RNS Number:8983S
Celtic Resources Holdings PLC
05 December 2003


                                                                 5 December 2003


    Celtic Resources Holdings Plc announces 44.4% holding in spin off float
      Eureka Mining Plc which is set to join AIM after #7 million placing


           Eureka to focus on mining and exploration in Central Asia and in
                             particular Kazakhstan

                  Trading of Eureka expected to commence 11 December


Celtic Resources Holdings Plc ("Celtic" or the "Company") today announces the
sale of its non-core Kazakhstan gold and base metal exploration assets to Eureka
Mining Plc ("Eureka"), a new company formed specifically for the purpose of the
transaction. Celtic will retain a 44.4% interest in Eureka following the
expected Admission of Eureka shares to trading on AIM on 11 December 2003.
Williams de Broe has raised #7 million for Eureka through the issue of 5,833,333
shares at 120 pence giving an expected market capitalisation on Admission of
#20.4 million.


Celtic's 44.4% interest in Eureka was obtained by the sale of its non-core
Kazakhstan assets to Eureka for US$15 million which was satisfied by the issue
of 7.6 million shares in Eureka. Two of Celtic's senior management, Kevin Foo
and Andrzej Sliwa, will join Eureka's board as Non-executive Chairman and
Executive Director respectively. Following Admission, it is Celtic's intention
to seek to distribute a significant proportion of its resultant holding in
Eureka to its shareholders as a special dividend. The directors of Celtic will
provide further information on this proposal as and when it becomes available.

The Kazakhstan mining assets, to be held by Eureka, have been valued by
independent consultants SRK at between US$19 million and US$22 million. They
include the Shorskoye molybdenum deposit (100%), the Mykubinsk and Central
Kazakhstan polymetallic assets (100%) and the Kentau gold and base metals
exploration project (100%).


Eureka will use the proceeds of the Placing to fund the exploration work,
feasibility studies and initial development of each of the assets acquired, with
special focus being placed on the development of the Shorskoye Molybdenum
Project which has the potential to be one of the largest unexploited molybdenum
deposits in the world. The proposed indicative annual production is expected to
be approximately 10,000 tonnes of molybdenum and 3,000 tonnes of copper with
feasibility studies scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2005 and
production targetted to start in late 2006.


Speaking today, Celtic's Managing Director Kevin Foo said "These assets were not
fully valued in Celtic. With this transaction and the separate listing and
financing of Eureka Mining Plc, shareholders in both companies can now benefit.
We are delighted that the level of support in the placing has allowed some of
their value to be realised for both Celtic's and Eureka's shareholders. Celtic
can now focus on increasing gold production from our Nezhdaninskoye, Suzdal and
Zherek mines and in making Celtic one of the premier FSU gold producers."

Eureka's Chief Executive Officer David Bartley added "We have a highly
experienced management team and a proactive major shareholder which bodes well
in assisting us to acquire and develop precious and base metals projects within
Kazakhstan and the FSU and bring them into production in a reasonable
timescale."


For more information please contact:

Kevin Foo/Claire Bolton/Kate Dexter-Smith       Leesa Peters / Laurence Read
Celtic Resources Holdings Plc                   Conduit PR
Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7593 0001                      Tel: +44 (0) 7936 9095 / +44 (0) 781 215 9885
Investor.relations@celticresources.com          leesa@conduitpr.com


David Bartley                                   Joe Nally / Louis Castro/ David Newton
Eureka Mining Plc                               Williams de Broe Plc
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7401 7493                       +44 (0) 20 7588 7511


                            www.celticresources.com


KEY PROJECTS OF EUREKA


Shorskoye


The 100% owned Shorskoye Molybdenum/Copper Project was first discovered in 1993
and is located about 90 km south-west of Semipalatinsk in north-eastern
Kazakhstan near the Kishken gold occurrence and the Charsk gold belt. The region
has existing infrastructure of road, rail and power providing the project with
low cost power and direct rail access to the Chinese and Russian markets.


Preliminary resource estimates by Celtic indicate potential tonnages in excess
of 300 million tonnes of ore with 750,000 tonnes of molybdenum and 180,000
tonnes of copper at estimated grades of 0.24% molybdenum and 0.06% copper. Based
on these indications, St Barbara Consultancy Services have stated that if these
early indications of grade and tonnage are substantiated the deposit would be
ranked between second and sixth by grade and first on tonnage on a global basis.
The proposed indicative annual production is expected to be approximately 10,000
tonnes of molybdenum and 3,000 tonnes of copper.

Eureka intends to commence work at Shorskoye with a detailed resource drilling
campaign in quarter 1 2004 and will then progress to complete a Pre-Feasibility
Study. During this period Eureka will initiate discussions with offtake
participants, particularly in Russia and China. Feasibility studies are
scheduled to be completed by the first Quarter of 2005 and, subject to a
positive feasibility study and suitable market conditions, production is
intended to start in late 2006.

Molybdenum is a metallic element used in steel production and as an alloying
addition to enhance strength, hardenability, weldability, toughness, elevated
temperature strength and corrosion resistance. Although molybdenum is primarily
used in steels, its complex and unique properties have proved invaluable in a
constantly expanding range of other alloy systems and chemical compounds.
Current annual world molybdenum consumption is approximately 130,000 tonnes and
demand is increasing due to its versatility as an alloy. Over the past 12 months
the molybdenum price has risen from US$3.38 as at 1 December 2002 to US$6.25 per
lb as at 1 December 2003.


Mykubinsk and Central Kazakhstan


The two projects are located in central Kazakhstan, half way between the cities
of Semipalatinsk and Karaganda, covering a total area of over 19,000 km2. A
number of gold and polymetallic targets have been delineated, the most
prospective of which are contained in the Mykubinsk licence, Baigustam, Beryozki
and Ushtagan and in the Central Kazakhstan licence, Abyz South, Maiozek and
Bypak.


Both licence areas are traversed by the central Kazakhstan deep fault and a
number of complementary fault systems. No mineral resources have yet been
delineated on these properties however sufficient work has been completed to
identify drilling targets. SRK have stated that the proximity to already located
occurrences gives this area credibility and increases the likelihood of deposit
potential.

Eureka will explore the high priority targets generated by previous work with
the aim to identify areas of ore-grade mineralisation, which would either
support a stand-alone ore processing facility or be transported to existing
facilities.


Kentau


Kentau is situated in the southern part of Kazakhstan, adjacent to the
Uzbekistan border, where base metal mining and agriculture are the mainstays of
the economy. Kentau is a large and highly prospective area from which large
volumes of geological data, including soil sampling, trenching and drilling have
been completed which have resulted in many occurrences of gold being identified
in the region. Results from significant drilling intersections to date have
yielded 24 metres at 4g/t and 12 metres at 6.5g/t gold.


Independent consultants SRK have concluded that Kentau comprises a number of
highly prospective geological targets within a regional context that has
numerous mineralised occurrences. Whilst a large volume of work has been
conducted in the area, the majority of prospects have insufficient information
to support definitive judgements regarding their prospectivity. The Kentau
Project has several promising areas that have high priority drill targets
delineated by earlier surface mapping, geochemical sampling and trenching.

It is the objective of Eureka's exploration efforts to delineate a gold resource
from one or more of the identified mineralised occurrences. The first stage will
consist of geological and geophysical analysis followed by sampling and
definition of drilling targets.



DIRECTORS


Kevin Foo, (Non-executive Chairman) aged 54, is the Managing Director of Celtic
Resources Holdings Plc. Kevin has a 30 year career in the resources sector,
encompassing technical, operational, project management and running public
companies including Aberfoyle Limited, Minproc Engineers and Bakyrchik Gold Plc.
He has worked in five continents including 12 years in Kazakhstan and Russia,
and is a specialist in development of mines in Russia and the FSU.


David Bartley, (Chief Executive Officer) aged 36, has over 15 years experience
in the natural resources sector in both precious and base metals. David's
experience has been gained in the identification, development and operations of
projects in Australia, the Pacific Rim, South Africa and South America. Mr.
Bartley's previous roles have included positions as General Manager of
Operations of an ASX company, director and Joint Venture Manager of two large
gold/base metal projects with Rio Tinto in Papua New Guinea, Operations Manager
of a A$1.2 billion base metals operation and periods representing large
Australian and international resource companies. David has also held board
positions including companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and other
international companies.

Andrzej Sliwa, (Executive Director) aged 58, is currently the General Director
in Kazakhstan for Celtic Resources. Andrzej worked in Poland from 1969 to 1978
as a geologist in the coal and base metals industry and in 1978 he moved to
Africa where he worked in various managerial positions dealing mainly with
exploration, project evaluation and project development. Andrzej has worked
mainly in the gold and base metals industry in Zambia, South Africa and Namibia.
From 1996 to 1999 he worked as business development manager for the CIS
countries for Iscor, and then began working on the Suzdal gold mine project for
Celtic as a development manager and from 2000 as General Director.

Malcolm James, (Non-executive Finance Director) aged 47, has over 25 years
experience in merchant banking, engineering, manufacturing, financing and over
the last 15 years has been involved at the executive level in the development of
significant mining projects. Malcolm played an active, on the ground role in
establishing Zimbabwe's first diamond mine at River Ranch, including the
political tendering process, financing, development and establishment of the
diamond sales process in Belgium. Malcolm was actively involved in the
development of the A$1.2b Murrin Murrin nickel/cobalt project in Western
Australia. He was an integral part of the finance team that undertook the first
ever greenfields mining project finance (approximately US$ 420 million). Malcolm
is a director of County Diamonds Limited and Siberia Mining Corporation Limited
(both ASX listed).

Jonathan Scott Barrett, (Non-executive Director) aged 59, is a Fellow of the
Royal Institute of Charterered Surveyors and has held a number of non-executive
roles for both public and private companies including nine years as a
non-executive director of Hanson PLC. Jonathan was also a publishing director at
Centaur Communications Ltd, one of the largest private business to business
publishers in the UK.






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