Transaction in Own Shares

Merrill Lynch World Mining Tst PLC
09 May 2007


                 PURCHASE OF OWN SHARES TO BE HELD IN TREASURY

1) Date of the purchase:

8 May 2007

2) Number of Ordinary Shares purchased to be held in Treasury:

350,000

3) Highest and lowest price paid per share (excluding expenses):

553.4234p

4) The issued share capital of the Company following this buy-back will be:

Ordinary shares - 172,143,279 including shares held in Treasury
Ordinary shares - 159,853,279 excluding shares held in Treasury

5) Name of contact for queries:

Ms C Driscoll
020 7743 2427

6) Name of authorised Company official responsible for this notification:

Ms C Driscoll
for BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited
Secretary

7) Date of notification:

9 May 2007


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