Spur Ventures Inc. - Announcement.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 1999--The Board of Directors of Spur Ventures Inc. (VSE:SVU)(the "Company" or "Spur") is pleased to announce that the Company has received final approval on its Yichang phosphate project from all levels of the Chinese Government. According to an official document issued by the Federal Development and Planning Commission, the Chinese State Council has granted an unconditional approval to the project application. The State Council is the highest governing authority in the Chinese Government headed by the Premier. The Federal Development and Planning Commission generally exercises its final authority on approving joint venture projects. The involvement of the State Council is an indication of the magnitude of the project and its significance to the country. The approval process commenced in early 1997 and it took two years of concentrated effort with various levels of government agencies including the Hubei Provincial Government, the Ministry of Chemical Industry, China International Engineering Consulting Corp., the Federal Development and Planning Commission and finally, the State Council. In addition to receiving full support from all the Chinese government agencies involved in the approval process, the Company received invaluable assistance from the Canadian Government, especially the Canadian Embassy in Beijing.

As announced in the press release dated October 13, 1998, Spur commissioned Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. ("Jacobs") based at Lakeland, Fla. to undertake a bankable feasibility study on the Yichang project. The study is expected to finish by the end of this year. In early January 1999, a team of six top experts from Jacobs, assisted by sixteen Chinese engineers, conducted a two-week technical due diligence trip in Yichang. The due diligence covered all aspects of the project including geology, mining, beneficiation, pipeline transportation, chemical plants, and infrastructure. From the data acquired earlier and additional information obtained during Jacobs recent field trip, Jacobs are now preparing a conceptual design report. The conceptual report will be the first report in a staged bankable feasibility study on the Yichang project.

The Yichang phosphate project is located on the Yangtze River in the center of China's agricultural region. Based on exploration data which has been confirmed in Chinese Government audit reports and in an independent prefeasibility report prepared by Northern China Chemical Mine Planning and Design Institute and China Wuhuan Chemical Engineering Corp., the Yichang area hosts phosphate resource of 1.14 billion tonnes. Five phosphate deposits will be vested into the project. Two of the five deposits, which will be first developed, host a total ore resources of 91.1 million tonnes in the Chinese B, C, and D categories, which correspond to roughly North American measured, indicated and inferred resources. Resources in the two deposits were defined by 154 drill holes and 18,497 m3 of trenching. The geological work on the remaining three deposits, which will be developed following the depletion of the first two deposits, is preliminary. According to a Chinese audit report, a total of 73 drill holes were conducted to define these deposits. The geological data for the five deposits will be independently audited by North American geologists as apart of the bankable feasibility study by Jacobs. The prefeasibility report prepared by Northern China Chemical Mine Planning and Design Institute of the Ministry of Chemical Industry and the China Wuhuan Chemical Engineering Corp. for Spur proposed a 2.5 million tonnes per year mining operation. It will represent the largest phosphate fertilizer operation in China and eventually produce an equivalent of one million tonnes per year diammonium phosphate fertilizer. The final scale of operation will be determined in Jacobs feasibility study.

According to information assembled by The Fertilizer Institute and other North American industry partners, China is the largest phosphate fertilizer consumer in the world accounting for 24% consumption. China is also the largest phosphate fertilizer importer. It imports annually six million tonnes of diammonium phosphate with a market value of US$1.2 billion accounting for over 30% of world trade. The phosphate fertilizer consumption in China grew at about 10% annually between 1988 to 1998.

For information, contact Y.B. Ian He, President at 604/689-5564 or Robert G. Atkinson, Chairman at 604/688-3410.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF SPUR VENTURES INC.

Y.B. Ian He, President

The Vancouver Stock Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this press releas