Portfolio Update

BLACKROCK WORLD MINING TRUST plc
All information is at 31 December 2015 and unaudited.
Performance at month end with net income reinvested
		One			Three				One	Three		Five
		Month			Months				Year	Years		Years
Net asset value		-2.3%			-4.4%				-35.5%	-64.2%		-73.5%
Share price		-7.5%			-12.0%				-37.0%	-63.8%		-72.8%
Euromoney Global Mining Index		-2.1%			-7.0%				-36.9%	-58.3%		-70.3%
(Total return)
Sources: BlackRock, Euromoney Global Mining Index, Datastream
At month end
Net asset value including income*:								212.81p
Net asset value capital only:								201.36p
*Includes net revenue of 11.45p
Share price:								181.00p
Discount to NAV**:								14.9%
Total assets:								£438.0m
Net yield***:								11.6%
Net gearing:								12.9%
Ordinary shares in issue:								177,287,242
Ordinary shares held in treasury:								15,724,600
Ongoing charges****:								1.4%
** Discount to NAV including income. *** Based on an interim dividend of 7.00p in respect of the year ended 31 December 2015 and a final dividend of 14.00p in respect of the year ended 31 December 2014. **** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding finance costs for the year ended 31 December 2014.
Sector	% Total					Country Analysis					% Total
	Assets										Assets
Diversified	36.6
Base Metals	18.3					Global					45.1
Gold	16.9					Latin America					16.2
Silver & Diamonds	12.9					Australasia					9.7
Industrial Minerals	6.8					Other Africa					8.8
Other	4.5					Canada					8.5
Copper	0.5					Emerging Europe					5.3
Aluminium	0.5					South Africa					3.0
Zinc	0.2					Indonesia					0.6
Net current assets	2.8					Net current assets					2.8
	-----										-----
	100.0										100.0
	=====										=====
Ten Largest Investments
Company				% Total Assets
BHP Billiton				11.0
Rio Tinto				10.4
First Quantum Minerals				6.5
Lundin Mining				5.1
Norilsk Nickel				4.8
Fresnillo				4.4
Glencore				3.7
Cerro Verde				3.7
Hudbay Minerals				2.7
PotashCorp				2.7

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

Performance

Despite some relative strength following the long-awaited announcement of the US rate rise at the end of the year, the mining sector fared worse than many other equity sectors in December as the Company’s benchmark finished the period down -3.7% versus a -1.8% fall in the MSCI World Index.  Mined commodities posted some positive performance with copper, zinc and aluminium up +2.3%, +3.1% and +2.3% respectively; however, at the end of the year, most mined commodities were trading well below marginal cost and a significant proportion of overall mined production was in loss-making territory.

Anglo American suffered dramatic selling during the month as it announced a restructuring programme in an attempt to address its struggling balance sheet.  The company plans to raise US$4 billion from asset sales, pare its business down to three divisions from six and has suspended dividends until the end of 2016.  In addition, the company, which is the world's fifth biggest global miner by market value, said it planned to reduce its workforce to just 50,000 from 135,000 at the time of the announcement.  In the portfolio, our underweight to Anglo American was the largest contributor to relative performance in December.

The Company’s underweight to Japanese conglomerate Sumitomo Metal Mining detracted from relative performance as the company displayed comparative strength due to its downstream export business.  The Company’s overweight position in Potash Corp detracted from performance over the month.  The stock came under pressure owing to continued potash price weakness, as well as increased concerns over the company’s dividend sustainability.

Within the Company’s unquoted investments, Banro Corporation, where the Company has exposure to gold-linked preference shares, announced that they have signed a US$98.75m financing agreement with a Chinese investment fund, Resource FinanceWorks.  The deal is subject to regulatory approval with the company targeting financial close in January 2016.  The funds will be used to secure remaining coupon payments on the senior secured notes, repay bank loans and accrued preferred share dividends, as well as expanding crushing capacity at the Twangiza mine.

All data points in USD terms.

Strategy and Outlook

As we look towards 2016, it is shaping up to be another tough year for the natural resources sector.  Commodity markets remain oversupplied and prices for certain commodities will need to remain at current levels, or move lower, to see loss making production leave the market.  In light of this, dividends will remain under pressure for the sector and we would expect to see companies further reduce capital spending and operating costs to maintain their balance sheets.

Since the peak of the mining cycle in 2011, the industry has responded to lower commodity prices via cost cutting, capital expenditure reductions, asset sales and restructuring.  We are now at the point where companies need to curtail loss making production to reduce commodity surplus balances in the market.  The rapid reduction in costs, combined with low interest rates and available balance sheet liquidity (including debt and equity), has meant that the industry has not been forced to make the tough decisions to shut down loss making assets.  There is evidence that this environment is now changing with interest rates rising and some companies under considerable balance sheet stress.  As we enter 2016, the industry will be forced to respond and we would expect to see an acceleration in production cuts which should be supportive for commodity prices.

14 January 2015

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.