Financing Agreed

Celtic Resources Holdings PLC
20 June 2002

                         Celtic Resources Holdings Plc


    STANDARD BANK COMMITS US$12 MILLION TO CELTIC'S NEZHDANINSKOYE GOLD MINE


Celtic Resources Holdings Plc (Ticker: CER), is pleased to announce that
Standard Bank London have committed to provide a US$12 million project loan
facility to the 50% owned South Verkhoyansk Mining Company (SVMC) Nezhdaninskoye
gold project in Yakutia.


Celtic and Standard Bank signed a commitment letter on June 19, 2002. Draw down
of the loan is subject to completion of all documentation, necessary government
approvals and final legal and technical due diligence.


The loan amount of $12 million consists of a $9 million project loan and a $3
million overrun facility. The size of the loan is based on a Stage 1 Operating
Plan produced by Celtic and its advisors that provides for a build up of
production from the current capacity of 250,000 tonnes/year to 600,000 tonnes/
year by 2004. Gold production in 2003 is planned to be around 50,000 ounces and
up to 150,000 ounces in 2004. Average cash costs from the study are $148/ounce.


In conjunction with the Standard Bank financing, a leading equipment supplier
has provided Celtic with an indication of terms to provide five year lease
finance for up to $3 million to purchase mining equipment. This financing
together with the Standard Bank financing is sufficient to fund the
Nezhdaninskoye project with a conservative allowance for cost overruns and
delays.


Standard Bank is one of the world's largest gold bullion traders and is a
leading mining finance bank, especially for projects in Russia and developing
countries.


Kevin Foo, Chairman and Managing Director of Celtic said "The commitment of
Standard Bank to Nezhdaninskoye is an important and very pleasing endorsement of
the project and our belief that Russia is an attractive country in which to
invest. Working with Standard Bank and its advisors has also helped us define
the optimum development route for Nezhdaninskoye and our staged approach was
confirmed. We envisage gold production rising to 350,000 oz/yr by 2007 with
further investment. Our work also established that the ores are treatable by
conventional and available technology. Average gold recoveries for vein ore are
expected to be more than 90% and for the lower grade breccia ore more than 75%."


There is further upside in the project, as current resource figures are based on
studies of only 37 of the 117 ore bodies identified within the SVMC license. The
measured, indicated and inferred resource (JORC Standard) now stands at 77.9
million tonnes at 5.5g/t Au, containing 13.9 million ounces. In addition to this
there is approximately 12.5 million ounces of Russian "P" category resources
that are not classified under JORC Standards.


"These ore bodies all fall within a 13 km strike length and are limited to the
top 600m depth of the Nezhdaninskoye ore body. As two thirds of the structure
remains to be properly explored, we see the project economics improving in time"
said Mr Foo.


For more information please contact:


Kevin Foo / Claire Bolton

Celtic Resources Holdings Plc

Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7593 0001

[e-mail]


Leesa Peters / Cindy Dennis

Capital PR, London

Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7618 7887

[e-mail]


Nigel Heneghan

Heneghan PR, Dublin

Tel: + 353 1 660 7395

[e-mail]


Eugenee Mulhern

Davy Corporate Finance Ltd

Tel: + 353 1 679 6363

[e-mail]




www.celticresources.com




20 June, 2002



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