Performance at Month End

Merrill Lynch World Mining Tst PLC
09 July 2004

 MERRILL LYNCH WORLD MINING TRUST plc

 All information is at 30 June 2004 and unaudited.

 Performance at month end with net income reinvested

                                                                       One       Three        One      Three        Five
                                                                     month      months       year      years       years

Net asset value (undiluted)                                           0.1%      -12.2%      37.8%      63.0%      138.6%
Share price                                                          -1.9%      -11.0%      44.5%      78.6%      160.5%
HSBC Global Mining Index                                              2.0%       -8.9%      30.5%      27.9%       67.4%

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

At month end
Net asset value
Undiluted:                          200.93p         Includes current year net revenue of:                        1.03p
Fully diluted:                      203.94p
Share price:                        179.50p         Discount to undiluted NAV:                                   10.7%
Warrant price:                        5.75p         Net yield:                                                    0.9%
Total assets:                       £354.8m
Gearing:                            9.0%            Effective gearing:                                            8.9%
Ordinary shares in issue:                      162,800,000
Warrants in issue:                              32,559,564



Sector                                % Total Assets            Country                               % Total Assets
Analysis                                                        Analysis

Diversified                                     44.3            Canada                                          24.0
Base Metals                                     27.9            Europe                                          21.2
Gold                                            14.1            Latin America                                   17.0
Silver/Diamonds                                  5.9            South Africa                                    16.1
Platinum                                         5.1            Australasia                                     11.6
Industrial Minerals                              3.8            China                                            5.6
Net current liabilities                          (1.1)          USA                                              3.8
                                                                India                                            1.2
                                                                Africa                                           0.6
                                                                Net current liabilities                        (1.1)
                                               100.0                                                           100.0

Ten Largest Equity Investments
Company                             % of Investments          Country of Risk
Rio Tinto                                        6.5          Global
CVRD                                             6.4          Brazil
Minas Buenaventura                               6.2          Peru
BHP Billiton                                     6.0          Global
Falconbridge                                     5.6          Canada
Impala Platinum                                  4.6          South Africa
Noranda                                          4.2          Canada
Alumina                                          4.1          Australia
Aber Diamond                                     4.1          Canada
Inco                                             3.7          China
Total                                           51.4


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

In June, mining shares appeared to lose momentum somewhat relative to their
pickup during May. US dollar volatility and the situation in Iraq continued to
suppress the effect historically high metal prices and strong underlying
fundamentals should have on share prices.  Base metal prices fell during the
first half of the month as a result of a strengthening US dollar, but following
falling LME inventory data, they recovered to end the month up (MG Base Metal
Index, up 1.48%).

June saw the successful Initial Public Offering ('IPO') of a new alumina company
- Global Alumina Products (GAPCO).  We invested in this company while it was
still private at US$1.00 per share.  By month-end it had risen by 105% to close
at US$2.05.  The month also witnessed a resurgence of corporate activity.  Of
particular note was activity relating to Noranda, Falconbridge and CVRD.  After
months of speculation, Noranda announced that they had 'received several
expressions of interest in the company'.  This news benefited our holdings in
Noranda (4.2% of investments) and in Falconbridge (5.6%) due to a
cross-shareholding structure, but was detrimental to CVRD (6.4%) - the purported
acquirer.  The portfolio is well positioned if an auction for these assets
develops.

The mining market has recovered somewhat from its recent sell-off in April.
Continued Chinese growth, albeit at more sustainable levels than witnessed
earlier this year, coupled with supply-side constraints and a pick up in global
economic growth are causing base metal inventories to drop further.  This
scenario remains supportive of higher metal prices and mining shares remain
attractively priced.  As a result, we have maintained the Trust's gearing for
the moment and the Trust is structured to perform well in a buoyant environment.

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).

9 July 2004



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