• Oriel has signed an exclusive option agreement to acquire 100% of the Voskhod chrome deposit, Kazakhstan for total consideration of US$25 million.
• Potential Net Present Value (“NPV”) at a discount rate of 10% for Voskhod chrome deposit is US$395 million according to Mintek’s analysis.
• Indicated resources of 18.7 million tonnes at 46.22% chromite confirmed by UK based international consultants.
• Mintek’s study report shows low cost entry to ferrochromium production and cash costs estimated in the lowest quartile placing it in favourable position with other competitive producers.
• Exercise of option agreement would position Oriel as a provider of both ferrochrome and ferronickel the major ferroalloy constituents of stainless steel.

Dr. Sergey V Kurzin, Chairman & CEO of Oriel Resources PLC (“Oriel or the “Company”) announced today that Oriel has signed an exclusive option agreement (the “EOA”) expiring on 30 November 2004 with Title Trading Limited (“Title”) to acquire 100% of the shares of Callum Finance Limited (“Callum”), a holding company that on 5 November 2004 entered into an acquisition agreement with Private Portfolio Management Ltd (“PPM”) (the “PPM Agreement”) to acquire 100% of the shares of JSC Geoinvest, a Kazakhstan-registered subsidiary of PPM that holds the subsoil rights in respect of the Voskhod chrome deposit in Kazakhstan. Upon exercise, the acquisition of Callum will be funded by the issuance of Oriel shares credited as fully paid equal to US$7 million based on the weighted average price per Oriel share during the period from 1st September until 15th October 2004. The Oriel shares to be issued pursuant to the transaction will be subject to a 12 month hold period.

Dr. Sergey V Kurzin stated that “the acquisition of the Voskhod chrome deposit for total consideration of US$25 million gives Oriel an asset which arguably is of similar value to the Shevchenko nickel deposit and is key to building a long term asset base for Oriel as a major supplier of ferronickel and ferrochrome to the stainless steel industry.”

If Oriel exercises its option under the EOA to acquire Callum, the purchase consideration for the acquisition of the Voskhod chrome deposit by Callum under the PPM Agreementwill be US$18 million. Callum will satisfy its payment to PPM with US$15 million cash and the issuance of US$3 million of Oriel shares upon the same terms to those that will be issued in connection with the acquisition of Callum under the EOA . These Oriel shares to be issued will also be subject to a six month hold period. Callum is a BVI Company 100% owned by Title, which is currently beneficially owned by Takhirizan Baratov. PPM is beneficially owned by various Kazakhstani individuals with extensive experience in the central Asian mining industry including Evgeny Ustimenko.

Oriel’s obligations under the EOA are expressly subject to the obtaining of such finance, as well as to the satisfactory completion of technical due diligence and a government approval for the transfer of the subsoil rights from JSC Geoinvest to a newly registered Kazakhstan company that will be wholly owned by Callum.

The Voskhod chrome deposit is located in Chromtau, Aktobe Oblast, Republic of Kazakhstan. The deposit lies within the Kempirsayskiy Massif, together with up to 80 other deposits discovered since 1936. The world’s largest chrome mine, Donskoy GOK owned and operated by KazChrome, lies some 3km to the north of the deposit. The Voskhod deposit is at depths of 98 metres to 440 metres below surface and consists of one large lens with up to 9 smaller footwall protrusions. The central section of the orebody is massive and high-grade and includes vertical thicknesses of 90 to 200 metres. Infrastructure in the region is well developed with a long history of mining centred on Chromtau and the deposit has road, rail and power links within a few kilometers. Kazakhstan holds the second largest mineral resource of chrome in the world after Southern Africa.

A recent independent report by a UK based international geological consultancy confirmed the present resources as being sufficiently robust to be placed into the Indicated JORC classification to give 18.7million tonnes at 46.22% Cr2O3. This grade compares very favourably with similar deposits around the world. Geoinvest commissioned a feasibility study by Geoincentre, a technical institute based in Almaty that gave a pre-tax and royalty net present value (“NPV”) estimate of US$122 million at a discount rate of 10% at US$80 per tonne of ore, with an internal rate of return (“IRR”) well in excess of 40%, based on pre-production capital expenditure of only US$30 million for an underground operation. A mine life of over 27 years at 700,000 tonnes per annum underground production was used in their study. This assessment assumed sales of high grade ore and concentrates to ferrochrome markets in Russia and China with ore prices substantially below prevailing market levels.

The deposit is a significant source of high grade chromite that is sought after for the production of high carbon ferrochromium containing typically 67% chromium. This grade of alloy is used especially in China, which is now a net importer of ferrochromium and chromite and requires chromium units for the expansion of its stainless steel industry.

Oriel commissioned Mintek to assess the potential production of ferrochrome on site and estimate likely capital and operating costs. The selected process flowsheet assumes the production of 240,000 tonnes per annum of high carbon ferrochrome (HC FeCr) at 67% Chrome from two 57MW AC furnaces, the preferred grade of ferrochromium for the Chinese stainless steel markets. The required capital investment was estimated at US$266 million with annual operating costs of US$113 million. The cash cost of chrome produced was estimated at close to US$0.20 per pound of chrome placing the operation in the lowest quartile of world producers. The pre-tax NPV at a 10% discount rate is US$395 million at a Chrome price of US$0.60 per pound (currently in excess of US$0.70 per pound) giving a 27% IRR.

On acquisition Oriel will commence confirmatory ore beneficiation testwork and smelter trials leading to a pre-feasibility study to be completed by second quarter 2005. The study will examine a number of project options ranging from the sale of ore concentrates to full ferrochrome production. The option to produce ferrochromium will also include a detailed examination of production at Voskhod or alternatively at the Shevchenko site thereby benefiting from the extensive infrastructure to be built for the nickel smelters.

The Chairman and CEO, Dr Sergey V Kurzin said, "I am excited by this new addition to the Oriel asset base. The Voskhod chrome deposit will compliment our major asset, Shevchenko nickel, and firmly position Oriel as a mid tier producer in the ferroalloy market and one of only a few combined nickel/chrome suppliers to the stainless steel market. The proximity of the deposit to the rapidly expanding Chinese stainless steel industry and the already existing ferrochromium sales routes established by KazChrome will provide Oriel with a good platform to rapidly develop this major asset.”

For further information, or to download the entire press release, please visit our website at www.orielresources.com or contact:

Dr. Sergey V Kurzin
svkurzin@orielresources.com

Stephen R Dattels
sdattels@orielresources.com

18 Upper Brook Street
London W1K 7PU England
Telephone +44 (0) 20 7514 0590
Facsimile +44 (0) 20 7514 0591