Exhibit 99.1
NEWS RELEASE
Petaquilla Appoints Chief Financial Officer
Vancouver, BC – December 29, 2009: Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. (“Petaquilla” or the “Company”) is pleased to
announce the appointment of Ms. Julie van Baarsen as Chief Financial Officer of the Company effective January
1, 2010.
Ms. van Baarsen joined the Company in January 2009 as Director of Finance and, being both knowledgeable of
the Company’s operations and possessing strong accounting and financial expertise, is the Company’s natural
choice to fill the Chief Financial Officer role. Ms. Van Baarsen, a Chartered Accountant, brings a wide range of
experience to the position having worked in various industries in both public and private companies. She is a
former audit manager of Grant Thornton LLP.
Petquilla’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Joao Manuel, commented, "We are delighted to welcome
Ms. van Baarsen as Chief Financial Officer. Her broad spectrum of talents complements our management team
and will help guide us through our commercial production phase at our Molejon gold project and exploration
programs at our Oro del Norte and other concessions in Panama”.
In her new capacity Ms. Van Baarsen replaces Bassam Moubarak who will remain with the Company as a
consultant through January to assist with the transition of the Chief Financial Officer role and with the Plan of
Arrangement to spin out Petaquilla Infrastructure Ltd.
Petaquilla’s board of directors and management would like to thank Mr. Moubarak for his dedicated work in
assisting the Company in bringing its Molejon gold mine into production and wishes him well in his future
endeavors.
About Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. - Petaquilla Minerals Ltd. is a gold producer operating its gold processing
plant at its 100% owned Molejon Gold Project in Panama. The plant utilizes three ball mills and a carbon-in-pulp
processing facility. Anticipated throughput for the project during the first year of commercial production is
estimated to be 2200 tonnes