Option Agreement

Ormonde Mining PLC
01 November 2004

                               ORMONDE MINING PLC

New High-Grade Gold Project: Ormonde Options Permits Over Advanced Exploration
Targets in Western Spain

DUBLIN & LONDON: 1 November 2004 - Ormonde Mining plc is pleased to announce
that it has entered into an agreement with a private Spanish company, Prehenita
S.L. ("Prehenita"), over several permits that include high-grade gold targets in
the Castilla y Leon region of Spain.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • High gold grades at shallow depths in historical drilling, including 1.0
    metre grading 65.8 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 2.0 metres grading 11.2 g/t
    gold and 6.0 metres grading 5.9 g/t gold

  • Advanced exploration targets at drilling stage

  • Several highly prospective regional targets to be explored.

Managing Director Kerr Anderson commented,

"The addition of these advanced gold targets to Ormonde's existing four active
projects further consolidates our position and long-term strategy in Spain. The
impressive grades reported from historical drilling demonstrate the excellent
and immediate potential of the targets, and similarities to the gold
mineralization at our Tracia Project mean that we have a head-start in
developing our exploration strategy".

Under the terms of the agreement, Ormonde will issue 500,000 Ormonde shares to
Prehenita to earn an initial 20 per cent interest in the permits, which have a
total area of 500 square kilometres, and can earn up to a 90 per cent interest
in the permits by staged funding of exploration activities over a four year
period.

GOLD MINERALIZATION AND HISTORICAL DRILLING

The permits are located within a district noted for its gold occurrences in the
southern part of the Castilla y Leon region of Spain. Historical drilling on one
of the permit areas, carried out in the 1980s by a regional Spanish Geological
Survey, targeted strong soil geochemistry over northeast-southwest trending
structural features up to 1.5 kilometres long. Of the 16 or so mapped
structures, drilling was carried out on only two of them and both returned high
gold grades.

Drilling on one structure intersected a system of steeply dipping veins, with
high-grade gold intervals including 1.0 metre grading 65.8 grams per tonne (g/t)
gold from 74 metres, and 2.0 metres grading 11.2 g/t gold from 132 metres. Gold
grades in several other metric intervals range from 4.0 to 14.8 g/t.

The second structure returned good grades over more extensive widths, with an
interval of 10.7 metres grading 3.8 g/t gold from 54 metres (including 6.0
metres grading 5.9 g/t gold).

As the area was part of a State mineral reserve until recently, no exploration
company carried out any subsequent work.

The Hercynian-aged gold mineralization occurs in quartz veins (sometimes
chalcedonic) and breccias, with sulphides associated in places, in a similar
geological situation to that at Ormonde's Tracia Project. In some holes,
promising altered, veined and brecciated intervals appear not to have been
sampled, meaning that the historical data may actually underplay the true
potential of the area. The shallow depths of thicker zones of gold
mineralization intersected by drilling present the possibility of an
open-pittable deposit should further drilling confirm continuity of these zones.

PLANNED PROGRAMMES

Initial activities will involve field verification and sampling of all the
principal structures, in addition to soil geochemistry where required (soil
geochemistry successfully identified the known mineralized zones). Drilling will
subsequently be carried out, initially designed to test the continuity of
existing drill intersections.

Enquiries to:

Ormonde Mining plc

Kerr Anderson, Managing Director [phone]

Fraser Gardiner, Investor and Media Relations [phone]

[e-mail]

John Carroll, Director [phone]

Bankside Consultants

Simon Rothschild [phone] / [phone]

Keith Irons [phone] / [phone]


NOTE

Ormonde Mining is listed on the Irish Stock Exchange and also trades on London's
SEAQ platform. The Company is focused on acquiring and developing high-grade
gold projects in Spain. Ormonde's portfolio contains advanced projects with
substantial gold (and copper) resources, including La Zarza with one million
ounces of gold, and other properties where the Company anticipates that drilling
will identify significant new resources. The Company has a strong local Spanish
management, supported by a Board with extensive exploration and mine development
experience.


For more information, please visit www.ormondemining.com.




1 November, 2004


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