Press Release

MINT ANNOUNCES INCREASE IN 2001 DISTRIBUTIONS

MINT is pleased to announce that a distribution of $0.18 per trust unit will be payable on October 25, 2001 to unitholders of record on September 28, 2001. This represents an increase of $0.01 per trust unit over the $0.17 distribution paid quarterly in the first half of 2001. This equates to an annualized yield of 10.3% based on a unit market price of $7.00.

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

September 4, 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.