Martin Marietta Materials Purchases Quarries in Texas and North Carolina; Sells Two Quarries in Virginia.

Business Editors

RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 21, 2002

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM), today announced the purchase of a quarry operation from Symth Mine, LLP located at Uvalde, Texas. The quarry produces limestone asphalt, a naturally occurring limestone impregnated with asphaltic oil, which is an excellent material for a variety of road resurfacing and repair applications. Martin Marietta plans to promptly initiate projects that will increase capacity and rail connect the quarry in order to expand its market potential. Mineral reserves exceed 50 million tons. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Martin Marietta also announced the acquisition of a granite quarry near Haw River in central North Carolina and the disposition of two quarries located near Fredericksburg and Culpeper, Virginia. Both transactions were with Luck Stone Corporation; terms were not disclosed.

Commenting on the announcements, Stephen P. Zelnak, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Martin Marietta, stated, "We are pleased to acquire the Haw River location. This quarry, which has in excess of one million tons of capacity, will enable us to serve the area between Greensboro and Durham in a very competitive manner from a cost-effective facility. However, we are sorry to be leaving the two Virginia locations. Our employees have worked diligently to improve these plants and have done an outstanding job. We believe that these locations will benefit from being part of an organization that is focused on growth in these areas. The limestone asphalt operation at Uvalde, Texas, offers significant potential for growth in sales and earnings. We expect to be able to expand the market for this product by using our large distribution network."

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. is the nation's second largest producer of construction aggregates and a leading producer of magnesia-based chemicals used in a wide variety of industries.

Investors are cautioned that all statements in this press release that relate to the future involve risks and uncertainties, and are based on assumptions that the Corporation believes in good faith are reasonable but which may be materially different from actual results. Factors that the Corporation currently believes could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to business and economic conditions and trends in the markets the Company serves; the level and timing of federal and state transportation funding; levels of construction spending in the markets the Company serves; unfavorable weather conditions; ability to recognize quantifiable savings from internal expansion projects; ability to successfully integrate acquisitions quickly and in a cost-effective manner; fuel costs; transportation costs; competition from new or existing competitors; and other risk factors listed from time to time found in the Corporation's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Corporation assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.