criggie:FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE23 February 2004WORLD MAJORS HEAD...

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

23 February 2004

WORLD MAJORS HEAD MINOTAUR EXPLORATION SHARE REGISTER ON ITS ASX DEBUT TOMORROW

Three of the world's leading miners and metal traders will come together in a vote of confidence in Australias prospectivity when Minotaur Exploration Limited debuts on the Australian Stock Exchange tomorrow (Thursday 24 February 2005).

Minotaur Exploration a copper, gold and base metals explorer - announced today that its maiden share register will include (shareholding in brackets):

- Newmont Capital Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Newmont Corporation, the world's largest gold miner (5.3 million shares or 9.9% of the issued capital)

- Oxiana Limited, an international mining and exploration company and third largest Australian-based gold mining company listed on the ASX (5.0 million shares or 9.3%, after the direct injection of A$2.0 million cash) and

- Sempra Metals & Concentrates Corporation, a US-based company that is a leading copper trader on the London Metals Exchange (4.5 million shares or 8.3%).

The three will hold a total of 27.56% of Minotaur Exploration, representing 14.8 million of the 57 million ordinary shares on issue.

"To begin life as a new listed Australian resources company with three cornerstone investors of world calibre, joint venture experience and a proven attitude of taking a long-term position in a high grade explorer, is a strong starting position" Minotaur Exploration Managing Director, Mr Derek Carter, said today.

Minotaur Exploration has been spun out of the former listed Minotaur Resources Limited which was acquired earlier this year by Oxiana under that company?s move to take full control of Minotaur Resources Prominent Hill assets in South Australia.

The former Minotaur other exploration assets and projects have been assembled into the new Minotaur Exploration Limited in what Mr Carter described today as a robust offspring.

We list tomorrow with no debt, more than $11 million in cash, ongoing and advanced exploration projects and a strong share register, Mr Carter said.

"In the current climate for world resource commodity and equities markets, we would anticipate keen interest in the new stock as the same Minotaur management team which proved up the Prominent Hill project to acquisition status at a premium price, will be driving Minotaur Exploration."

The new gold and base metals explorer starts life with 14 joint ventures in place involving 48 licence areas, as well as strategic equity positions in listed nickel explorer, Mithril Resources Ltd (19.8%) and listed geothermal energy explorer, Petratherm Limited (42.8%).

These two holdings have a current combined market value of about $8 million.

Mr Carter said Minotaur Exploration's principal exploration targets include highly prospective Olympic Dam style copper-gold deposits and Broken Hill style silver-lead-zinc in the Gawler Craton (which yielded the rich Prominent Hill gold-copper deposit for Minotaur Resources), the Curnamona Craton in South Australia and the Cloncurry region of Queensland.

"We envisage a growth policy of joint venturing that will allow Minotaur Exploration to spread its risk and optimise its cash reserves" Mr Carter said.

Minotaur Exploration's remaining share register of just over 3,000 shareholders is dominated by former Minotaur Resources shareholders who received one share in the new company (plus 1.85 Oxiana shares) for every share held previously in Minotaur Resources.

At the time of the Minotaur Resources demerger announcement in November last year, the implied value for Minotaur Exploration was approximately A$0.40 per share.

Under the terms of the spin-off, both Minotaur Exploration and Oxiana have also agreed to negotiate a strategic alliance after tomorrow's ASX listing. The demerger did not require any fund raising by Minotaur Exploration apart from the agreed placement to Oxiana.



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