Performance at month end

Merrill Lynch World Mining Tst PLC
12 December 2001

MERRILL LYNCH WORLD MINING TRUST plc

All information is at 30 November 2001 and unaudited

Performance at month end with net income reinvested

                                                  One  Three   One Three   Five
                                                month months  year years  years
Net asset value                                  7.5%   0.0% 15.2% 83.4%  21.0%
Share price                                      7.4%  -2.1% 16.8% 63.6%  16.0%
HSBC Global Mining Index(capital only)          12.7%   2.1% 13.7% 54.3%  -1.2%
MSCI World Metals & Mining Index (capital only) 13.6%   1.3%  9.2% 28.2% -19.0%

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

At month end

Net asset value                     117.03p
Share price                         94.25p
Discount to NAV                     19.5%
Net yield                           1.4%
Total assets                        £188.9m
Gearing                             0.0%
Ordinary shares in issue            166,895,461

(554,539 shares were repurchased and cancelled during the month).
Sector                       % Total       Country                      % Total
                              Assets                                     Assets
Analysis                                   Analysis
Diversified                    28.6        South Africa                   29.8
Gold                           24.1        Europe                         20.2
Base Metals                    20.1        Latin America                  13.8
Platinum                       14.5        Canada                         12.0
Industrial Minerals             6.3        Australia                      10.8
Silver/Diamonds                 2.1        USA                             9.1
Base Metal Futures              4.8        Base Metal Futures              4.8
Gold Bullion                    1.0        Gold Bullion                    1.0
Cash/cash equivalents           2.8        Cash/cash equivalents           2.8
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                            8.6      Global
Impala Platinum                         8.4      South Africa
Minas Buenaventura                      7.1      Peru
Gold Fields                             7.0      South Africa
Pechiney                                6.6      France
Anglo Platinum                          5.2      South Africa
Alcan Aluminium                         4.8      Canada
Harmony                                 4.3      South Africa
WMC                                     4.2      Global
CVRD                                    4.2      Brazil
                                       ----
Total                                  60.4
                                       ----


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

November was a good month for mining equities, with sentiment improving
dramatically and the HSBC Global Mining Index surging by over 10%. The Trust's
portfolio lagged behind this and we have to confess to having structured the
portfolio too defensively in recent weeks. We have been too sceptical about
the pace of economic recovery and too pessimistic about the progress of the
'war on terrorism'.

The broad equity markets have thus staged a remarkable recovery - fed on a
diet of good 'war news' and the after effects of 10 Fed interest rate cuts in
the US. Mining shares outperformed world equity markets in November as their
cyclical character appealed to investors who were rapidly losing their fear of
recession.

The rise in mining shares was not entirely sentiment driven. November saw
production cuts announced in several important copper and zinc operations
around the world. These production cuts are a tangible sign that commodity
markets are near the bottom and they reflect the poor economics of current
metal prices. The cuts helped stimulate a rally, with copper up over 8 cents/
lb during the month. Base metals - especially copper and aluminium - were
further boosted by the effects of Enron's collapse. Enron had been a big
trader of these metals and there was intense speculation as to whether this
would necessitate 'short position' covering. Base metals equities and
diversified mining companies rallied strongly on the back of these changes.

November was a busy month for corporate news. The top story was Western Mining
Corporation's decision to snub Alcoa's A$10.20/share bid for the company. WMC
(4% of the Trust's portfolio) believes that more value can be unlocked by
splitting the business into two. The other major deal was Newmont's proposed
3-way merger with Franco-Nevada and Normandy Mining. Newmont represents 2% of
the Trust's portfolio. Anglo Gold (1.8%) responded swiftly by increasing its
own bid for Normandy.

The main reason for the Trust's sluggish performance in November was our
emphasis on gold equities. These comprise about a quarter of the portfolio
assets. In contrast to the base metals, gold equities slipped back during the
month as investors favoured pro-cyclical sectors and shunned defensive
sectors. We intend to stick with our gold equities for the time being and may
even increase weightings a little. Valuations in the South African gold sector
are looking particularly good at the moment in the light of the Rand's
weakness.

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the Trust took advantage of the November
Bank of England auction and bought 10,000 ounces of the UK's gold reserves.
Sadly we have to keep these gold bars under lock and key rather than
distribute them as a traditional festive gift to our shareholders.

Seasons Greetings to our Shareholders.



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).


12 December 2001