Press Release

MINT ANNOUNCES FIRST QUARTER 2001 DISTRIBUTION

MINT is pleased to announce that a distribution of $0.17 per trust unit will be payable on April 26, 2001 to unitholders of record on March 30, 2001 which is consistent with the distribution paid quarterly in 2000. This equates to an annualized yield of 11.1% based on a unit market price of $6.10. We anticipate that distributions will continue at this level for the year 2001.

Unitholders of MINT can acquire additional units by participating in the Distribution Reinvestment Plan. The Plan enables unitholders to reinvest their quarterly distributions in additional units of MINT thereby achieving the benefit of compounding returns. In order to take advantage of the Plan, unitholders should contact their investment advisor or Middlefield.

MINT trades on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "MID.UN".

For further information visit our website at www.middlefield.com or contact the undersigned:

Nancy Tham
Vice President
(416) 362-0714, Ext. 277

March 21, 2001

This press release contains forward-looking information. Actual future results may differ materially. The risks, uncertainties and other factors that could influence actual results are described in MINT’s annual report to unitholders and other documents filed with regulatory authorities.