Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. Announces Bridge Loan, Board Changes, and Financial Year End Amendment

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Oct. 1, 2014) - Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. ("Petaquilla" or the "Company") (TSX:PTQ)(OTCBB:PTQMF)(FRANKFURT:P7Z) announces that it has arranged a bridge loan of US$18 million (the "Bridge Loan"), which is expected to close within the next few days, to provide funding for general corporate and working capital purposes. The Bridge Loan represents interim financing to support the operations of the Company and shall be repayable by the Company one year from the closing date.

Pursuant to an executed Term Sheet, this Bridge Loan is to form part of a larger financing (the "Financing") totaling US$60 million to be disbursed over a period of one year and linked to a gold purchase and sales agreement (the "Gold Agreement") with Imppetrol Investment S.A. ("Imppetrol") as the buyer of 300,000 gold ounces, which the Company shall deliver over a period of three years commencing January 2015 at a price per ounce set at the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) gold a.m. price fix on the day of sale less a discount of ten per cent (10%). The Bridge Loan shall be rolled into the Financing, which shall bear an interest rate at the 1-Year London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus two per cent (2%), and mature three years from closing.

In connection with the Financing, Felix Salas, President of Power Blue, LLC, an affiliate of Imppetrol, and Jose Miranda, Chief Executive Officer of Imppetrol, will join Petaquilla's Advisory Board to its Board of Directors. In addition, Pascual Montanes, who presently serves as President of Iberian Resources Corp. and as Chief Executive Officer of Corporacion Recursos Iberia S.A.U., both subsidiaries of the Company, will join the Company's Board of Directors replacing Raul Ferrer.

On other matters, Petaquilla advises that it has changed its financial year-end from June 30 to July 31. As a result of this change, the Company will have a transitional 13-month financial year ending July 31, 2014. The change in the financial year end results from a longer than expected completion of an agreement executed by the Company in May 2014. The timing of various transactions forming components of the agreement, mainly associated with the public registration of asset ownership transfers in Panama, led to delays in accounting for the subject sale and corresponding delays with respect to the receipt of funds pursuant to the agreement. These delays have had the effect of deferring works related to the Company's year end audit.