Interim Results

Aurum Mining PLC
23 December 2005


For immediate release                                          23 December 2005


                                AURUM MINING PLC

                           ('Aurum' or 'the Company')

        Interim results for the six month period ended 30 September 2005


Aurum Mining plc (AIM: AUR), the company formed in 2004 to acquire gold and
other mineral extraction projects in the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and which
subsequently acquired an exploration licence over a gold and copper project in
the Kyrgyz Republic, is pleased to announce its interim results for the six
months ended 30 September 2005.



Highlights:



  • Good progress has been made with the Andash gold and copper project in the
    Kyrgyz Republic with the programme of re-opening, cleaning and extending
    trenches in Zones 1 and 2 completed.



  • A new exploration opportunity, Tokhonysay, identified and trenched. A
    total of 1324m of trenching was undertaken at Andash with 536 samples sent
    for assay.



  • Programme of work initiated including geotechnical drilling and survey to
    support the pit optimisation work and tailings pond design. This will allow
    the Company to apply for land permits and support the Mining Licence
    application, which is expected in the New Year.



  • The State Commission of Resources of the Kyrgyz Republic has included 21.7
    million tonnes of C1 and C2 reserves at Andash into the State Register,
    amounting to total gold and gold equivalent of more than 1.5 million ozs.



  • Mark Jones, an executive with considerable international management
    experience, joined the Board of Directors as Chief Executive Officer on 1
    July 2005. Dr Colin Knight, a highly experienced mining professional, was
    also appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 6 September 2005.



  • To ensure the timely development of the Andash asset, and to put the
    Company into a position to exploit other opportunities, a further issue of
    shares is planned.





Sean Finlay, the Chairman of Aurum Mining, commenting on the outlook for Aurum
said: 'The last six months have been a very busy period for the Company
including the completion of the re-opening, cleaning and extending of trenches
in Zones 1 and 2, which means the Andash project continues to unfold in a very
positive manner and we look forward to moving ahead. Plenty of new opportunities
present themselves to the Company and with Mark Jones on board, who is a major
asset to the management and the direction of the Company, Aurum is well placed
to capitalise on the current favourable base and precious metal price
environment and to locate and assess new opportunities.'





For further information:


Aurum Mining plc                                 Tel: [phone]
Sean Finlay, Chairman
Mark Jones, Chief Executive

W H Ireland                                      Tel: [phone]
Tim Cofman

Buchanan Communications                          Tel: [phone]
Mark Court
James Strong








Notes to editors



Aurum joined the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in May 2004 with the
strategy of seeking, evaluating and acquiring gold and other mineral extraction
projects in the Former Soviet Union (FSU). In January 2005 the Company completed
its first acquisition, giving the Company an exploration licence over a gold and
copper project in the Kyrgyz Republic. In its State Register, the State
Commission of Resources of the Kyrgyz Republic has included 21.7 million tonnes
of C1 and C2 reserves from the project, amounting to gold and gold equivalent of
more than 1.5 million ozs.




CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT



Introduction



Aurum Mining Plc, the company formed to acquire gold and other mineral
extraction projects in the Former Soviet Union, is pleased to announce its
results reflecting the six month period ended 30 September 2005.



Results for the Period



The Company made an operating loss for the period of £397,000 compared with a
loss of £116,000 in the six month period ended 30 September 2004.



Review of Activities



The Company has continued to make good progress with its Andash gold and copper
project in the Kyrgyz Republic ('the Project').



A programme of re-opening, cleaning and extending trenches in Zones 1 and 2 was
completed and in addition a new exploration opportunity, Tokhonysay, within the
Andash exploration licence area was identified and trenched. A total of 1324m of
trenching was undertaken with 536 samples sent for assay.



Trenching at an outcrop location 250m east of Zone 1 intersected 13m of
mineralisation containing gold at 1.2 g/t and copper at 0.5%. The area between
Zone 1 and this outcrop location is covered by overburden. This is a possible
indication of a significant extension to Zone 1. Further surface work and
drilling will be initiated to confirm this.



Trenching close to Zone 2 intersected 4m of mineralisation containing gold at
13.3 g/t, highlighting the potential of the Andash licence area. This
mineralisation indicates an extension of the outcrop zone.



Trenching at a new exploration opportunity, Tokhonysay, intersected 33m of
mineralisation at an average grade of 1.4 g/t gold and 1.6% copper.  This new
area is located 2.4km north-east of Zone 1.



A programme of work has been initiated that includes geotechnical drilling and
survey so that we have data to support our pit optimisation work and tailings
pond design. This will allow us to apply for land permits and support our Mining
Licence application which we expect to obtain in the New Year. Currently the
Project has a temporary mining licence which is valid until the end of May 2006.



On 24 August 2005, the Company announced that the State Commission of Resources
of the Kyrgyz Republic have included 21.7 million tonnes of C1 and C2 reserves
of the Andash Mining Company, Aurum's Kyrgyz subsidiary, into its State
Register. The reserves contain total gold and gold equivalent of more than 1.5
million ozs.



On 29 September 2005 the Company announced that it had entered into a
conditional agreement with Loyal Wealthy Limited ('Seller') to purchase 51 per
cent of the issued share capital in Open Joint Stock Company Geocentr ('Geocentr
'), a Russian company that owns an exploration licence in the Russian Far East.
On 13 December the Company announced that the acquisition of Geocentr had not
completed within the conditional agreement's terms and would not therefore
proceed.



As part of the conditional agreement entered into with the Seller, it was agreed
that if the acquisition did not complete then the benefit of an outstanding loan
of $170,000 to Geocentr would be assigned to the Seller. As the acquisition was
not completed, this loan was reassigned. While Geocentr represented an
interesting exploration opportunity and the Board is disappointed that the
acquisition could not proceed it is critical that we select only projects that
meet our stringent criteria.





Board Changes



Mark Jones joined the Board of Directors as Chief Executive Officer on 1 July
2005 and at the same time John Webster, who was previously the Company's
Managing Director, became a Non-Executive Director of the Company.



Mr Jones, who holds an MBA from Newport University and an associate degree from
Columbia University, New York, is a Mining Graduate from the Camborne School of
Mines, UK. For the five years prior to joining the Company Mr Jones worked for
Ingersoll-Rand Company Ltd (NYSE: IR), a leading diversified industrial firm,
most recently as Business Unit Manager, Global Services, Ingersoll-Rand Europe.



Mr Webster continues to provide technical input to Aurum in the areas of project
evaluation and development, including implementation of the drilling services
agreement between Aurum and PPI.



Dr Colin Knight, a highly experienced mining professional, was appointed on 6
September 2005 as Non-Executive Director. His international mining experience
has been gained through almost five decades in the industry and spans academia,
executive industry roles and consultancy. His experience of project evaluation
in the FSU is of particular value to the Company.



Outlook



The last six months have been a very busy period for the Company including the
completion of the re-opening, cleaning and extending of trenches in Zones 1 and
2, as well as the initiation of geotechnical drilling and surveying. Plenty of
new opportunities present themselves to the Company including the new
exploration opportunity in Tokhonysay. We look forward to the coming months with
great enthusiasm as we grow the Company.







Sean Finlay

Chairman

23 December 2005






Consolidated Profit and Loss Account

For the six months ended 30 September 2005 (unaudited)


                                                     Notes   6 months ended   6 months ended   12 months to
                                                               30 September     30 September  31 March 2005
                                                           2005 (unaudited) 2004 (unaudited)      (audited)
                                                                       £000             £000           £000

Turnover                                                                  -                -              -
Cost of Sales                                                             -                -              -
Gross profit                                                              -                -              -
Administrative expenses                                               (397)            (116)          (389)
Operating profit / (loss)                                             (397)            (116)          (389)
Net interest receivable                                                   8               18             45
Profit/ (loss) on ordinary activities before                          (389)             (98)          (344)
taxation
Taxation                                                 3                -                -              -
Profit / (loss) on ordinary activities after                          (389)             (98)          (344)
taxation
Loss per share                                           4          (4.09)p          (1.19)p        (4.23p)


All recognised gains and losses are included in the profit and loss account.






Consolidated Balance Sheet

At 30 September 2005 (unaudited)

                                                           6 months ended   6 months ended   12 months to
                                                             30 September     30 September  31 March 2005
                                                         2005 (unaudited) 2004 (unaudited)      (audited)
                                                                     £000             £000           £000
Fixed assets
Intangible assets                                                     986                -            819
Tangible assets                                                       277               11            189

Total fixed assets                                                  1,263               11          1,008

Current assets /(liabilities)
Stocks                                                                  9                -              -
Debtors                                                               289              18             265
Cash at bank and in hand                                              127             1377            944
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year                      (141)             (34)          (281)
Total assets less current liabilities                               1,547             1372          1,936
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year                 -                -              -

Net assets                                                          1,547             1372          1,936

Capital and reserves
Called up share capital                                                95               82             95
Share premium                                                       1,687            1,388          1,687
Capital reserve                                                       498                             498
Profit and loss account                                             (733)             (98)          (344)

Shareholders' funds                                                 1,547             1372          1,936











Consolidated cash flow statement

For the six months ended 30 September 2005 (unaudited)


                                                           6 months ended   6 months ended   12 months to
                                                             30 September     30 September  31 March 2005
                                                         2005 (unaudited) 2004 (unaudited)      (audited)
                                                                     £000             £000           £000

Net cash outflow from operating activities                          (562)             (99)          (487)

Returns on investments and servicing of finance
Interest received                                                       8               18             45

Net cash flow from returns on investments and servicing                 8               18             45
of finance

Taxation                                                                                                -

Capital expenditure
Purchase of intangible fixed assets                                 (167)                            (56)
Purchase of tangible fixed assets                                    (96)             (12)          (179)

Net cash outflow from capital expenditure                           (263)             (12)          (235)

Acquisitions and disposals
Purchase of subsidiary undertaking                                                                  (160)
Cash acquired with subsidiary                                                                           5

Net cash outflow from acquisitions                                                                  (155)

Financing
Issue of ordinary shares                                                             1,550          2,150
Expenses paid in connection with share issues                           -             (80)          (374)

Net cash inflow from financing                                                       1,470          1,776

Increase/(decrease) in cash                                         (817)             1377            944






Notes to the Interim Results



1      BASIS OF PREPARATION

The interim accounts for the six months ended 30 September 2005 are unaudited
and do not constitute statutory accounts in accordance with section 240 of the
Companies Act 1985.



The financial information has been prepared in accordance with applicable
accounting standards and under the historical cost accounting convention.



Accounting policies consistent with those applied in the financial statements
for the year ended 31 March 2005 have been used in preparing the unaudited
interim financial statements for the 6 months ended 30 September 2005.



2      DIVIDENDS

The Directors are not declaring a dividend for the six months ended 30 September
2005.



3      TAXATION

The charge for taxation is based on the profit for the year as adjusted for
disallowable items.



4      LOSS PER SHARE

The calculation of the loss per share is based on the loss for the period of
£389,000 and the weighted average number of shares in issue during the period of
9,505,775.



5      COPIES OF INTERIM RESULTS

Copies of the interim results will be sent to shareholders and will be available
from the Company's registered office, 26 Curzon Street, London W1J 7TQ








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