Focus Appoints Technical Advisor and New Director

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Dec 18, 2013) - Focus Ventures Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:FCV) is pleased to announce the following appointments to its Technical Advisory Board and Board of Directors.

The Company has appointed Mr. Absalón Aguilar Lagos as a Consultant to its Peruvian subsidiary, Agrifos Peru S.A.C. Mr. Aguilar, a Peruvian National, is a highly respected geological engineer with extensive experience in the Bayovar phosphate district where he has worked since 1964 in various roles for public, private and government companies, with special expertise in phosphate processing and metallurgy. From 2001 - 2007 he acted as General Manager for Minera Regional Grau Bayovar and Activos Mineros, both Peruvian State Companies responsible for the successful privatization of the Bayovar non-metallic mining District including Vale's Bayovar Mine and Fosfatos del Pacifico's Bayovar 9 project. Most recently, Mr. Aguila acted as an advisor to Fosfatos during the exploration phase.

Mr. Ralph Rushton, the Company's Vice-President, Corporate Development, has been appointed to its Board of Directors. Mr. Rushton will continue in his current capacity with responsibility for marketing of the Company's phosphate assets. Mr. Rushton holds a B.Sc. in geology from Portsmouth University in the UK, a Master's degree in economic geology from the University of Alberta, and a Certificate in Business Communications from Simon Fraser University. He has over 25 years' experience in mining and exploration, much of which was gained working as a geologist in Southern Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. For the last 10 years he has worked in business development and investor relations for a number of junior companies and currently serves as a director on the boards of Radius Gold Inc., Cordoba Minerals Corp., Rackla Metals Inc., Medgold Resources Corp. and Western Pacific Resources Corp.

In addition, the Company has granted stock options to its directors, officers and employees to purchase up to a total of 2,360,000 shares of the Company exercisable for ten years at a price of $0.22 per share.

About Focus Ventures

Phosphate rock is a raw material for fertilizers and vital to world food production. Focus is acquiring and developing quality phosphate projects in Latin America where the discovery and development of new deposits is becoming increasingly important given the growing demand and limited local supply of phosphate for fertilizer production. For further information, please call 604-688-5288 or visit our web site www.focusventuresltd.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

David Cass, President

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statement

Some of the statements in this news release contains forward-looking information that involves inherent risk and uncertainty affecting the business of Focus Ventures Ltd. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statement.