JOINT PRESS RELEASE BY TRANS HEX AND BENCO

JOINT PRESS RELEASE BY TRANS HEX GROUP LIMITED ("TRANS HEX") AND BENGUELA
CONCESSIONS LIMITED ("BENCO")

IN THE LIGHT OF THE RECENT ANNOUNCEMENT BY TRANS HEX OF ITS PROPOSAL TO MERGE
WITH GEM DIAMOND MINING CORPORATION LIMITED ("GEM"), TRANS HEX WISHES TO
CLARIFY THE ANTICIPATED SEQUENCE OF EVENTS IN RELATION TO ITS PROPOSED MERGER
WITH BENCO. THE TWO MERGERS ARE INTENDED TO BE CONCLUDED AS SEPARATE

TRANSACTIONS. SUBJECT TO ALL NECESSARY APPROVALS BEING OBTAINED, THE BENCO
MERGER SHOULD BE CONCLUDED AHEAD OF THE GEM MERGER.

BOTH OF THE MERGERS HAVE RECENTLY BEEN THE SUBJECT OF PRESS ANNOUNCEMENTS
SETTING OUT THE PROPOSED MERGER TERMS, WHICH ARE SUMMARISED BELOW:
TERMS OF THE BENCO MERGER

CONSIDERATION: 479165 TRANS HEX ORDINARY SHARES PER 100 ORDINARY BENCO SHARES.
BASED ON THE BENCO MERGER TERMS, HOLDERS OF FEWER THAN 2087 ORDINARY BENCO
SHARES WILL HOLD LESS THAN 100 TRANS HEX ORDINARY SHARES AFTER THE BENCO
MERGER. THESE SHAREHOLDERS WILL BE OFFERED AN OPPORTUNITY TO "BUY UP" SO AS TO
AVOID BECOMING ODD LOT HOLDERS IN TRANS HEX AFTER THE BENCO MERGER, AT THE
EQUIVALENT OF 35 CENTS PER ORDINARY BENCO SHARE HELD.
TERMS OF THE GEM MERGER

CONSIDERATION: 9.7 ORDINARY TRANS HEX SHARES PER 100 ORDINARY GEM SHARES AND
CASH OF 16 CENTS PER ORDINARY GEM SHARE.

BOTH OF THE MERGERS ARE SUBJECT TO COMPETITION COMMISSION ("COMMISSION")
RULINGS. THE NECESSARY COMMISSION FILINGS HAVE ALREADY BEEN MADE FOR THE BENCO
MERGER, AND THE FILINGS FOR THE GEM MERGER SHOULD BE MADE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
OTHER APPROVALS AND CONDITIONS, WHICH ARE REQUIRED FOR THE MERGERS, INCLUDE THE
SATISFACTORY COMPLETION OF A DUE DILIGENCE REVIEW FOR THE GEM MERGER, WHILE THE
FISCAL STATUS OF THE BENCO MERGER AWAITS THE APPROVAL OF THE MINISTER OF
FINANCE.

THE COMBINATION OF THE BUSINESS OF TRANS HEX, BENCO AND GEM IN TERMS OF THE
MERGERS WILL CARRY NUMEROUS BENEFITS, KEY ELEMENTS OF WHICH ARE THE FOLLOWING:
- THE CONTIGUOUS NATURE OF THE BENCO DIAMOND RIGHTS AND GEM OPERATIONS IN THE
UPPER REGIONS OF THE ORANGE RIVER WILL PROVIDE UPSIDE POTENTIAL TO THE
RELATIVELY UNDEREXPLORED CONCESSIONS OF BENCO. FURTHERMORE, IT WILL ALSO
INTRODUCE POTENTIAL ECONOMIES OF SCALE AND WILL POTENTIALLY INCREASE THE LIFE
OF MINE OF THE GEM OPERATIONS IN THE REGION:

- THE PROVEN TECHNICAL EXPERIENCE OF TRANS HEX WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE MERGED
BUSINESS;

- THE COMBINATION OF QUALITY NAMIBIAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN MARINE CONCESSIONS
COMBINED WITH EXPANDED LAND-BASED DIAMOND ASSETS WILL PROVIDE INCREASED
OPPORTUNITIES FOR EXISTING DIAMOND RESOURCES TO BE EXPLOITED, AND WILL
STRENGTHEN THE STRATEGIC POSITION AND RISK PROFILE OF THE BUSINESS; AND
- THE CRITICAL MASS ACHIEVED BY THE MERGERS WILL FACILITATE TRANS HEX'S
INTERNATIONAL EXPANSION ENABLING BOTH CURRENT, AND THOSE NEW SHAREHOLDERS THAT
ARE EXPECTED TO JOIN THE COMPANY AS A RESULT OF THE MERGERS, THE OPPORTUNITY TO
PARTICIPATE IN THE "BLUE SKY" CREATED BY THIS STRATEGY.

BENCO'S SHAREHOLDERS WILL FORM ONE OF THE SIGNIFICANT SHAREHOLDERS BLOCKS IN
TRANS HEX AFTER THE MERGERS, GIVING THEM A MEANINGFUL PARTICIPATION IN THE
ENLARGED TRANS HEX.
ENDS
FURTHER INFORMATION
TRANS HEX    :  D.M. HOOGENHOUT 091 416 363 5440
                P.D. DANCHIN    021 686 9944
BENCO        :  R.S. SHEAD      011 476 5565