RNS Number:6192H
St. Barbara Mines Limited
18 February 2003



ASX SHAREHOLDERS REPORT


Proposed Merger to form Defiance Mining Corporation
- amendment to listed option exchange ratio
- resource statement for Tasiast

St Barbara Mines Limited and Geomaque Explorations Ltd advise that the exchange
ratio for St Barbara Mines Limited listed option holders has been amended from
0.039 to 0.081 Defiance common shares for each St Barbara Mines Limited listed
option.

The exchange ratio for the purposes of the Business Combination announced on 9
January 2003 for all other security holders remains unchanged.

A resource statement in compliance with JORC has been completed for the Tasiast
project and is set out on the attached joint share market release.

A joint share market release follows.


Stephen W. Miller
Executive Chairman



18 February 2003


Enquiries regarding this report may be directed to:

Stephen W. Miller Executive Chairman

Telephone          (08) 9476 5555
Overseas         +61 8 9476 5555

or

Colin G. Jackson
Investor Relations

Telephone              0417 929 107



St Barbara Mines Limited
Level 2, 16 Ord Street
West Perth
Western Australia    6005

Telephone           (08) 9476 5555
Overseas          +61 8 9476 5555



Dollar values in this report are Australian Dollars unless otherwise stated.



St Barbara is a dedicated gold company listed on both the Australian Stock
Exchange and the AIM (London Stock Exchange) - ticker symbol SBM - with nearly
12,000 shareholders.


Defiance Mining Corporation

                  18 February 2003


Amendment to exchange ratio for St Barbara Mines Limited listed option holders

(Perth, Australia; Toronto, Canada)  St Barbara Mines Limited (ASX:SBM, AIM:SBM)
and Geomaque Explorations Ltd. (TSX:GEO), following consultation with their
respective financial advisors, Beacon Group Advisors Inc. of Toronto and Haywood
Securities Inc. for the purposes of their Business Combination announced on 9
January 2003, have amended the share exchange ratio for St Barbara listed option
holders.

The amended exchange ratio is as follows:

*  listed option holders of St Barbara will receive 0.081
(previously 0.039) Defiance common shares for every one listed option of St
Barbara.

The remaining exchange ratios are unchanged, namely:

*  ordinary shareholders of St Barbara will receive 0.226
Defiance common shares for every one ordinary share of St Barbara;

*  common shareholders of Geomaque will receive 0.125 Defiance
common shares for every one common share of Geomaque; and

*  ordinary shareholders of Midas Gold will receive 0.440
Defiance common shares for every one ordinary share of Midas Gold.

St Barbara listed option holders will receive in aggregate 3.591 million
Defiance shares (previously 1.721 million) representing 2.6 percent of Defiance,
based on the proposed outstanding capital of 139.8 million common Defiance
shares.

The preparation of shareholder documentation remains on schedule for dispatch
mid to late March 2003.


Tasiast Resource Statement

The resource statement totaling 1,787,000 indicated and inferred resources for
Tasiast in compliance with the Australasian Code for Reporting of Identified
Minerals and Ore Reserves (the "JORC Code") is set out below.

Classification                       Tonnes 000s          Grade g/t Au            Ounces Gold

Indicated Resources                         8,300                  2.29                   611,000

Inferred Resources                          21,000                 1.74                  1,176,000

1. The information in the table above is compiled from a report prepared
by Robert Annett, MAusIMM and Graham Miller FAusIMM and in accordance with the
JORC Code.  Mr. Annett and Mr. Miller are full time employees of St Barbara (who
were seconded to Midas Gold plc), Competent Persons as defined in the applicable
Australian requirements and have consented to the inclusion of this information
in the form and context in which it appears.

2. The information in the above table is current as at December 31, 2002.

3. The inferred resources do not include the indicated resources.

For further information, please contact:

Stephen W. Miller                                 John W. W. Hick
St Barbara Mines Limited                          Geomaque Explorations Ltd.
Perth, Western Australia                          Toronto, Ontario
+61 8 9476-5555                                   +1 416 956 7470

                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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