Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK WORLD MINING TRUST plc
All information is at 30 June 2016 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
		One			Three				One	Three		Five
		Month			Months				Year	Years		Years
Net asset value		23.0%			27.6%				9.2%	-20.8%		-56.7%
Share price		19.8%			23.7%				3.1%	-22.9%		-53.9%
Euromoney Global Mining Index		22.7%			27.4%				12.1%	-6.6%		-48.4%
(Total return)
Sources: BlackRock, Euromoney Global Mining Index, Datastream
At month end
Net asset value including income*:								315.99p
Net asset value capital only:								309.69p
*Includes net revenue of 6.30p
Share price:								270.25p
Discount to NAV**:								14.5%
Total assets:								£631.9m
Net yield***:								7.8%
Net gearing:								12.7%
Ordinary shares in issue:								176,455,242
Ordinary shares held in treasury:								16,556,600
Ongoing charges****:								1.2%
** Discount to NAV including income. *** Based on an interim dividend of 7.00p and a final dividend of 14.00p per share in respect of the year ended 31 December 2015. **** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding finance costs, for the year ended 31 December 2015.
Sector	% Total					Country Analysis					% Total
	Assets										Assets
Diversified	32.0					Global					49.9
Gold	26.4					Latin America					16.7
Copper	17.6					Australasia					9.7
Silver & Diamonds	16.0					Other Africa					8.4
Nickel	3.3					Canada					7.7
Industrial Minerals	3.3					Emerging Europe					3.4
Zinc	0.5					South Africa					2.7
Other	0.2					Belgium					0.5
Iron Ore	0.1					Indonesia					0.4
Net current assets	0.6					Net current assets					0.6
	-----										-----
	100.0										100.0
	=====										=====
Ten Largest Investments
Company				% Total Assets
BHP Billiton				9.0
Rio Tinto				7.6
First Quantum Minerals				6.8
Fresnillo				5.2
Lundin Mining				4.6
Newcrest Mining				3.6
Glencore				3.5
Cerro Verde				3.4
Norilsk Nickel				3.3
Newmont Mining				3.1

Commenting on the markets, Evy Hambro and Olivia Markham, representing the Investment Manager noted:

Global equity markets, as displayed by the MSCI World Index (total return), declined by -1.1% in June. The mining sector continued its rally, after a brief pause in May, rebounding strongly as global volatility and uncertainty increased after the United Kingdom’s surprise decision to leave the European Union (the Euromoney Global Mining Index total return in sterling returned +22.7% in June). The base metals increased across the board with copper, aluminium and nickel finishing the month +3.1%, +6.4% and +9.3% higher respectively.

Data from China has continued to be mixed; infrastructure spend has held up well and May’s PMI data was unchanged from the previous month which provided price support. However, Chinese investment slowed to a 15 year low and fixed asset investment growth was disappointing, with a particularly strong deceleration in private investment.

The increased uncertainty in markets was supportive for gold and silver as investors fled to safe-haven assets. The gold price increased by 5% on the day of the Brexit result, with gold trading above $1,300/oz, and this price level has since held through the subsequent rebound in risk assets in the final days of the month to close the month at $1,321/oz. Silver rallied strongly, finishing the month +16% higher at $18.80/oz. Silver typically follows gold’s trajectory with a slight lag and this year has been no different. The gold/silver ratio fell to a two-year low over the month, having been at its 52 week high in March this year.

The Company outperformed the broader UK market following the Brexit decision due to its precious metals exposure and currency exposure, as the large majority of the Company’s assets are denominated in US dollars. Given this exposure to US dollar based assets, the subsequent decline in sterling has also seen the discount to net asset value (NAV) widen, peaking at ~19% towards the end of June.

Diamond equities suffered during the month as the diamond price pulled back due to concerns around liquidity conditions in the diamond market and a potential weakening in luxury spend following the announcement of the Brexit vote.

Strategy and Outlook

Price moves in the mining sector year to date, albeit off an unsustainably low base, have been reminiscent of the times of strong global demand growth and raw material constraints, neither of which have been a feature of present market conditions. Weaker growth in the developed economies, poor figures from some emerging markets and continuing oversupply in the mined commodities appeared to catch up with this recent rally, ultimately leading to a pull-back.

However, the miners have continued to make progress and whilst supply can be sticky for a number of reasons a cash negative operation cannot persist indefinitely. We have seen the first of the long-awaited supply cuts announced but mined commodity prices will need to remain at current levels or move lower before we see real momentum in cuts. In light of this, we expect to see companies further reduce capital spending and operating costs in the second half in order to bolster their balance sheets.

All data points are in US dollar terms unless stated otherwise.

19 July 2016

ENDS

Latest information is available by typing www.brwmplc.co.uk on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal).  Neither the contents of the Manager’s website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager’s website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement.