East Africa Update

Aminex PLC 03 April 2006 3 APRIL 2006 AMINEX PLC EAST AFRICAN PROGRESS FURTHER FARMOUT OF NYUNI LICENCE IN TANZANIA Aminex PLC ("Aminex"), the oil and gas company listed in London and Dublin, is pleased to announce that it has signed a Farmout Agreement with East African Exploration Limited ("EAX"), a Dubai-based oil and gas exploration company. The Farmout Agreement provides for EAX to earn into part of Aminex's Nyuni licence, offshore Tanzania by acquiring new "transition zone" 2D seismic over Area "B" of the licence. Area "A" of the Nyuni licence in Tanzania was partly farmed out to East Coast Energy last year. Splitting the licence remains subject to approval by the Government of Tanzania. EAX may further increase its interest by arranging the acquisition of 3D seismic over the same area, if appropriate, after review of the first stage programme. 330 kilometres of new conventional 2D marine seismic was acquired over this area by Aminex in 2005 and the additional transition zone seismic to be acquired by EAX will add significant value to the existing data. Transition zone seismic involves special equipment to conduct seismic surveys in extremely shallow marine environments not accessible to a conventional seismic vessel. This is particularly important at Nyuni where the majority of the potential drilling locations underlie shoals, limestone reefs and small islands, many of which are partly submerged at high tide. EAX will acquire 2D transition zone data to a value of $2 million to earn an interest of 15% in Area "B" of the Nyuni licence. Subject to a review of the 2D transition zone dataset, EAX will have the option to finance the acquisition of prospect-specific 3D transition zone seismic to a value of $4 million, to earn an additional 30% interest in Area "B". In the event that the Government of Tanzania does not approve the split of the Nyuni licence into Areas "A" and "B", EAX will earn 10% of the entire licence area by shooting 2D transition zone seismic rather than 15% of the smaller "B" area. Similarly, by shooting 3D transition zone seismic EAX will earn a further 20% interest in the entire licence area rather than 30% of the smaller "B" area. The transition zone seismic and, if necessary, 3D seismic will be acquired during the second and third quarters of 2006 with the aim of firming up drilling targets for exploration wells. The seismic crew will use state-of-the art Sercel 428 TZ equipment and a custom-designed fleet of handling vessels. The Government of Tanzania has formally consented to the introduction of EAX as a farm-in partner to the Nyuni licence. KENYA OFFSHORE UPDATE On 14 March 2006, Aminex announced that it had entered into a seismic option agreement with Upstream Petroleum Services Ltd. ("UPSL") over blocks L9 and L10 offshore Kenya. Aminex confirms that under UPSL's Technical Evaluation Agreement, 570 kms of new 2D seismic have now been acquired over the area and geochemical seabed coring and additional seismic on prospective leads will be acquired in the next 2 months. The area covered by this agreement is around 5,000 square kilometres, involving the land and near shore acreage of original Kenyan Blocks L9 and L10. The remainder of Block L9 is licensed to other groups and the deepwater portion of L10 is currently open. Commenting on the further Nyuni farm-out, Aminex Chief Executive Brian Hall said: "We are very pleased to welcome EAX as a new partner in our offshore Nyuni acreage. EAX and its sister company Upstream Petroleum Services Limited, our partner in Kenya, will make a valuable contribution to the joint venture's technical work. The transition zone seismic and, if required, 3D seismic are the final steps in firming up new drillable exploration prospects in the Nyuni licence area." Further info: Brian Hall Chief Executive, Aminex +44 (0) 20 7240 1600 Archie Berens Pelham Public Relations +44 (0) 20 7743 6679 or +44 (0)7802 442486 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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