Heads of Agreement Signed

Ovoca Resources PLC 13 April 2004 Ovoca signs Heads of Agreement on Irish Gold Exploration Portfolio with Minmet PLC and Aurum Mineral Resources Ltd. Ovoca Resources PLC, the international exploration company, ( "Ovoca", OVG.I , Dublin ; OVG.L , London ) is pleased to announce the signing of a Heads of Agreement on the formation of a new Joint Venture company, focused on gold exploration in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in conjunction with MinMet PLC ("MinMet") and Aurum Mineral Resources Ltd ("AMR"). Database and knowledge assets are to be jointly assigned into a subsidiary company, Exploration & Development Ltd ("EDL"), in which Ovoca, MinMet and AMR will initially hold a 40%, 40% and 20% beneficial interest respectively. AMR will act as operators on behalf of EDL and a joint management committee, comprising a representative of each joint venture partner, will oversee exploration activities. Under the agreement AMR can earn into a 40% equity stake in EDL by spending €50,000 on exploration activities within 18-months. MinMet will assign its Irish base-of-till sampling database into the company and Ovoca will provide further geological data which it has on file, relating to areas of interest. All parties involved agree that the aim of this Joint Venture is to discover and develop an economic gold deposit in Ireland and to this effect EDL will focus on an exciting gold exploration portfolio, in varied geological terrains, on properties distributed throughout Ireland. Identified targets are based on an initial analysis and interpretation of newly integrated data including the unique MinMet base-of-till geochemical database, historical Ovoca data and AMR's extensive Irish databases and geological expertise. A full digital capture programme and analysis of data in areas in the West, Midlands and North-East of Ireland is underway and field-work in target areas is expected to commence during April 2004. The Joint Venture partners look forward to positive results from an aggressive, ore-grade result orientated exploration programme. Enquiries and further information : Richard O'Shea CEO + 353 87 256 0397 John O'Connor CFO + 353 1 491 2944 www.ovoca.ie DATE 13 April 2004 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