Nemaska Blasts a 50 Tonnes Bulk Sample at Whabouchi Lithium Project for Pilot Plant Testing

QUEBEC CITY, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - May 5, 2011) - Nemaska Exploration Inc. («Nemaska» or the «Corporation») (TSX VENTURE:NMX) (OTCBB:NMKEF) (FRANKFURT:NOT) is pleased to announce that it has blasted a 50 tonnes bulk sample on its Whabouchi lithium project for metallurgical pilot plant testing. The 50 tonnes sample comes from the main zone and is located in the R-575 trench where channel samples returned 1,65% Li₂O over 37,5 metres (see press release February 8^th, 2011). In addition to the material coming from the R-575 trench, the bulk sample will also include approximately 8 tonnes of drill core material that has been collected across the deposit as part of the recently completed 8,909 metre infill diamond drill program. The diamond drill program used large-diameter HQ size core to obtain more representative material for the pilot plant process.

The goal of the program is to produce a representative sample that will be used to feed a pilot plant to be done at SGS Lakefield facilities in Ontario. An optimized flow sheet from the initial bench scale tests conducted in fall 2010 (see press releases September 8^th, and November 23^rd, 2010) will be used to set up the pilot plant for running approximately 58 tonnes of ore throughput for production plant design. The program will also produce the engineering data for the metallurgical portion of the feasibility study and plant design phase. The pilot plant testing is scheduled to commence by the end of May. The spodumene concentrate, lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, produced from the pilot plant test will be used as commercial samples in Nemaska's on-going global marketing.

"This is a major step towards completing a full feasibility study and discussing offtake agreements with potential clients," commented Guy Bourassa, President and CEO of Nemaska Exploration. "We remain on track to have the definitive feasibility study completed by Fall 2011."

The technical sections of this press release have been prepared by Yvan Bussières, P. Eng and reviewed by Yves Caron, M.Sc., P. Geo., qualified persons as defined in National instrument 43-101.

About Nemaska

Nemaska Exploration Inc. is an exploration and development company with lithium/beryllium properties located in the James Bay region of Quebec. Nemaska is focused on the development of its 100% owned Whabouchi lithium deposit, for which a preliminary economic assessment was filed on January 19, 2011. The Whabouchi deposit is easily accessible year round by either the Route du Nord from Chibougamau (280 km) or the Route de la Baie James from Matagami (380 km) and is located near the Cree community of Nemaska and the Némiscau airport. Nemaska is currently undertaking an initial public offering of its subsidiary Monarques Resources Inc. and expects to be Monarques largest shareholder. Upon completion of a successful IPO, Monarques will hold 100 % of the Lac Levac (about 9,200 hectares), Lac Arques (about 39,470 hectares), and Lac des Montagnes (about 12,740 hectares) properties. These properties are contiguous and cover about 85 km of the Lac des Montagnes polymetallic greenstone belt formation.

The statements herein that are not historical facts are forward‐looking statements. These statements address future events and conditions and so involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ from those currently projected. The Corporation does not assume the obligation to update any forward‐looking statement.