Grant of Mining Licence

Griffin Mining Ld 25 March 2002 Griffin Mining Limited 4th Floor, the Linen Hall, 162-168 Regent Street, London, W1R 5TE, United Kingdom Telephone: + 44 (0)20 7663 9855 Facsimile: + 44 (0)20 7663 9856 E mail: griffin@griffinmining.demon.co.uk 25th March 2002 GRANT OF MINING LICENCE Griffin Mining Limited ('Griffin' or 'the Company' is pleased to announce that its Chinese local subsidiary company, the Hebei Hua' Ao Mining Development Company Limited, has been granted a mining licence over the Caijiaying zinc-gold deposit in the Peoples Republic of China. This is believed to be the first mining licence over a base metal deposit to be granted by the Ministry of Land and Resources ('the MLR') to a foreign controlled company in the Peoples Republic of China. The grant of the mining licence will enable Griffin, subject to limited further infill drilling and the necessary additional finance being available, to proceed with bringing into production the Caijiaying zinc-gold deposit. In the Spring of 2001, Griffin successfully completed a private equity placing and exercise of warrants to raise US$3.1 million for the Caijiaying project and working capital, and has since appointed Endeavour Financial, a specialist in mining finance, to assist the Company in raising debt finance for the Caijiaying project. An independent scoping study commissioned by the Company in 2000 indicated that for a modest capital cost, an underground mine could be brought into production at Caijiaying to process profitably some 180,000 tonnes of ore per annum at 12.3% zinc, 0.7 grams per tonne gold, and 48 grams per tonne silver, over a minimum mine life of 10 years. It is expected that additional resources will be proved up ahead of mining by underground drilling and driving in the many areas where mineralisation is indicated from the original surface drilling. The total tonnage and grade have potential to increase as the mine develops. Before undertaking the final desktop work to convert the completed feasibility study to a fully bankable feasibility study, Griffin intends to drill a few diamond drill holes in the northern section of Zone III of the Caijiaying deposit where there is a lack of close spaced infill drilling in the east-west orientation. Drilling is expected to start next month and be completed this summer. Following the successful conclusion of this work and the completion of the fully bankable feasibility study, Griffin expects to complete the necessary project finance to allow for the planning, construction and commissioning of an underground mine at Caijiaying in 2002/2003. The mining licence has been granted under mining regulations promulgated by the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China in 1998 and subsequent provisions, and was granted by the MLR based in Beijing following approval at provincial level and widely held consultation with a number of interested committees and bodies within the Peoples Republic of China. Further information Roger Goodwin - Finance Director - Telephone: +44(0)20 7663 9855 Charles Dampney - Charles Stanley - Telephone: +44(0)20 7739 8200 Griffin Mining Limited's shares are quoted on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange (symbol GFM). The Company's news releases are available on the Company's web site: www.griffinmining.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange