Performance at Month End

Merrill Lynch World Mining Tst PLC 10 December 2002 MONTHLY PERFORMANCE MERRILL LYNCH WORLD MINING TRUST plc All information is at 29 November 2002 and unaudited. Performance at month end with net income reinvested One Three One Three Five month months year years years Net asset value 5.8% 5.8% 23.6% 40.7% 110.1% Share price 4.9% 4.6% 29.1% 41.2% 113.1% HSBC Global Mining Index (capital only) 7.0% 2.3% -5.2% 3.4% 35.2% MSCI World Metals & Mining Index (capital only) 8.3% 1.4% -11.6% -12.8% 0.4% Sources: Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, HSBC Global Mining Index, Datastream At month end Net asset value: 141.56p Discount to NAV: 16.3% Share price: 118.50p Net historic yield: 2.7% Total assets: £226.4m Gearing: Nil Effective gearing: 0.4% Ordinary shares in issue: 162,800,000 Sector Analysis % Total Assets Country Analysis % Total Assets Diversified 30.2 South Africa 29.6 Gold 24.8 Europe 21.3 Base Metals 20.0 Latin America 15.5 Platinum 11.7 Australasia 13.2 Industrial Minerals 6.7 Canada 13.2 Silver/Diamonds 6.1 USA 5.5 Gold Bullion 0.9 China 1.2 Cash 1.7 Gold Bullion 0.9 Net current liabilities (2.1) Cash 1.7 Net current liabilities (2.1) 100.0 100.0 Ten Largest Equity Investments Company % Investments Country of Risk Impala Platinum 8.7 South Africa Gold Fields 8.3 South Africa BHP Billiton 6.6 Global Minas Buenaventura 6.3 Peru Harmony Gold Mining 5.7 South Africa Rio Tinto 5.7 Global CVRD 5.0 Brazil Aber Diamond 4.7 Canada Western Mining Corporation 4.1 Australia Pechiney 3.8 France 58.9 Commenting on the markets, Graham Birch, representing the Investment Manager noted: Performance November was a strong month for the Trust as optimism about the global economy and a lowering of US interest rates helped general equity valuations to recover. The mining sector participated in the global equity rally with the Trust's NAV rising nearly 6%, only just behind the 7% increase in the HSBC Global Mining Index. The reason for the poor relative performance was a fall in the value of the Trust's gold holdings. Companies such as Gold Fields and Harmony, two of the largest holdings in the portfolio, were down 6.2% and 5.5% respectively. However, holdings in Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton helped to offset the fall in the gold shares with increases of 12.7% and 9.3% respectively during the period. The Trust also benefited from corporate activity related to its large holding in MIM. During the period MIM announced it was in early stage talks with Xstrata which could lead to an offer for the company. MIM shares rallied 37.5% during the month. Portfolio Changes The largest transaction carried out during the month was the sale of the portfolio's sizeable holding in the Peruvian tin mining company Minsur. Following a lengthy negotiation we were able to exit the majority of our position in this illiquid stock at a five year high in the share price. Minsur had risen because of the recent sale of its stake in brewer Backus & Johnston at a very good price. Derivatives We have continued to sell near-dated derivatives covering a number of our holdings. At present, we have sold puts on Anglo American and MIM. We have sold calls on Rio Tinto. If exercised, these would have the effect of increasing the Trust's positions in Anglo American and MIM to 1.8% and 3.2% of net asset value respectively and reduce the holding in Rio Tinto to 4.4% of net asset value. Outlook Base metal prices seem to have passed the bottom of the commodity price cycle and, with consumer demand and producer supply discipline all working towards higher prices, it seems likely that 2003 will be a year of better prices for most metals. The mining investments in the Trust are positioned to capture any upward move in prices, especially in copper, nickel and iron ore. In addition, despite trimming exposure to gold shares, the portfolio remains overweight and should benefit considerably from the favourable price dynamics currently in place in this sector. Latest information is available by typing www.mlim.co.uk/its on the internet, 'MLIMINDEX' on Reuters, 'MLIM' on Bloomberg or '8800' on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). 10 December 2002 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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