EMEX Announces Rights Offering to Shareholders.

Business Editors

LAKEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 16, 2001

EMEX Corporation (NASDAQ:EMEX) announced today that its board of directors had approved an offering to shareholders of rights to purchase additional shares from the company.

The offering is being made only to holders of the company's stock that can be publicly traded and not to private holders of shares that are restricted, and it is therefore not being made to the company's major shareholders, Thorn Tree Resources, L.L.C. and Universal Equities Consolidated, LLC, both of which own restricted shares.

Each shareholder to whom the offering is made will be offered rights to purchase one additional share for each share held by him or her on a record date to be decided upon by the company before the offering. The price will be 10 percent below the closing market price on the day before the offering commences. The rights will have a duration of thirty to sixty days from the commencement of the offering, during which period they are expected to be fully transferable. Each shareholder will have the ability either to exercise the rights or, subject to compliance with Nasdaq listing requirements, sell them on the open market.

In approving the offering, the board stated that its purpose was not merely to raise funds but also to increase the public float and shareholder liquidity, in recognition of and appreciation for the loyalty and support that the company has been shown by its shareholders.

If all of the rights are exercised, the effect will be to increase the public float from about 1,200,000 shares to about 2,400,000. Dilution will be insignificant, for, although the public float will have been doubled, the total increase in outstanding shares (i.e. including the restricted shares) will be only about 5 percent (i.e. from about 24.5 million to about 25.7 million) and, even for that small proportional increase, the consideration received will have been cash equal to 90 percent of the new shares' market value.

The offering is to take place after the filing and going effective of a registration statement with the S.E.C. covering the rights and the shares issuable upon their exercise. Prior to the commencement of the offering, which is expected in early to mid-summer, the terms of the offering may be modified by the company in the light of events or changes in conditions that may occur prior to that time.

This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this press release are forward-looking statements. Although the company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.