Ore production begins at the Vysokovoltnoye Heap Leach Project

LONDON: 19 September 2005 - Oxus Gold plc (“Oxus” or “the Company”) is pleased to report that it has started production at its second mine in Uzbekistan.

Mining of ore started at the Vysokovoltnoye gold and silver mine two weeks ago, following the first mine blast on 24 August. Ore will initially be stockpiled pending completion of construction and commissioning of the process plant. The plant is expected to produce its first silver and gold at the beginning of October 2005.

Vysokovoltnoye has mineable reserves of 1.66 million tonnes at grades of 127g/t Ag and 1.13g/t Au for ore body number 7 and 2.33 million tonnes at grades of 27g/t Ag and 1.24g/t Au for ore body number 4. Ongoing work aimed at defining extensions of the zones may increase the resource base for future growth.

Both ore bodies have very low stripping ratios. Full production, after commissioning is scheduled for November 2005. Planned mine production is 21,035 ounces of gold and 2,469,083 oz of silver per annum.

The capital cost of the project is $9.1 million, which has been kept to a minimum due to the existing infrastructure at AGF. It is expected that the cash costs of metal production in terms of gold equivalent will be approximately $160 per ounce.

Vysokovoltnoye is an open pit mine and forms part of the Amantaytau Goldfields' (AGF) licence area and is 30 kms away from AGF's existing Amantaytau mining operations, Oxus's first mine in Uzbekistan. AGF is owned jointly by Oxus and the Uzbekistan Government.

Mr Bill Trew, chief executive of Oxus, said today: “Bringing our second mine in Uzbekistan into production on time and within budget is a notable achievement and I should like to congratulate all those involved. We are now moving forward with our strategy of developing five mines in five years”.

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Contacts:

Bill Trew, CEO Oxus Gold:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7907 2000

Keith Irons, Bankside:
Tel: +44 (0)20 7444 4155/07885 356 639