Performance at month end

Merrill Lynch World Mining Tst PLC
9 October 2001


MERRILL LYNCH WORLD MINING TRUST plc

All information is at 28 September 2001 and unaudited.

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

                                           One  Three   One    Three       Five
                                         month months  year    years      years

Net asset value                         -11.4% -19.5%  1.2%    84.1%       0.6%
Share price                             -13.2% -21.0% -7.8%    66.6%      -4.8%
HSBC Global Mining Index(Capital Only)  -13.2% -20.2% -1.2%    41.5%     -19.6%
MSCI World Metals & Mining Index        -15.5% -20.3% -3.7%    18.5%     -34.9%

Sources: Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, HSBC Global Mining Index,
Datastream

At month end

Net asset value                     103.61p

Share price                         83.50p
Discount to NAV                     19.4%
Net yield                           1.6%
Total assets                        £168.9m
Gearing                             0.0%
Ordinary shares in issue            168,200,000

(no shares were repurchased and cancelled during the month).

Sector                       % Total       Country                      % Total
                              Assets                                     Assets
Analysis                                   Analysis

Diversified                    34.1        South Africa                   31.6
Gold                           26.4        Europe                         21.8
Base Metals                    17.8        Latin America                  16.5
Platinum                       15.0        Canada                         14.1
Industrial Minerals             5.9        Australia                       9.5
Silver/Diamonds                 2.8        USA                             8.5
Cash/cash equivalents           2.3        Cash/cash equivalents           2.3
Net current                    (4.3)       Net current                    (4.3)
liabilities                   ------       liabilities                   ------
                              100.0                                      100.0
                              ------                                     ------

Ten Largest Equity Investments

Company                     % Investments     Country of Risk

BHP Billiton                          9.2     Global
Minas Buenaventura                    8.6     Peru
Impala Platinum                       7.5     South Africa
Gold Fields                           7.1     South Africa
Anglo Platinum                        5.4     South Africa
Pechiney                              5.3     France
Teck Cominco                          5.2     Canada
Harmony                               4.4     South Africa
Vale Rio Doce                         4.3     Brazil
Rio Tinto                             4.3     Global
                                     ----
Total                                61.3
                                     ----



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

The portfolio was rather adversely impacted by the terrorist attacks in the
USA and the subsequent financial market turmoil. The portfolio NAV declined by
over 11% during the month and the share price dropped by 13%. This compares
with the benchmark index down 13%.

The terrorist attacks have exerted an immediate and dramatic negative impact
on business activity and consumer confidence. For a cyclical sector such as
mining, this knocks on into lower volumes, metal prices and hence earnings.

Fortunately we entered September with the portfolio positioned relatively
defensively. Gearing was minimal and the types of stocks held in the portfolio
are well suited to current market conditions with an emphasis on cash
generative and dividend paying companies. Furthermore, the portfolio's gold
exposure - a classic safe haven during periods of turmoil - has helped at
around a quarter of the portfolio.

We are likely to remain defensive for the time being. We have downgraded our
expectations for the global economy and now expect a longer period of
depressed earnings for the companies in the portfolio. Nonetheless the sector
is not expensive when compared to the global equity market and we are cautious
about the outlook rather than pessimistic. In particular we would note that
most metals prices were already discounting recessionary conditions and so the
metal market reaction to the attacks was quite muted - a 5.9% drop in base
metals prices over the month. Some metals are now at price levels where we
might anticipate capacity cutbacks, so the metal market 'downside' from here
might not be too severe. The outlook for gold might be quite positive with low
interest rates and a weaker dollar distinct possibilities.

9 October 2001


ENDS