Appointment of Non-executive Director

Appointment of Non-executive Director

Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or "the Company") today announces the appointment of Gordon Wylie (59) to its board of directors. A geologist by training, Gordon has over 35 years of experience in mining and exploration geology, including eight years in AngloGold Ashanti's senior management team where he was responsible for global exploration projects. More recently, Gordon has served on the board of a number of listed companies with operations in Central Asia, South America, Europe and Russia. He currently serves on the board of Lydian International and Central Asian Gold. In the past five years, he has also served on the boards of OxusGold and Continental Gold.

Gordon Wylie will also chair the Health, Safety and Environmental Committee, and sit on the Nomination, Remuneration and Technical Committees.

Commenting on the appointment, Avocet Chairman Russell Edey said:

"On moving to the Main Board in December 2011, we announced our intention to strengthen the Board through the recruitment of an additional independent Non-executive Director with a technical background. Gordon's extensive experience in gold mining and exploration clearly meets this criterion, and improves the overall strength of the board in technical areas as well as in health and safety, which remains one of Avocet's key priorities."

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Notes to Editors

Avocet Mining PLC is a gold mining and exploration company listed on the London Stock Exchange (Ticker: AVM.L) and the Oslo Børs (Ticker: AVM.OL). The Company's principal activities are gold mining and exploration in West Africa.

In Burkina Faso the Company owns 90% of the Inata Gold Mine. The deposit at Inata currently comprises a Mineral Resource of 3.46 million ounces and a Mineral Reserve of 1.85 million ounces. The Inata Gold Mine poured its first gold in December 2009 and produced 167,000 ounces of gold in 2011.

Other assets in Burkina Faso include eight exploration permits in surrounding the Inata Gold Mine in the broader Bélahouro region. The most advanced of these projects is at Souma, some 20 kilometres from the Inata Gold Mine, where a Mineral Resource of 0.56 million ounces exists.

In Guinea, Avocet owns twelve exploration licenses in the north east of the country. Mineral Resource development has been ongoing since 2005 and the project at Tri-K is the most advanced. Within the Tri-K project, Koulékoun has a Mineral Resource of 1.83 million ounces and Kodiéran of 0.4 million ounces.