RNS Number:0699L
GMA Resources PLC
14 May 2003



For release,                      8:00am,                           14 May 2003


                               GMA Resources plc

                     ("GMA Resources" or the "the Company")


           Admission to trading on the Alternative Investment Market

    Successful placing of #3.95 million nominal value 8 per cent convertible
                      unsecured loan stock ("Loan Stock")


GMA Resources, the gold mining company, announces the admission of its entire
issued share capital and the Loan Stock to trading on the Alternative Investment
Market (AIM) and commencement of dealings today, 14 May 2003.


GMA Resources' Business


   *Primary gold assets in Algeria, after it acquires a 52% controlling
    interest in an Algerian based, gold mining company, Enterprise
    D'Exploitation Des Mines D'Or Spa ("ENOR"), in return for an investment of
    #8.3m over 3 years.

   *ENOR is a societe par actions (limited company) whose major shareholders
    include the state owned oil company, Sonatrach, Banque d'Algerie and Societe
    Algerienne d'Assurance.

   *ENOR was formed in 1992 and holds an exploitation permit over an area of
    1400 square kilometers in Southern Algeria, which includes the Tirek gold
    mine, the Amesmessa gold deposit and the intermediate zone (ZITA) which lies
    in between.

   * Since operations began in June 2001, Tirek has produced, in aggregate,
    approximately 20,000 ounces of gold from a near surface open pit mining
    operation.

   *Board strategy is to complete a development plan for the Tirek-Amesmessa
    gold project within three years. It is intended that Phase 1 of the plan,
    which includes a study of the Amesmessa deposit, development of the Tirek
    mine and the firming up of resources within ZITA, will be completed within
    12 months.

   *Key targets are to increase production at Tirek by up to 50% and develop
    a new mine at Amesmessa.

   *To date, a gold resource of approximately one million ounces has been
    confirmed at Amesmessa, whilst at Tirek resources (estimated by the state
    owned exploration enterprise ORGM) exceeding 500,000 ounces.


Placing Statistics


   *Placing of 8 per cent. convertible unsecured loan stock 2008, raising
    #3.95 million before expenses.

   *Proceeds of the placing used to exercise an option to acquire a 52%
    controlling stake in ENOR

   *Richard Linnell, is Non-executive Chairman, a South African geologist and
    a director of BHP Billiton SA; Colin Ikin, is Chief Executive, an Australian
    citizen, with involvement in the mining industry since 1990; and, Shaun
    Bunn, is Technical Director, an Australian citizen, who has held senior
    operational positions at several Australian publicly listed mining
    companies.

   *Placing by Canaccord Capital (Europe) Limited as Nominated Advisor and
    Broker to the Company.

   *Following the Placing the company will have in issue 55,500,000 ordinary
    shares of 1p each and #4 million nominal of 8 per cent. convertible
    unsecured loan stock.


Commenting on the transaction Colin Ikin , Chief Executive, said:


"The placing of the loan stock enables GMA Resources to rapidly develop these
Algerian assets. The three main areas of focus will be at the Tirek Mine,
developing the Amesmessa deposit and analysing the ZITA prospect. A key to the
success of this transaction has been the relaxing of mining laws in Algeria,
which enables companies to take a greater than 50% interest in any resource
development."


ENDS


For further information contact:


GMA Resources                                                        
Colin Ikin, Chief Executive 
Tel: 00 61 418 923 129

Binns & Co PR Ltd                                    
Peter Binns/Sam Allen
Tel: 020 7786 9600


Background on GMA Resources


Enterprise D'Exploitation Des Mines D'Or (ENOR) Spa was formed for the purpose
of developing and bringing the Tirek and Amesmessa deposits into production. The
major shareholders are the state owned oil company Sonatrach (34 per cent.),
Banque d'Algerie (34 per cent.), Societe Algerienne d'Assurance (18 per cent.)
and Enterprise Nationale des Produits Non-Ferreux et Des Substances Utiles (10
per cent.).


GMA Resources' wholly owned subsidiary, Gold Mines of Algeria Pty Ltd ("GMA")
was incorporated in Australia on 17 May 2002 for the purpose of participating in
a tendering process for the acquisition of a 52 per cent. interest in ENOR.


Following an international tender launched by ENOR for the development and
operation of the Tirek-Amesmessa permit, GMA was chosen as the successful
bidder.


GMA Resources was incorporated on 21 February 2003 and on 19 March 2003, GMA
Resources acquired the entire issued share capital of GMA. The consideration for
the acquisition of GMA was satisfied by the issue of 52,500,000 new Ordinary
Shares in GMA Resources. GMA is exercising an option to acquire a controlling
interest in ENOR which operates a gold exploration and production project in
Algeria.


ENOR currently holds an exploitation permit dated 21 October 1992 granted by the
Algerian Ministry of Energy and Mines for a period of 20 years (from 10 February
1993) over an area of approximately 1400 km2 containing the Tirek gold mine, the
Amesmessa gold deposit and various other prospects and mineralised occurrences
within the property known as the ZITA zone between Tirek and Amesmessa.


Algeria is the second largest country in Africa (by area) with a population of
30 million. During 2000, Algeria embarked on reforms to open up the private
sector and to encourage foreign investment. A new mining law was passed and a
new privatisation act signified the intent of the Algerian government. A key
part of the new mining law was the rescinding of the 49 per cent. limit on the
level of foreign participation when entering into a formal association with an
Algerian state enterprise to exploit strategic deposits such as gold.


Tirek Mine


The Tirek gold mine is located centrally in the northern third of the
exploitation permit area some 60km north of Amesmessa which is in the extreme
south of the permit area.

A gold deposit at Tirek was discovered in the early 1970s and the initial mine
development commenced in October 1998 with a decision to mine a number of open
cuts exploiting high grade quartz-reef lodes. Construction of a processing
facility was completed in June 2001 and since that date ENOR has produced in
aggregate approximately 20,000 ounces of gold from an open-pit mining operation.
A resource statement for Tirek has been produced by the Algerian government
agency ORGM totaling 576,225 ounces at an average grade of 17g Au per tonne. In
addition, a South African based consulting group reported an open-pit mining
resource of 152,000 tonnes averaging 21.3g Au per tonne and in addition an
underground resource of 360,000 tonnes averaging 21g Au per tonne.


Amesmessa Deposit


An underground gold reserve has been identified at Amesmessa, 60kms south of the
Tirek mine. Prospecting since the 1970's has discovered 50 mineralised veins in
the Amesmessa area of which 36 have been the focus of detailed exploration work
including trenching, drilling and underground workings. From this extensive work
18 mineralised veins have been considered of economic interest. A resource
statement for Amesmessa has been produced by ORGM which has been recalculated by
a US based consulting group. The original ORGM resource statement indicated
1,398,647 ounces of gold at 18.0g Au per tonne, whilst the updated model
indicated 1,066,472 ounces of gold at 15.8g Au per tonne.


Other Prospects in the ZITA zone


There is considerable potential in the ZITA zone between Tirek and Amesmessa to
develop other minor prospects with shallow resources amenable to trench or
open-pit mining. ENOR has indicated that this zone contains a resource in the
order of 1,300,000 ounces of gold. In addition, there is exploration potential
within the permit area associated with mineral occurrences and geochemical
anomalies along an 80km mineralised corridor associated with a major north-south
shear zone between Tirek and Amesmessa.






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

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