LONDON: 6 February 2004. The Directors of Oxus Gold plc ("Oxus" or "the Company") are pleased to announce that the Company has received approval from the Court to transfer its share premium account to distributable reserves, which enables the Company to distribute part of its shareholding in Marakand Minerals Limited ("Marakand") to qualifying Oxus shareholders.

The dividend in kind will be distributed to those shareholders listed on the Company's share register at the close of business on 5 February 2004.

As explained in the circular to Oxus shareholders issued on 11 December 2003, the dividend was to be capped at a closing price for Marakand shares of 45p during the period 4 December 2003 to 3 February 2004. The highest closing price during this period was 45.5p and, accordingly, Oxus will distribute one share in Marakand for every 10.1 shares held in Oxus. However, in order to simplify the Marakand share register as far as possible, and to honour previous statements made to the shareholders, the directors of Oxus have agreed to allocate part of their own entitlements to other shareholders so that other shareholders will receive one share in Marakand for every 10 shares held in Oxus. The directors have instructed the Company to distribute this part of their entitlements alongside the Marakand shares distributed by the Company.

Bill Trew, CEO of Oxus, commented "I am delighted that we have finally been able to complete all the legal and regulatory formalities in order to pay this dividend to our shareholders. Marakand has had a very successful debut on the London AIM exchange and, at current Marakand and Oxus share prices, the distribution of these shares effectively represents a 6.5% dividend. Combined with the capital growth in our shares, and the recent commencement of gold production at our Amantaytau project in Uzbekistan, which is performing to our expectations, I remain confident that Oxus will continue to provide significant returns to our shareholders".

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Contacts:

Oxus Gold plc
Richard Wilkins
Tel: +44 (0)20 7907 2000

Williams de Broë Plc 
Frank Moxon
Tel: +44 (0)20 7588 7511

Russell & Associates
London: Alex Buck
Tel: +44 (0)7932 740452

Johannesburg: Marion Brower
Tel: +27 (0)11 880 3924