Performance at Month End

Merrill Lynch World Mining Tst PLC
08 November 2002


 MONTHLY PERFORMANCE

 MERRILL LYNCH WORLD MINING TRUST plc

 All information is at 31 October 2002 and unaudited.

 Performance at month end with net income reinvested

                                                                       One      Three        One      Three       Five
                                                                     month     months       year      years      years

Net asset value                                                       3.8%       7.1%      25.5%      41.2%      76.4%

Share price                                                           2.7%       4.9%      32.2%      41.4%      81.8%

HSBC Global Mining Index (capital only)                               4.0%      -0.9%      -0.2%       2.5%      12.6%

MSCI World Metals & Mining Index (capital only)                       5.9%      -6.3%      -7.3%     -16.0%     -16.1%

 Sources: Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, HSBC Global Mining Index, Datastream


At month end

Net asset value:                      133.81p               Discount to NAV:                                       15.6%

Share price:                          113.00p               Net historic yield:                                     2.8%

Total assets:                         £214.3m

Gearing:                              Nil                   Effective gearing:                                      0.9%

Ordinary shares in issue:             162,800,000



(145,461 shares were repurchased and cancelled during the month.)


Sector Analysis                        % Total Assets         Country Analysis                           % Total Assets

Diversified                                      28.0         South Africa                                         32.0

Gold                                             27.3         Europe                                               20.1

Base Metals                                      18.3         Latin America                                        15.6

Platinum                                         12.4         Canada                                               13.4

Industrial Minerals                               7.2         Australasia                                          12.3

Silver/Diamonds                                   6.7         USA                                                   5.5

Gold Bullion                                      1.0         China                                                 1.0

Cash                                              1.2         Gold Bullion                                          1.0

Net current liabilities                         (2.1)         Cash                                                  1.2

                                                              Net current liabilities                             (2.1)

                                                100.0                                                             100.0




Ten Largest Equity Investments

Company                                                      % Investments          Country of Risk

Gold Fields                                                            9.4          South Africa

Impala Platinum                                                        9.2          South Africa

Harmony Gold Mining                                                    6.4          South Africa

Minas Buenaventura                                                     6.4          Peru

BHP Billiton                                                           6.3          Global

Rio Tinto                                                              5.3          Global

Aber Diamond                                                           5.3          Canada

CVRD                                                                   5.1          Brazil

Western Mining Corporation                                             3.9          Australia

Pechiney                                                               3.2          France

                                                                      60.5



Commenting on the markets, Graham Birch, representing the Investment Manager
noted:

Mining shares staged a modest rally during October, driven higher by resurgent
broad equity markets (MSCI World Index up by over 7% during the month) and a
better tone to metals markets (base metals prices on average 6% higher).  With
markets doing better, gold in true counter-cyclical style weakened - slipping by
2%.  Gold shares therefore fell by around 6% - a contributory factor in the
Trust's relatively lacklustre performance during the month.

Quarterly earnings results from mining companies around the world were generally
disappointing, with cost control a problem in South Africa and metal prices
somewhat weak.  Most analysts have been lowering their earnings forecasts for
the industry with a negative knock-on effect into 2003, and in some cases 2004.

On the corporate front, October was a quiet month.  Western Mining Corporation
finally commenced its long awaited 'un-bundling' process (nearly a year after
the first announcement) - a fact that we welcome.  Western Areas 'un-bundled'
itself leading to our holding in the company rising somewhat and possibly making
the company more attractive to a corporate predator.

Derivatives

At the end of October there were no outstanding derivatives positions in the
portfolio.

Outlook

For the bulk of the portfolio, the outlook remains dominated by expectations of
mildly positive economic growth.  For the gold shares, the overall level of
uncertainty in the markets is the key driver.

Latest information is available by typing www.mlim.co.uk/its on the internet,
'MLIMINDEX' on Reuters, 'MLIM' on Bloomberg or '8800' on Topic 3 (ICV terminal).

8 November 2002
ENDS



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            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange