Board Changes and Director's Share Award

BOARD CHANGES AND DIRECTOR'S SHARE AWARD

Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or the "Company") confirms that, in line with the announcement on 9 July 2010 of the appointment of Russell Edey to the Board and Nigel McNair Scott's intention to step down as Chairman, Russell assumed the role of Chairman of Avocet at a Board Meeting held yesterday.

Nigel McNair Scott also confirmed his decision to step down as a Non-executive Director of Avocet with immediate effect, after more than 20 years association with the Company and its predecessor organisations.

The approved terms of appointment of Russell Edey include a restricted share award of 91,500 ordinary shares in the Company, deferred until his assumption of the role of Chairman, which are to be made available to him after three years service with the Company.

Russell Edey commented:

"I am looking forward immensely to the opportunities and challenges of overseeing Avocet's growth into a mid-tier gold producer. Avocet is indebted to Nigel McNair Scott for the support and leadership he has given the Company over many years, and we wish him well in his future endeavours".

Notes to Editors

Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or "the Company") is a gold mining company listed on the AIM market of 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 Burkina Faso (as 90 per cent owner of the Inata gold mine), Malaysia (as 100 per cent owner of the Penjom gold mine, the country's largest gold producer) and Indonesia (as 80 per cent owner of the North Lanut gold mine and Bakan project in North Sulawesi).

The Company announced in May 2010 that it had initiated exploration within the Inata Mining Licence area and in the surrounding Bélahouro district with the objective of significantly increasing Inata's resource and reserve base as well as investigating the highly prospective Souma Trend, located 20 km from the Inata mill. The Company has a number of other advanced exploration projects in West Africa and South East Asia.

Background to operations

Inata poured first gold in December 2009 and has now reached a production rate in excess of 11,000 ounces per month. Other assets in West Africa include exploration licences in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali (the most advanced being the Tri-K gold exploration project in Guinea with a resource of 666,500 ounces).

Penjom is Malaysia's largest gold mine and was developed by Avocet in an area of historic alluvial mining. The mine is located in Pahang State, approximately 120 km north of the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

North Lanut in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, was developed by Avocet from the exploration stage and has produced over 270,000 ounces since it was commissioned in 2004. North Lanut is located within a Contract of Work, which includes exploration and mining rights over approximately 50,000 hectares in an area highly prospective for gold. Avocet holds an 80 per cent interest and an Indonesian company, PT Lebong Tandai, owns the remaining 20 per cent.

Russell Edey

Mr Edey retired as Chairman of AngloGold Ashanti Limited in May 2010 having been a member of that company's board since 1998. He is also a Non-executive Director of Old Mutual PLC and several companies in the Rothschild Group, which he joined in 1977. Prior to that, he worked for Anglo American Corporation of South Africa Limited in South Africa and Australia.