Issue of Equity

Celtic Resources Holdings PLC
30 August 2000


Celtic Resources Holdings plc ('Celtic Resources' or 'the Company')

Placing of 21,739,494 New Ordinary Shares

Celtic Resources is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into
arrangements to place 21,739,494 new Ordinary Shares in the capital of the
Company at EUR 0.153 (Stg£0.094, US$0.138) per share (the 'Placing'). The
Placing arrangements involve the issue of warrants over 7,246,498 new Ordinary
Shares in the capital of the Company ('the Warrants').

The Placing will raise approximately EUR 3.3 million (Stg£2.0 million, US$3.0
million) net of placing expenses. The net proceeds of the Placing are to be
used to help fund development of Celtic Resources' assets in Kazakhstan and
Russia. Specifically, the Company intends to accelerate plans for its main
asset, a 50 per cent. interest in the Nezhdaninskoye mine (which is considered
to be the third-largest gold deposit in the Commonwealth of Independent
States) at Yakutia in Russia's far East. Celtic expects to re-start production
at this mine before the end of 2000.  

Additionally, the Company has plans to generate cash flow from Tamdykol in
north-west Kazakhstan, where it has an 80 per cent. interest in a shallow oil
field only 150 metres below the surface which has produced limited quantities
of oil from surface wells for 60 years but has never been extensively
developed.  Proceeds of the Placing will enable Celtic to drill four to twelve
wells on the property this year, with each well capable of producing about 90
barrels of high grade oil per day.  Celtic also has an option to acquire the
remaining 20 per cent. of the property which it does not currently own.

The Placing comprises two separate tranches. The first tranche of 3,441,900
new Ordinary Shares is within the existing routine authority granted to the
Directors by Shareholders at the Annual General Meeting held on 31 July, 2000
and has now been completed save that the grant of 1,147,300 first tranche
Warrants requires Shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting of
the Company, notice of which will be sent to Shareholders in due course ('the
EGM'). 

The second tranche of the Placing, being the issue of 18,297,594 new Ordinary
Shares and grant of 6,099,198 Warrants is expected to be completed in October,
2000 subject to the passing of the relevant resolutions at the EGM.

Celtic Resources, a natural resources exploration company with a dealing
facility on the Exploration Securities Market of the Irish Stock Exchange has
a primary objective in growing within three years into a profitable resources
based group with a valuable portfolio of producing and developing mines in
Russia and Central Asia.  The target is to have more than 20 million ounces of
gold under the Company's control within the three years and group annual
production above 250,000oz of un-hedged gold at an average operating cost of
less than US$150 per ounce.
 
It was announced on 31 July, 2000 that the Board of Zenit Bank of Moscow had
approved, subject to completion of all requisite documentation, a US$7m
financial loan package for Nezhdaninskoye in 2000.   The funds would enable
plant at the mine to be refurbished and production to commence in the final
quarter of this year. The present plant is capable of treating 100,000 tonnes
of ore a year to produce 50,000oz of gold in the first 12 months and 80,000oz
per annum thereafter for up to five years.


30 August, 2000

For more information:

Kevin Foo
Managing Director
[phone] or [phone]

Ron Marshman/Ken Gooding
City of London PR
[phone]

Pascal Keane
Davy Corporate Finance Limited
[phone]