Award of Tri-K exploitation permit

2 April 2015

Award of Tri-K exploitation permit

Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or "the Company") today announces that its subsidiary company, Wega Mining Guinea, has been granted an exploitation permit, or mining licence, for its Tri-K project in north east Guinea.

The award of the exploitation permit follows Wega Mining Guinea's permit application to the Guinea government in September 2013, based on technical information contained in a Feasibility Study for the heap leach processing of the gold.

In the intervening period optimisation work has been carried out to reduce capital and operating expenditure significantly. In addition, as part of the Company's business review, Avocet has been seeking appropriate partners for financing, developing and operating the project. These discussions are ongoing and will benefit from the granting of the exploitation permit.

Avocet is working to ensure that its financing and project development plans will allow it to start construction as early as possible in 2016.

The company will provide further updates as appropriate

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Avocet Mining PLC ('Avocet' or the 'Company') is an unhedged 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. Across the Bélahouro district, which includes both Inata and the Souma deposit. The Inata Gold Mine poured its first gold in December 2009 and produced 86,037 ounces of gold in 2014. Other assets in Burkina Faso include eight exploration permits surrounding the Inata Gold Mine in the broader Bélahouro region. The most advanced of these projects is Souma, some 20 kilometres from the Inata Gold Mine.

In Guinea, Avocet owns 100% of the Tri-K Project in the north east of the country. Drilling to date has outlined a Mineral Resource of 3.0 million ounces, and in October 2013 the Company announced a maiden Ore Reserve on the oxide portion of the orebody, which is suitable for heap leaching, of 0.5 million ounces. As an alternative, the potential exists to exploit the entire 3.0 million ounce Tri-K orebody via the CIL processing method.