Caijiaying Zinc Deposit

GRIFFIN MINING LIMITED
15 July 1999

                            GRIFFIN MINING LIMITED                            
                                                                              
             SUBSTANTIAL GRADE INCREASE ANNOUNCED FOR CAIJIAYING              
                                 ZINC DEPOSIT                                 

Griffin Mining is pleased to announce a substantial increase in the zinc grade
of the Caijiaying zinc deposit in China. Chairman Craig Niven said:

'this increase in the zinc grade at Caijiaying is one of the most important
developments at Caijiaying since Griffin acquired its interest in the project.
 A higher zinc grade dramatically improves project economics.  It allows for
savings to be made in capital and operating costs for the same annual rate of
zinc production with less ore being processed.  The higher the grade the lower
the variable costs per pound of zinc produced with savings in energy input and
transport'.

The Board is now sufficiently confident in the robustness of the Caijiaying
project to make the investment required to produce a full bankable feasibility
study.  The recent placing of $500,000 at 30 US cents (19p) will only fund
part of this process.  The Company is considering alternative methods of
financing the balance of funding required in a way that maximises the
potential benefits to existing shareholders.

After the completion of the 1998 work programme, the Company commissioned its
geological consultants, Crowe Schaffalitzky Associates ('CSA'), to
re-calculate the resource estimate based on the previously announced new
ore-body interpretation.

The new in situ resource estimate is;

 21.6 million tonnes at 8.87% zinc at a 4% minimum zinc cut-off or, 

 50.7 million tonnes at 5.01% zinc at a 1% minimum zinc cut-off 

The new resource estimates continue to contain significant quantities of
precious metals.

This polygonal estimate was completed in Micromine software using the new
shallow-dipping ore-block model.  Sectional blocks were extrapolated half way
to the next section (50 metres). In order to allow direct comparison to
previous estimates, the model did not include partially drilled infill
sections. Accordingly, it is regarded as 'Inferred' under the Australasian
Institute of Mining and Metallurgy code for the reporting of mineral resources
(the JORC Code, 1996).

The previous resource estimate was calculated by Bateman Kinhill in a
pre-feasibility study dated 1994 as;

 27.6 million tonnes at 7.4% zinc at a 4% minimum zinc cut-off or,

 57.8 million tonnes at 4.8% zinc at a 1% minimum zinc cut-off

The Bateman Kinhill resource estimate was based on the Chinese interpretation
of steeply dipping, narrow mineralised bodies.  The new interpretation results
in changes to both grade and tonnage, the overall effect of which is likely to
improve project economics in increased grade but lower tonnage.

In order to compare directly to the previous resource estimate only the 100
metre spaced drill sections were used, even though some infill data is
available.  The latter data suggests difficulties in correlation but as it is
incomplete the effect cannot yet be quantified. Additional in-house
calculations using different parameters were also conducted by CSA which
showed similar grades.  These give confidence that as further infill data is
collected, the grade should not diminish even though the tonnage may reduce
due to the correlation issue. The Directors believe that this could further
improve the economics of the project.

Griffin is now proceeding with negotiating contracts for the underground work
programme.  This programme will be designed to confirm visually the new
ore-block interpretation, obtain a bulk sample for metallurgical tests and
conduct a structural/geo-technical survey.  It will also enable more
cost-effective infill drilling to be done underground instead of from the
surface.

15th July 1999

Further information

Craig Niven (Chairman) - United Kingdom                                       
Telephone: + 44 (0) 171 321 2077

Philip Davies - Charles Stanley & Company Limited                    
Telephone: + 44 (0) 171 739 8200 


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