VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 11, 2010) - Imperial Metals Corporation (TSX:III) reports that the holders of the balance of its outstanding 6% Unsecured Convertible Debentures issued on March 9, 2005 have elected to convert their aggregate principal amount of $13,980,000 into 1,616,173 common shares of the Company at the conversion price of $8.65 per share.

N. Murray Edwards, a significant shareholder of Imperial, announces he acquired 1,040,462 additional common shares of Imperial at $8.65 per share on the conversion of $9,000,000 principal amount of the unsecured convertible debentures increasing the direct and indirect holdings of Mr. Edwards to 13,509,241 common shares representing 37.6% of the issued and outstanding common shares of Imperial. Mr. Edwards indicated the acquisition was for investment purposes and that he may acquire additional common shares or securities convertible into common shares of Imperial from time to time, depending on market conditions. A copy of Mr. Edwards' report may be obtained from the persons set forth below.

Imperial is a mine development and operating company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Company's key properties are the Mount Polley open pit copper/gold producing mine in central British Columbia, the Huckleberry open pit copper/molybdenum producing mine in northern British Columbia, the development stage Red Chris copper/gold property in northwest British Columbia, and the development stage Sterling gold property in southwest Nevada.