Change in Shareholdings

Falkland Gold and Minerals Ltd 16 December 2005 Falkland Gold and Minerals Limited (the 'Company') Change in Shareholdings 16 December 2005 In accordance with Rule 17 of the AIM Rules, the Company announces that it was informed yesterday of acquisitions (the 'Acquisitions') of 13,660,000 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company by RAB Special Situations (Master) Fund Limited ('RAB') at a price of 10 pence per ordinary share from two of the Company's existing shareholders, South Atlantic Resources Limited and Falkland Islands Mineral Development Limited, representing those shareholders' entire shareholdings in the Company. Following the Acquisitions and previous purchases of ordinary shares in the capital of the Company since the Company's admission to AIM on 9 December 2004 ('Admission') which were also announced to the Company yesterday, RAB's total shareholding comprises 49,494,650 ordinary shares (amounting in aggregate to 62.04% of the entire issued share capital of the Company). The legal and beneficial ownership of the 49,494,650 ordinary shares are set out in the table below. As the Company is incorporated in the Falkland Islands, the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the 'Code') does not apply to the Company. Despite the fact that the Code does not apply, as set out in the Company's AIM Admission Document, the Articles of Association of the Company contain provisions which (in summary) entitle the Company's board (the 'Board') to inter alia suspend the voting rights of a shareholder if it (and those acting in concert with it) would be required to make an offer to acquire all of the shares of other shareholders of the Company under Rule 9 of the Code, if the Code applied to the Company (a ' Mandatory Offer'), and has failed to do so within 21 days of when such obligation would have arisen. RAB has informed the Board that it does not intend to make a mandatory offer in such manner and, accordingly, the Board has the option, but not the obligation, to suspend all voting rights attributable to the ordinary shares held by RAB in the Company. After due consideration of what they consider to be in the best interests of the Company as a whole, the Board has agreed with RAB that RAB will limit its exercise of voting rights to such number of ordinary shares as shall limit its total voting rights to 34.79 per cent (being the percentage of voting rights held by RAB at the time of Admission) of the issued share capital of the Company which may be voted (thereby excluding those shares which RAB is precluded from voting). Such restriction shall remain in place for a period expiring on the earlier of (a) 13 June 2007, (b) notification by the Company of the completion of stages II and III of the Company's exploration work (details of which are set out in the Company's AIM Admission document); (c) an offer being made for all the shares in the capital of the Company other than those owned by the offeror; (d) the Company being notified (or it being publicly announced by the relevant person(s)) that any person (other than Falkland Islands Holdings plc) together with any person considered by the Company to be acting in concert with them has acquired more than 20% of the voting rights in the Company (excluding, as above, those shares held by RAB in respect of which voting rights are suspended) and (e) the making of a Mandatory Offer by, or on behalf of, RAB. RAB has also agreed, as part of these arrangements, to an orderly market arrangement with the Company and the Company's nominated adviser, W H Ireland Limited, governing any disposal of the ordinary shares acquired from South Atlantic Resources Limited and Falkland Islands Mineral Development Limited for a period of 12 months from the date hereof. RAB has confirmed to the Board its continued support of the Company's existing business objectives and the Company's proposed exploration works programme as set out in the Admission Document issued at the time of Admission. The legal and beneficial ownership of the RAB Shares is as follows: Name of registered shareholder Name of beneficial holder Number of RAB Shares held Credit Suisse First Boston Client RAB Special Situations (Master) Fund 49,494,650 Nominees Limited Limited Richard Linnell, executive Chairman of the Company, commented that: 'We remain optimistic about the prospects for commercial mineral deposits in the Falklands and are delighted with the continued support of RAB, our largest shareholder' Philip Richards, CEO of RAB Capital plc, commented: 'We believe that FGML remains a well-funded exploration play in a potential minerals province and that some of the many geological targets could prove to be viable mineral deposits. We continue to be supportive of management and have voluntarily agreed to restrict our voting rights' Enquiries: Falkland Gold & Minerals Limited +27 82 440 6710 Richard Linnell, Chairman David Hudd, Deputy Chairman + 44 (0)7771 893 267 Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial +44 (0) 20 7861 3232 Nick Lambert Philip Haydn-Slater - W.H. Ireland Limited +44 (0) 20 7220 1666 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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