Minco PLC Regulatory News (MIO)

MINCO RAISES £1.29 MILLION TO FUND EXPLORATION & WORKING CAPITAL

XTIERRA REPORTS A NEW HIGH GRADE SILVER ZONE AT BILBAO, MEXICO

Dublin, 4 April 2011 - Minco plc (AIM |MIO, 'Minco', the 'Company'), the Irish exploration and development company announces that it has raised £1.29 million through the issue of 24,654,857 New Ordinary Shares of €0.0125 each at an issue price of £0.0525 per share. This placing of new shares was oversubscribed.

The proceeds will be used in part to fund ongoing exploration and drilling activities at the Pallas Green zinc-lead exploration project in Co. Limerick, which is held in joint venture with Xstrata Zinc and where a major drilling programme is presently being carried out, and in part for working capital.

The shares have been placed with a number of financial institutions and private investors. Minco has paid a total commission of £64,719.00 to Beaufort International Associates in connection with this placing.

Minco also reports that Beaufort International Associates, the Company's Corporate Broker, has exercised one year warrants of Minco plc issued on 21st April 2010 at £0.03 per warrant for total proceeds to the company of £38,603.10. Accordingly, 1,286,770 new ordinary shares will be issued and these shares are included in the application for admission referred to below. 

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the New Ordinary Shares to be admitted on the AIM Market. Dealing is expected to commence on or about 7 April 2011. Following the placement Minco will have 349,999,988 Ordinary Shares outstanding.

Xtierra - Drilling Indicates New Silver Zone

Xtierra Inc. (TSXV | XAG, 'Xtierra') in which Minco holds a 30% equity interest, reported April 1, 2011, the discovery of a new high grade silver zone at its Bilbao project in central Zacatecas, Mexico. Drill-hole CG-4, undertaken as part of the geotechnical portion of a feasibility study for the proposed open-pit at Bilbao, encountered economically significant silver values in a newly identified brecciated fault zone. The new target occurs stratigraphically above the high grade silver targets subject to investigation by the drilling program previously announced (March 2, 2011) and occurs towards the south-eastern extremity of the proposed open-pit.

The new silver mineralization occurs in a brecciated, manganiferous limestone at least 5.70 metres in thickness (core length which is considered to be more or less a true width), from a depth of 120.00m to 125.70m, with an average grade of 247g/t silver. This same horizon has also been identified in drill-hole X-85, previously drilled by Xtierra within the main Bilbao resource, on the projected down dip extension to the zone. The table below shows the mineralization intersected in drill-hole CG4.

Drill-hole CG4 occurs in a previously untested area of the project, 100m to the east of drill hole X-85 and 50m south of drill hole X-41, indicating continuity of mineralization in the south-eastern sector of the deposit and which is likely to add to the currently defined mineral resource.

The new diamond drilling program investigating the high grade silver zone previously encountered along the western margin of the Bilbao deposit extending over a strike length of at least 300 metres will also investigate this new silver-rich zone which is located approximately 180 metres to the south-southeast. In addition, drilling will be undertaken on several geophysical targets and on a new silver-lead geochemical anomaly target at the Ardillas prospect located 1.5km to the north-east of Bilbao.

Xtierra's current cash and working capital position amounts to approximately $9.6 million dollars (US) and Minco's investment in Xtierra has a current market value of approximately $15 million (Canadian).

About Minco

Minco PLC is an AIM quoted precious and base metals exploration and development company engaged in zinc exploration on the Pallas Green property in Ireland in a joint venture with Xstrata Zinc and investments in zinc-silver projects in Mexico through its 30% shareholding in Xtierra Inc. listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (Toronto) under the symbol "XAG".