MINCO PLC

Preliminary results for the year ended 30 April 2004

Minco Plc, the international precious metals development and exploration company is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 30 April 2004.

Highlights include:

·                     Successful completion of Laguna silver rich tailings feasibility study which shows

Ø      Net Present Value at 10% of US $ 26.5 m

Ø      Internal rate of return of 46.1%

Ø      Total revenues of US$ 116.4m

Ø      Cash costs of silver equivalent production of US$ 2.28

Ø      US$ 9.94 operating profit per Tonne

Ø      One million tonnes per year production

Ø      18 million ounces silver equivalent production over an eight year project life

The study included confirming the reserve by drilling a total of 216 holes in the lake

·                     Evaluation of potential silver and gold acquisitions from our newly established technical offices in Mexico and Russia are currently underway

·                     Option to acquire controlling interest in Tophor, a Russian company, which owns Vodorazdelnoye, a high grade gold deposit in Russia. Due diligence underway

·                     Further drill program at Pallas Green with Noranda JV partner

·                     Metal price rises aid all Minco’s projects

In October 2003 Minco acquired Orca Gold Group with its silver properties in Mexico. This acquisition has been the cornerstone of subsequent developments which have been, and are, aimed at developing a substantial precious metals project asset base to add to a portfolio of zinc holdings in Ireland. Solid progress has been made this year in developing both the overall portfolio of projects and the current projects.

Significant progress was made in the development of the 100% owned Laguna silver tailings project in Mexico, earmarked for early production. A total of 216 drill holes were completed to confirm an updated resource. Micon International was commissioned to carry out metallurgical test work, resource evaluation, dredging, processing, tailings disposal, infrastructure and environmental studies which they recently completed. Their  study shows an operating profit of US$9.94 per tonne processed at a production rate of 1 million tonnes a year from a capital cost of US$19.5 million, the operating profit being based on a price of US$6.50 per ounce of silver.

Recent silver prices of over US$7.00 per ounce will significantly enhance the project economics, which already show an internal rate of return of 46%. Discussions with several banks regarding project finance will now commence and attention will be turned to proving an increased resource by drilling the land based further tailings which will further enhance the overall economics of the project.

Exploration on the 4,000 hectare concessions held by Minco in the Zacatecas State of Mexico identified  an additional 2,000 metre strike length of silver mineralisation which is now included as a drilling target. In addition we are currently evaluating another potential silver-gold-copper property in Mexico which we believe has significant potential.

In Ireland Minco, with joint venture partner Noranda, funded a 1,000 metre drilling programme at the Pallas Green Zinc project to test the lateral extent of the known mineralisation. In addition Tournigan Gold Corporation announced that it is working towards a production decision on the Curraghinalt deposit in which Minco holds a 2% net smelter royalty.

In Russia we secured an option to purchase an initial 52% of the shares in Tophor (with an ability to increase this to 90% and beyond) which owns the high grade gold deposit, Vodorazdelnoye, in Irkutsk, Russia. This is a narrow vein gold deposit with grades of close to one ounce of gold per tonne. Legal, financial and technical due diligence on Tophor and its property are underway at the time of writing. 

In addition to developing our existing projects we are continually looking at potential project acquisitions. The acquisition criteria we set ourselves are rigorous:

• near term low cost production potential
• world class exploration potential
• management control

Technical, legal, financial audits and commercial studies have been carried out on a number of projects in Central Asia, Russia and Mexico with small commercial and technical offices have been established in Mexico and Russia.  Consultants, such as ACA Howe, SRK and Micon International have been commissioned to assist in the due diligence process. This work is ongoing and the projects currently under review, if successful, will justify these rigorous acquisition rules. Following the spectacular rise in the price of copper we have widened our search to include silver/gold/copper projects.

In March 2004 John Teeling stepped down as Chairman due to his other commitments and I agreed to assume the role as Executive Chairman with Matthew Dorman as the Chief Executive Officer. At the same time we appointed Seymour Pierce as the Nominated Advisor and Broker and appointed Conduit PR to assist with public relations. When evaluating Uzbekistan projects Jitendra Patel joined the Board and has been actively working with us to achieve our objectives.

Recent silver prices of over $7.00 per ounce, fully supports our decision to develop the Laguna silver project and develop Minco into a precious metal company. We are optimistic about the future of silver, gold and copper prices and, by continuing our development and acquisition policy we have put in place, we are confident we can deliver significant shareholder value. 

We face a promising future and, on behalf of the Board, I would like to thank you for your support.

ROGER TURNER

CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD

CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 APRIL 2004

There were no recognised gains or losses other than those included in the profit and loss account. 

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET AT 30 APRIL 2004

                                                                                                                                                                       


CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 APRIL 2004

Notes:

1.       These do not constitute statutory accounts as defined in the Companies Acts. Statutory 
accounts for the year ended 30 April 2004 together with a report from the auditors will be 
filed with the Irish regulatory authorities in due course.

2.       The Directors have decided not to pay a dividend.

3.       Basic loss per share is computed by dividing the loss after taxation for the year available to 
ordinary shareholders by the sum of the weighted average number of ordinary shares in 
issue. Diluted loss per share is computed by dividing the loss after taxation for the year by 
the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue, adjusted for the effect of all 
dilutive potential ordinary shares that were outstanding during the year.

In 2004 (and in 2003) the basic and diluted loss per share were the same, as the effect of 
the outstanding share options was anti-dilutive, and was therefore excluded.


The computation for basic and dilutive loss per share (EPS) is as follows:

2004

€

2003

€

Numerator

Numerator for EPS – loss

(117,388)

(115,181)

Denominator

Number

Number

Denominator for basic and diluted EPS

64,601,576

35,234,431

Basic EPS

(0.18c)

(0.33c)

Diluted EPS

(0.18c)

(0.33c)

4.       The annual report and accounts for the Company for the year ended 30 April 2004 will be 
posted to shareholders on 26th October 2004 and copies of the report and accounts will be 
available from that date at the Company’s registered office at 162 Clontarf Road, Dublin 3, 
Ireland.

For further information

Matthew Dorman, CEO.             Tel: +34 687 494550              mldorman@orcagoldcorp.com

Roger Turner, Chairman.            Tel +44 (0) 1273 495500        rwturner@orcagoldcorp.com

Richard Thornton, Director         Tel.+44 (0) 20 7947 3238       rfthornton@orcagoldcorp.com

Laurence Read, Conduit PR       Tel +44(0)2079369095           laurence@conduitpr.com              

                                                              / (0)7979955923

MINCO is a precious metals development and exploration company traded on the AIM market in London. Ticker symbol (MIO),

http://www.minco.ie/