The Directors of Oxus Gold Plc (“Oxus”) are pleased to announce the flotation on AIM of its 80% owned subsidiary, Marakand Minerals Limited (“Marakand”), by way of an Introduction by Williams de Broë Plc. Admission to trading on AIM and dealings are expected to commence on Thursday 4th December 2003. Further details are set out in the Marakand Admission Document, published today.

Bill Trew, Chief Executive of Oxus, said today: “The separate listing of Marakand Minerals will promote the unlocking of real value of the very rich Khandiza silver/zinc deposit. We will now be in a position to fast-track the development of Khandiza; at the same time this development indicates the final step in Oxus’ restructuring into a low-risk focused gold company in the lowest cost quartile of the gold industry.”

The announcement made today by Marakand is set out in full as follows:

Marakand Minerals Limited (“Marakand” or “the Company”) is set to join AIM by way of an Introduction by Williams de Broë Plc. Admission to trading on AIM and dealings are expected to commence on Thursday, 4th December 2003. Marakand intends to develop the Khandiza polymetallic deposit, situated in southeast Uzbekistan.

The Khandiza Deposit contains an audited resource above a 2% zinc cutoff of 13.0 Mt at an average grade of 8.3% zinc, 4.1% lead, 1.0% copper, 144 g/t silver and 0.34 g/t gold. Further base metal and precious metal exploration potential also exists within a wider 5,300 km² area in southeast Uzbekistan.

Marakand intends to complete a bankable feasibility study by the end of June 2004. Environmental baseline studies and preparation of an Environmental Impact Assessment are intended to run concurrently with the bankable feasibility study. Marakand then intends to commence the preliminary phase of mine development and construction in Q4 2004 so as to be in production by the end of 2005.

Marakand is a subsidiary of Oxus Gold plc (“Oxus”). Admission of Marakand to trading on AIM will allow the Khandiza operations to be financed and developed separately to Oxus’ gold assets on an accelerated basis whilst utilising the technical skills and regional relationships within the Oxus Group.

In early October, Marakand raised £4 million before expenses through a private placement of 20 million shares at 20p per share (plus 20 million attached warrants exercisable at 40 pence per share). The net proceeds of the private placement will be used to complete the bankable feasibility study on the Khandiza Deposit and to finance pre-construction activities. Further funding will be required for Marakand to commence construction of the mine and plant.

Speaking today, Alasdair Stuart, Chief Executive of Marakand, said, “I am delighted with the forthcoming listing of Marakand on the Alternative Investment Market and with the recent fund raising. We now look forward to focusing our efforts on the preparation and completion of a bankable feasibility study for the Khandiza Deposit and the subsequent construction at the mine and treatment facilities.”

Contacts:

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

Williams de Broë Plc
Louis Castro / David Newton
Tel: +44 (0)20 7588 7511

Marakand Minerals Limited
Alasdair Stuart
Tel: +998 (71) 1206715 (Uzbekistan)

Russell & Associates
London: Alex Buck
Tel +44 (0)7932 740 452

Johannesburg: Marion Brower
Tel: +27 (11)880 3924 / +27 (0)82 895 0698

Additional information

Overview and History of the Khandiza Deposit

The Khandiza Deposit is a volcanogenic massive sulphide deposit that contains zinc, lead and copper sulphides and associated silver and gold, although in revenue terms the deposit is essentially zinc-silver-lead-copper-gold.

The Khandiza Deposit is located in the Sariasia region of southeast Uzbekistan, in Surkhandarya Province, and is 50 kilometres from the regional towns of Sariasia and Denau. Access to the deposit is by road from Termez, a distance of some 220 kilometres, or from Samarkand, a distance of some 480 kilometres. From Sariasia, and the Surkhandarya valley, the road follows the Sangardak River valley and then up the Khandiza River valley.

At the end of 2002, Oxus further investigated the geological interpretation, again using traditional cross sectional and irregular blocking methods, and revised upward its internal resource estimate. Although this resource estimate has yet to be audited, WAI have discussed the reinterpretation and re-evaluation process with Oxus, and believe it is reasonable that an increase in tonnage and grade would be expected. Thus, with this revised geological model, WAI has recommended the instigation of a Datamine computer software resource evaluation as a basis for commencing a detailed mine design to full bankable feasibility study level. This work commenced at the start of November 2003.

Directors of the Company

The Board comprises two executive and two non-executive Directors, whose brief biographies are included below. It is the intention of the Board to select an independent non-executive director as soon as practicable following admission to AIM.

William J Trew, BEng (Mech) Hon, MEng (Non-executive Chairman) (aged 45)

Bill Trew, graduated from the University of Wales in 1979. Since then he has gained over 25 years experience in the mining and engineering industry in positions as both a project manager and senior engineer in some of the world’s most significant gold mining companies including Gold Fields and Durban Deep. In 1986 he founded MAED Limited, a specialist project management and engineering design company specialising in the gold mining industry. He is a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Oxus in November 2002. He still retains his position as non-executive chairman of the MAED group of companies. He joined Marakand in October 2003.

Alasdair C J Stuart (Chief Executive Officer) (aged 37)

Alasdair Stuart holds a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cape Town (1989). In 1995 he completed, with distinction, the Management Advancement Program at the University of the Witswatersrand’s Business School. For seven years Alasdair worked for The South African Breweries on capital expansion projects. He joined MAED Limited in 1996 and as a shareholder and director has been involved in metallurgical processing plant design and construction projects in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mali, Senegal and more recently Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Recently he has been the General Manager for MAED Limited’s international operations with specific responsibilities for logistics in the former Soviet Union for the Amantaytau Oxide Project and he has been based in Tashkent since early 2002. He joined Marakand in October 2003.

William J Charter BSc; CGeol, FGS, CEng, MIMM (Executive Technical Director) (aged 48)

Bill Charter is a geologist and has over 26 years experience in project management and mineral resource evaluation, and in the design and supervision of feasibility studies, exploration programmes, drilling contracts and ground investigations. Having gained experience as an exploration geologist and then as a mine geologist with Anglo American Corporation (in Fiji and South Africa), he subsequently worked in minerals and geological consultancy before joining Oxus in 1996. As Vice President, Geology & Exploration for Oxus, he has worked throughout Central Asia, and has managed the Khandiza project on behalf of the company. He joined Marakand in October 2003.

Richard B Shead, BA, CIS (SA) (Non-executive Director) (aged 50)

Richard Shead was Chief Executive Officer of East Daggafontein Mines Limited between 1997 and 2002 and played a leading role in the reverse flotation and acquisition by the company of Mvelaphanda Resources Limited, one of South Africa’s premier empowerment companies in the mining sector, in February 2002. The combined company has been rated by the South African Sunday Times as South Africa’s top performing company for the past three consecutive years. Previously Richard was Managing Director of Southern Prospecting Limited, a South African mineral exploration company that has developed gold and other mineral ventures in South Africa, Botswana and Canada. He has also worked with two South African listed companies, Lydenburg Exploration Limited as Managing Director and Benguela Concessions Limited as Chief Executive Officer. He is currently an Executive Director of Oxus, responsible for corporate development. He joined Marakand in October 2003.”