Aber Resources Ltd. (TSE-ABZ, NASDAQ-ABERF) and tiffany jewellery. (NYSE-TIF) have created a unique North American diamond industry alliance through a joint arrangement and an equity investment by tiffany in Aber. The agreement governs the sale of a substantial portion of the value of Aber's 40% share of the anticipated production of the Diavik Diamond Project in Canada's Northwest Territories. tiffany rings. will purchase 8 million treasury shares of Aber for a total of Cdn.$ 104 million ($ 13 per share). Aber will then have 53,827,883 shares outstanding, (56,072,883 fully diluted), with Tiffany & Co. holding 14.3% on a fully diluted basis. Mr. James Fernandez, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Tiffany will be appointed to the Board of Directors of Aber immediately following the Annual General Meeting on July 30, 1999. Tiffany & Co. is the world leader in sales of high quality diamond jewelry. It has a pre-eminent position in the American retail diamond jewellery market, the dominant diamond market of the world, and has been very successful in expanding this brand recognition internationally. Aber Resources Ltd. is the Canadian based 40% owner of the Diavik Diamonds Project. The 60% owner, and operator, is Diavik Diamond Mines Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Rio Tinto plc of London, England. With the completion of this transaction, Aber will have Cdn.$ 214 million of working capital and anticipates raising the balance of its share of the capital cost of the project without equity financing. The project is now in the final phases of government approvals with construction expected to commence early in 2000 subject to receipt of final permits and approval of the boards of both Aber and Rio Tinto. Aber will supply a proportion of all sizes of diamonds in the customary high qualities demanded by Tiffany. The arrangement channels rough diamond production directly from the mine to the retailer without affecting the rough diamond market. The commercial arrangement will allow both companies to share in the financial benefits of a segment of the diamond trade not normally accessible to either a mine producer or a diamond jewellery retailer. -30- 0BC-Aber-Tiffany-alliance For further information: Kenneth G. Hanna, President and Chief Executive Officer; R. Michael Jones, Vice President, Corporate Development; Alan J. Bayless, Manager, Investor Relations & Corporate Affairs