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Troy Mine Operations Update and Year End Reserves

February 24, 2009

Spokane Valley, Washington (February 24, 2009) – Revett Minerals Inc. (RVM-TSX) (“Revett” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce improved operations performance and year end reserves and resources from its Troy Mine.

Operation Highlights

Revett achieved record production from its 70% held Troy Mine during 2008. All numbers presented below are on a 100% basis.

- 2008 silver production of 1.2 million ounces and copper production of 9.8 million pounds (increases of 8%and 4% respectively from 2007);

- Productivity improvement of 18% year-on-year:

=> 3,652 tons ore milled per day in 2008 as compared to 3,096 tons per day in 2007;

- An improvement of 67% in fourth quarter production:

=> 3,935 tons ore milled per day for the fourth quarter of 2008 as compared to 2,360 tons per day in the fourth quarter 2007; and

- A reduction of 29% in operating costs from October to December 2008 (exclusive of contract mining costs).

This fourth quarter 2008 achievement is particularly significant during a period when wages were also reduced by 10% for all of our employees at the Troy Mine. In addition to increased production, operating costs have been reduced through realization of lower prices for fuel and other consumables and increased focus on better utilization of wear materials.

Troy Production Summary⁽¹⁾	1^st Quarter	2^nd Quarter	3^rd Quarter	4^th Quarter	Total 2008
Mill Production
Mill Feed (st)	299,863	331,698	321,696	354,190	1,307,447
Mill Feed Rate (stpd)	3,369	3,727	3,574	3,935	3,652
Silver
Feed Grade - Oz/Ton Ag	0.87	0.87	1.05	1.21	1.01
Mill Recovery - Ag	89.0%	90.0%	90.2%	88.7%	89.5%
Recovered Ounces	231,912	259,847	302,239	380,157	1,174,155
Copper
Feed Grade - % Cu	0.41	0.41	0.45	0.44	0.43
Mill Recovery - Cu	86.5%	87.9%	88.7%	87.2%	87.6%
Recovered Pounds	2,129,522	2,388,947	2,549,580	2,737,858	9,805,907
Cash Cost⁽²⁾
By-Product Basis (payable)⁽³⁾
- Silver (US$/oz) or,	$ 8.55	$ 1.45	$ 1.40	$ 14.04	$ 6.92
- Copper (US$/lb)	$ 2.55	$ 2.21	$ 2.01	$ 2.38	$ 2.27
Co-Product Basis (payable)⁽³⁾
- Silver (US$/oz) and,	$ 13.79	$ 12.56	$ 11.48	$ 11.91	$ 12.11
- Copper (US$/lb)	$ 2.82	$ 2.73	$ 2.56	$ 2.18	$ 2.58
1. Production statistics are on a 100% basis. 2. Cash cost per payable ounce of silver or payable pound of copper is a non GAAP measure. The Company believes that, in addition to cost of sales, cash costs per ounce or per pound is a useful and complementary benchmark for performance and is well understood and widely reported in the mining industry. However, cash costs per ounce does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by Canadian GAAP. Investors are cautioned that cash costs per ounce or per pound should not be construed as an alternative to cost of sales determined in accordance with Canadian GAAP as an indicator of performance. The Company's method of calculating cash costs per ounce or per pound may differ from the methods used by other entities and, accordingly, the Company's cash costs per ounce or per pound may not be comparable to similarly titled measures used by other entities. 3. Average commodity prices used to off-set (by-product credit basis) or allocate (co-product basis) cash costs are the quarterly weighted averages from the London Metals Exchange for copper or the London Daily Fix for silver.

Productivity and cost improvements continued into January 2009 which, coupled with the recent rebound in metals prices, has allowed the Company to continue operating Troy on a month-to-month basis.

- January production averaged 3,942 tons ore milled per day at average grades of 1.16 ounces per ton Ag and 0.41% Cu.

- Cash operating costs of US$ 11.86/oz Ag and US$ 1.54/lb Cu on a co-product basis.

We have announced plans to employees that we will continue mining on a month-to-month basis at least through March 2009 which is beyond the previously issued WARN Act notice period (see Revett release dated December 12, 2008).

Notwithstanding the improved productivity and cost reductions, the Company continues to be in a negative working capital position and we continue to explore additional financing options to fund operations and to pay the US$4.3 million note due on 30 June 2009 related to our concentrate sales agreement. If additional financing cannot be obtained, the Company may not have sufficient financial resources to continue operations beyond the next few months.

Reserves & Resources

Estimated Mineral Reserves and Resources as of December 31, 2008 are as shown in the following tables:

Troy Reserves (Dec. 31, 2008)		Grades		Contained Metals
Classification⁽¹⁾	Tons (Mst)^(2,3)	Silver (opt)	Copper (%)	Silver (Moz)	Copper (Mlbs)
Proven	4.0	1.34	0.69	5.3	54.4
Probable	6.4	1.10	0.49	7.1	63.3
Total	10.4	1.19	0.57	12.4	117.7
1. Mineral Reserves have been categorized in accordance with the classifications defined by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy, and Petroleum (“CIMM”). 2. Does not include resources contained in planned pillars. Only material scheduled to be extracted and milled included. 3. The estimated mineral reserves were calculated by Mr. Larry Erickson, P Eng., a Qualified Person (“QP”) in accordance with Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”). They are stated using a cut-off grade of US$ 20.02 net smelter return per ton calculated at US$ 12.00/oz Ag and US$2.25/lb Cu. Mr. Erickson is an employee of Revett and is not considered independent.

Troy Resources (Dec. 31, 2008)				Contained Metals
Classification⁽¹⁾	Tons (millions)^(2,3)	Ag (opt)	Copper (pct)	Ag (million oz)	Cu (million lbs)
Measured	42.2	1.42	0.70	60.2	594.0
Indicated	17.4	0.99	0.44	17.1	152.8
Total Measured & Indicated	59.6	1.30	0.63	77.3	746.8
JF Property⁽⁴⁾	11.0	1.4	0.40	15.4	88.8
Total Inferred	11.0	1.4	0.40	15.4	88.8
1. Mineral Resources have been categorized in accordance with the classifications defined by the CIMM 2. Includes Proven & Probable Reserves and resources contained in existing pillars. 3. The estimated mineral resources were calculated by Mr. Larry Erickson, P Eng., a QP in accordance with NI 43-101. They are stated using a cut-off grade of US$ 20.02 net smelter return per ton calculated at US$ 12.00/oz Ag and US$2.25/lb Cu. Mr. Erickson is an employee of Revett and is not considered independent. 4. Resources listed for the JF Property are Historic Resources as defined by the CIMM and have not been audited by a Qualified Person. In 1992, ASARCO reported in an internal report a “Mineral Reserve” for the JF deposit of “11 million tons grading 0.4% Cu and 1.4 opt Ag.” This historical mineral resource estimate, which was prepared before the adoption of NI 43-101 and uses categories other than the ones set out in section 1.2 of NI 43-101, is considered relevant. A QP has not, however, done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current mineral resources and accordingly, Revett does not treat ASARCO’s historical estimate as current mineral resources. The reader is cautioned that the ASARCO historical estimate should not be relied upon. Revett has not yet taken the steps to validate this drilling information with new drilling data, however, Mr. Larry Erickson, P Eng., a QP in accordance with NI 43-101, has reviewed ASARCO’s drilling data (ie; core logs, assay results, sections) and believes it to be reliable. Mr. Erickson is an employee of Revett.

Mr. John Shanahan, President and CEO, noted “It is because of our employees dedication that improvements to productivity and cost reductions can be achieved, and they are to be commended for their efforts. As evidenced by our year end reserves and resources, there is still significant potential at Troy”.

John Shanahan

President & CEO

For more information, please contact: John Shanahan, CEO or Doug Ward, VP Corporate Development at (509) 921-2294 or visit our website at www.revettminerals.com.

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this press release may contain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to those with respect to the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, and the future potential of Troy. Actual results and developments could be affected by our challenging working capital position and our inability to continue to fund operations, as well as those factors discussed in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

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