arising from the strength in the world economy. These commitments include difficult to source equipment with long manufacturing times such as rectifier-transformers, a cathode stripping machine and backup power generators, and inputs such as stainless steel and petroleum-based products. Having made early commitments for the critical path items, management is confident it can reduce the construction schedule and in turn the total construction cost. The terms of the senior unsecured notes issued in 2005 allow for an additional $15,000,000 of indebtedness secured against the Piedras Verdes project. Frontera intends to arrange a debt facility in this amount to fund any possible cost over runs arising from continued cost pressures driven by growth in the global economy. Management believes that its aggressive actions to date will help ensure the company meets its target for commencement of copper production during the second half of 2006.

Water exploration activities are complete and wells continue to be constructed in the well fields previously established by Frontera. In May 2005, the National Water Commission granted the company a water consumption license for 2.4 million m3 of the annual 4 million m3 of water required for the project. After the end of the reporting period, the consumption license for the remaining 1.6 million m3 of water was received by the Company. Once the wells have been constructed and their surface rights established, the National Water Commission will grant the remaining water use licenses.

Key management and operating staff have been hired by Frontera's wholly-owned Mexican subsidiary, Cobre del Mayo, S.A. de C.V. The staff are working out of a temporary office in Alamos, Sonora, approximately 20 km from the Piedras Verdes project, and will locate to the project site as soon as adequate mine facilities are built and communications established.

On July 7, 2005, the underwriters of the public offering of units which closed in the second quarter of 2005 exercised their over-allotment option resulting in total gross proceeds to Frontera on the offering of Cdn$69,000,000. The company issued in total 69,000 units consisting of notes and common shares and at closing each unit separated into a Cdn$1,000 principal amount senior unsecured note and 100 common shares of Frontera. The notes are not convertible, mature on June 15, 2010 and pay interest semi-annually at a rate of 10% per annum.

Subsequent to the end of the quarter, Frontera completed the relocation of the Piedras Verdes Ejido and formally delivered the Nuevo Piedras Verdes townsite to the Municipality of Alamos. The original Piedras Verdes community occupied a portion of the surface of the Piedras Verdes deposit and required relocation. Forty nine homeowners in the original village agreed to move 6 km south of the mine site to a new townsite with infrastructure including utilities for the homes (power, water, sewage disposal system and roads), a kindergarten, a primary school, a secondary school, playgrounds, plaza area, health clinic and school masters' houses provided by Frontera.

About Frontera Copper

Frontera was incorporated in March 2002 to purchase and bring into production the Piedras Verdes open pit, run-of-mine, heap leach, SX-EW copper project in Sonora, Mexico. Construction activities have started at the site and the mining contractor is on schedule to begin pre-production mining activity in the fourth quarter of 2005. Copper production is expected to commence in the second half of 2006 at an annual rate of 70 million pounds per year of LME Grade A cathode at an average life-of-mine cash operating cost of $0.58 per pound. A total of 942 million pounds of copper is projected to be produced during the 18 year life of the project. Existing resources and prospective exploration targets adjacent to the proposed open pit have the potential to improve the economics and extend the life of the project.

Frontera Copper Corporation (TSX:FCC) (TSX:FCC.WT) (TSX:FCC.NT)