Performance at month end

Merrill Lynch World Mining Tst PLC
11 June 2001


MONTHLY PERFORMANCE

MERRILL LYNCH WORLD MINING TRUST plc

All information is at 31 May 2001 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

                                                One   Three   One  Three   Five
                                              month  months  year  years  years
Net asset value                                5.2%   10.0%  42.7%  88.4%  17.7%
Share price                                    7.7%   12.3%  47.4%  77.2%  12.5%
HSBC Global Mining Index(Capital Only)         4.0%    9.2%  33.9%  52.8%  -6.7%

At month end
Net asset value                              134.62p
Share price                                  112.00p
Discount to NAV                              16.8%
Net yield                                    1.2%
Total assets                                 £226.4m
Gearing                                      1.8%
Ordinary shares in issue                     168,300,000

(there were no share repurchases during the month)
Sector                     % Total           Country                    % Total
                            Assets                                       Assets
Analysis                                     Analysis
Diversified                   30.2           South Africa                  31.1
Base Metals                   25.9           Canada                        19.0
Platinum                      19.6           Europe                        18.5
Gold                          17.8           Australia                     14.4
Silver/Diamonds                3.8           Latin America                 12.4
Industrial Minerals            3.4           USA                            5.3
Gold Bullion                   0.4           Gold Bullion                   0.4
Net current                  (1.1)           Net current                  (1.1)
liabilities                  -----           liabilities                  -----
                             100.0                                        100.0
                             -----                                        -----

Ten Largest Equity Investments
Company                     % Investments       Country of Risk
Impala Platinum                      10.0       South Africa
Anglo Platinum                        7.0       South Africa
Cominco                               6.6       Canada
Pechiney                              5.3       France
Gold Fields                           5.1       South Africa
Minas Buenaventura                    5.1       Peru
Billiton                              5.0       UK
Alcan Aluminium                       4.8       Canada
Vale Rio Doce                         3.9       Brazil
BHP                                   3.8       Australia
                                     ----
                                     56.6
                                     ----



Commenting on the markets, Graham Birch, representing the Investment Manager
noted

May saw the portfolio continue its good performance with the NAV finishing the
month up by 5.2%. This compares with a rise of 4.0% in the HSBC Global Mining
Index (Capital only). In late May the NAV of the Company's shares reached an
'all-time' high of 141.24 pence per share. This was achieved by a combination
of stronger equity prices and a favourable (weaker) trend in sterling.

Metal prices were lacklustre during the month although gold did enjoy a sharp
though brief rally back towards US$300/oz. We were not nimble enough, on this
occasion, to take advantage of the trading opportunities in this bullion move.
However it is heartening to see that the gold market has increasingly positive
sentiment and we have high hopes for this portion of the portfolio.

Our holdings in the platinum sector continued their strong run - with Anglo
Platinum and Impala Platinum reaching new all-time highs during the month.
Impala remains the largest holding in the portfolio despite the fact that we
took some profits during May.

The prices of mining shares this year have been conspicuously stronger than
the prices of the commodities that they produce. As a result we have adopted a
more cautious than usual stance towards the market. Improvement in metal
prices is needed before we would consider significantly drawing down our
borrowing facilities and leveraging the portfolio again.



Sources: Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, HSBC Global Mining Index

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).

11 June 2001

ENDS