Highland Gold Mining Ltd. to place shares on London's AIM

Highland Gold Mining Ltd. (the owner of the fourth largest Russian gold field in respect to production output in 2001) has announced its plans to place its common shares totaling $34m on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM). These funds will be directed to the exploration of the company's gold fields. The placement is expected to take place on December 18. According to information submitted to RBC, Highland Gold Mining Ltd., which was formed in May 2002, includes the gold fields Mnogovershinnoye (the Khabarovsk region), Darasun, Teremki, Talatuy and Novoshirokinskoye (the Chita region). The expected production volume in 2002 is 5,600 kilograms of gold. The company's resource base is some 240 tons of gold, according to the SRK report.