Birim Announces Completion of Gold Production Agreement With Ashanti Goldfields.

Business Editors

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 25, 2000

Birim Goldfields Inc. (TSE:BGI.) is pleased to announce that it has completed its agreement with Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited (ASL: NYSE; AHD.U: TSE), more fully described on September 23, 1999. All regulatory approvals have been received from the government of Ghana for the transfer to Ashanti of the mineral rights covering an area of approximately 40 sq.km. of the Dunkwa concessions, which includes the Mampon gold deposit. Accordingly, in keeping with the agreement, Birim receives from Ashanti the initial payment of US$1,500,000.

Over the next few months, Ashanti will be completing a feasibility study on the Mampon gold zone which will address, among other items, a reserve calculation, open-pit design and permitting procedures. This process is expected to take about six months. Upon completion, Birim will receive from Ashanti an advanced royalty payment based on the number of gold ounces defined in the feasibility study.

To date, the Mampon gold deposit contains an independently calculated resource of 600,000 ounces. What Ashanti will initially assess is the near surface portion of the deposit which Birim believes represents approximately 175,000 ounces. Not included in the resource calculation are the adjacent parallel lenses as well as the neighboring Aboronye deposit, located 500 metres to the west. Ashanti will eventually address, within this 40 sq km. area, other mineralized prospects such as Akwaboa and Adukrom that it believes could be economically viable and for which Birim will receive the corresponding royalties, in the same manner as that which is currently applicable to the Mampon deposit. In terms of Birim's participation in a rise of the price of gold, the agreement with Ashanti stipulates that Birim will receive, for all recovered ounces, an additional US$0.20 per ounce for each US$1.00 improvement in the price of gold between US$300 - US$350 per ounce. Should the price exceed US$350 per ounce, it is very likely that more ounces will be mined, translating into additional royalty payments to Birim.

Following this transaction, Birim will still hold title to a 190 sq.km. area of the Dunkwa property, the wholly-owned 7,000 sq.km. Bui belt concessions as well as the Akrokeri property, the latter presently farmed out to the Ghanaian subsidiary of Australia-based Dominion Mining Limited.

Much of the laborious surface work consisting of trenching, soil and stream sampling as well as geophysical and geochemical surveying has been completed at both Dunkwa and Bui. Birim is at the drill-ready stage on four gold prospects at Dunkwa plus another four at Bui, each of which can be considered as stand-alone projects capable of hosting economic gold deposits. Among the more immediate targets in Birim's sights are the Opon zone located, at the southern limit of the Dunkwa property, contiguous with Bogoso Mines Limited (Golden Star Resources/Anvil Mining) as well as the Tombe-Parabu prospect which corresponds to a 10 km. long gold-in-soil anomaly on the Bui concession. Birim expects to be actively drilling from February onwards.

&uot;The deal with Ashanti, in itself, means good growth potential for Birim&uot;, says Denis Simoneau, President and CEO of Birim. &uot;Adding to this is the fact that these and additional funds emanating from this agreement will allow us to immediately tackle several drill-ready gold prospects on our vast mineral holdings in Ghana. Birim will certainly be one of the most active exploration companies in Ghana. With senior companies cutting back on their exploration budgets and with fewer and fewer juniors in a position to conduct exploration because of lack of funds and an unreceptive equity market, I believe this makes Birim a very attractive investment in such a restricted field. This surely places Birim on a growth curve&uot;, concludes Simoneau.

Birim Goldfields Inc. is a mining exploration firm whose mission is to explore and develop gold deposits in Ghana, West Africa. The Company currently has 21.4 million common shares outstanding.

Web site: http://www.birim.com