Salamanca Gold Project Update

Ormonde Mining PLC
26 January 2006


                               Ormonde Mining plc

                           New Gold Zone at Salamanca


DUBLIN & LONDON: 26 January 2006 - Ormonde Mining plc ("Ormonde" or "the 
Company") reports positive exploration results obtained from the Salamanca Gold 
Project in western Spain, where it is earning a 90 per cent interest.  The 
results confirm Salamanca as a highly prospective, multi-target gold play.  
Ormonde plans to advance the project through further exploration including 
drilling.


HIGHLIGHTS

  • Results from a soil sampling survey highlight a large and coherent zone of
    gold anomalism, measuring 1.5 kilometres in length and up to 200 metres
    wide, possibly representing a new bulk tonnage target in the area.

  • Rock samples taken across the survey area from both newly recognised zones
    and known tungsten-gold occurrences, have returned a number of high-grade
    gold results including 51.4, 36.6 and 27.3 grams per tonne gold ("g/t Au").

  • Prospecting work has highlighted several additional areas of interest,
    with one in particular returning sample grades including 56.2, 51.5, 29.9,
    23.1 and 21.3 g/t Au over a wide area, suggesting that gold mineralization
    may be significantly more extensive than indicated by work of previous
    operators.


Kerr Anderson, Managing Director, said today,

"We are very pleased with the results so far from Salamanca, and the emergence
of new zones with discovery potential combined with the evaluation of known but
under-explored tungsten-gold prospects, gives us a very positive outlook for
this year's drilling programmes.  Salamanca is a rapidly progressing project,
demonstrating that in addition to La Zarza we have several projects in Spain
which could add substantial value for shareholders."


SOIL SAMPLING

In areas where bedrock is not exposed at the surface, systematic soil sampling
gives an indication of underlying gold enriched zones.  Ormonde and its JV
partners have sampled an area of 14 square kilometres, which covers several
tungsten-gold occurrences and is also considered to be highly prospective for
further, hitherto unrecognized gold mineralization.

Sampling was carried out on a 200 by 50 metre grid.  Interpretation of the
sample results has produced an extensive and coherent gold anomaly (greater than
75 parts per billion gold, with a maximum value of 315 ppb) over a portion of
the area where no mineralization of any kind has previously been identified.
The anomaly has a linear geometry, probably representing a structural trend,
with a length of 1.5 kilometres and width between 100 and 200 metres.  There is
potential for the anomaly to extend further in length into an area as yet
unexplored; sampling in this area is currently in progress.

Although bedrock exposure is very poor over the anomalous area, field
observations at one locality suggest that mineralization is typified by swarms
of arsenopyrite-bearing, quartz-filled fractures within a granite host rock.
This is the same granite body which hosts the Barruecopardo Tungsten Mine (see
below) and therefore has established mineralizing potential.

Several other anomalous zones have been identified across the survey area, each
of which will be the subject of follow-up work in the current sampling phase.
Once detailed sampling has identified the priority target areas, a preliminary
drilling campaign will ensue.


ROCK SAMPLING

Grab sampling of outcropping veins, loose blocks and mining waste dumps over the
same area as the soil survey has further confirmed the prospectivity of the
Salamanca vein systems with results as follows:

Total samples:  223
Highest gold values:  51.4, 36.6, 27.3, 16.8 and 14.3 g/t Au
Samples over 5 g/t Au:  10 (4 per cent)
Samples between 1 and 5 g/t Au:  22 (10 per cent)
Samples between 0.1 and 1 g/t Au:  95 (43 per cent).


REGIONAL PROSPECTING

Prospecting has assessed large areas of the permits, and has identified several
areas of interest for detailed evaluation.  At one area in particular, sampling
predominantly of iron oxide rich quartz vein material along a 4.5 kilometre
trend suggests that gold mineralization may be significantly more extensive than
indicated by previous operator work, with results as follows:

Total samples:  166
Highest values:  56.2, 51.5, 29.9, 23.1 and 21.3 g/t Au
Samples over 5 g/t Au:  15 (9 per cent)
Samples between 1 and 5 g/t Au:  23 (14 per cent)
Samples between 0.1 and 1 g/t Au:  49 (30 per cent)


TUNGSTEN POTENTIAL

In addition to pure gold exploration plays exemplified by the new soil sampling,
several tungsten-gold targets will be evaluated with a view to their joint
commodity potential.  Prices of tungsten concentrates, which are traded through
private contracts and not on an open market, have increased three-fold in the
past year in market conditions which are expected to remain buoyant for the long
term.  The Salamanca permits include the Barruecopardo Tungsten Mine, which
closed in the early 1980s and which during its operation was one of Europe's
largest tungsten producers boasting one of the highest quality tungsten products
in the market.


Enquiries to:

Kerr Anderson, Managing Director,
Ormonde Mining plc                Tel: [phone]

Fraser Gardiner, Director,
Ormonde Mining plc                Tel: [phone]

Simon Rothschild / Nicola Biles / Keith Irons
Bankside Consultants              Tel: [phone]


                                      ENDS



BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Ormonde considers the Salamanca area to be one of the most prospective gold
terrains in Spain.  The Company has agreements with two private Spanish
companies to earn a 90 per cent interest in a permitted area of 720 square
kilometres, by staged funding of exploration totalling €2.2 million over a five
year period.  The permits cover deposits with potential for high-grade zones and
several prospects where there has been no or only limited follow-up exploration.

Ormonde Mining plc is quoted on the AIM in London and the IEX in Dublin.  The
Company's objective is to build a mid-sized mining company by developing gold
projects in Spain where it has a strong local Spanish management team, supported
by a Board with extensive mine development and exploration experience.


For more information and contact details including email, please visit
www.ormondemining.com.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange