Further re Norplat Ltd

Ovoca Resources PLC 12 May 2005 NEWS RELEASE May 12, 2005 Ovoca Resource plc ('Ovoca' or the 'Company') Further Information on Norplat Limited ('Norplat') Following the acquisition of a 78 percent interest in Norplat Limited the directors of Ovoca Resources plc (OVG.I Dublin and OVG.L London) wish to provide further information on the exploration assets the Company has acquired. Norplat Limited is a private exploration company created six years ago by former Oxus Gold Plc Managing Directors for the purposes of exploiting the mineral potential of the Russian Federation, in particular focussing on platinum and gold deposits in northwest Russia. The directors of Norplat, supported by a team of local and western geological professionals, have between them over 95 years of experience in developing mineral properties in the Former Soviet Union. Norplat owns a 95 percent equity interest in its Russian subsidiary "Black Fox Resources AOA " which currently holds the 152 square kilometre Kolmozero-Voronya exploration license in the Kola Peninsula of northwest Russia near the Finnish border. The license encompasses a number of mineral prospects which include platinum, gold, copper, molybdenum, nickel and rare earth minerals. Two exploration prospects, Oleninskoye and Nyalm, have already been drilled and trenched with combined resources of 900,000 ounces of gold so far outlined in the P1 category based on the Russian resource classification methodology. The 2005 trenching and a 7,000 metre diamond drilling programme has already commenced on both prospects. This follows on from the results of last year's drilling programme and assay results are expected in the coming weeks. At Oleninskoye, the more advanced prospect, the 2004 and previous drilling programmes have indicated that gold mineralisation occurs in quartz lenses of thickness ranging from 2 to 5 metres with an average strike length of 85 metres and an overall strike length of 5 kilometers for all six mineralised zones. Drill intersections indicated that the gold mineralisation extends to depths in excess of 100 metres and is open both along strike and in depth. A recent resource estimate calculated by Norplat based on drilling on Vein 3 has outlined 1,020,000 tonnes at an average grade of 13.9 grammes per tonne and a gold equivalent of 455,000 ounces. In addition to this gold mineralisation, recent drilling has intersected spatially related platinum mineralisation within the metabasalt and metadiabase host rocks of the gold bearing quartz veins and stockworks with platinum grades of up to 3.2 grammes per tonne over thicknesses of over 10 metres. It is believed that these host rocks are extensive throughout the license and assays from reject samples from previous gold exploration, before Norplat's ownership of the licence, indicate the presence of platinum in other gold prospects where assays for platinum were not run. The acquisition of a 78 percent shareholding in Norplat, with a call option to acquire the remaining Norplat issued shares and warrants, has not only dramatically increased the resource base of Ovoca but has brought onboard a dynamic experienced technical management team to advance not only the Kola projects but also the licenses in Sweden and Ireland. Further information will be provided on the results of the 2005 drilling programme and prospects for all of the Company's exploration prospects in due course. Contacts Barrie Oakes +44 (0)795 1139266 Roger Turner +44 (0)773 092813 John O'Connor +353 (0)1 491 2944 Richard O'Shea +353 (0)87 2560 397 John Frain (Davy Corporate Finance) +353 (0)1 679 6363 This announcement has been issued through the Companies Announcement Service of the Irish Stock Exchange. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange