SARS

Griffin Mining Ld
20 May 2003


                             GRIFFIN MINING LIMITED


              1 Berkeley Street, London, W1J 8DJ, United Kingdom

       Telephone: + 44 (0)20 7016 8821  Facsimile:  + 44 (0)20 7016 9124

                       E mail: [e-mail]

                                 20th May 2003

                                  SARS VIRUS

Delay in the summer drilling programme and completion of feasibility study

Griffin Mining Limited ('Griffin' or the 'Company') has today announced, that
due to the severity of the impact of the SARS virus in China, it has been forced
to temporarily suspend the proposed drilling programme planned for Caijiaying
this summer and to delay completion of the feasibility study which had been due
by the end of May 2003.


These measures have been forced on the Company by edicts from the central
government of the Peoples Republic of China; preventing foreign workers from
obtaining work visas to enter China; restricting the movement of people in SARS
affected areas, which includes the Company's mine site and joint venture office
in Zhangjiakou; and imposing a comprehensive travel ban on all Chinese
officials, which includes the Company's joint venture's Chinese board members.
These measure have prevented Griffin personnel, contractors and their equipment
from entering China and reaching site.  Further, these restrictions have
prevented confirmatory engineering work on site and in Beijing from being
completed to allow for the finalization of the feasibility study.


The Company has been informed that SARS is slowly being brought under control,
and whilst Zhangjiakou remains an area of concern, it is expected that these
measures will be lifted in due course.  At such point, the Company will proceed
forthwith both with the completion of the feasibility study and the resumption
of its proposed summer drilling programme.  In the interim, the Chinese
authorities have expressed their appreciation for the problems these
restrictions are causing and have indicated to the Company that they are
prepared to consider sympathetically the waiving of various license and other
commitments the Company has in China this year.


Commenting on this development, Chairman Mladen Ninkov said:


'The SARS virus is an unforeseen annoyance to the development of Caijiaying.  We
expect the delay to be relatively short and we still hope that the summer
drilling programme will proceed this summer and that the feasibility study will
be completed in the same time frame.  The SARS virus in no way diminishes the
size, scope or value of the Company's Caijiaying project.  We enthusiastically
wait for work to recommence on the project.'

Further information


Mladen Ninkov - Chairman                           Telephone: [phone]

Roger Goodwin - Finance Director                   Telephone: [phone]

Charles Dampney - Charles Stanley                  Telephone: [phone]


Griffin Mining Limited's shares are quoted on the Alternative Investment Market
                (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (symbol GFM).

      The Company's news releases are available on the Company's web site:
                             www.griffinmining.com

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            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange