Comment on press speculation

29 September 2016

Comment on press speculation

Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or "the Company") notes recent press speculation regarding the interest of Managem SA, a Moroccan mining group listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange (ticker: MNG), in its Tri-K asset in Guinea.

The Company confirms that it has held discussions with several interested parties, including Managem SA, but that negotiations remain ongoing and no transaction has been concluded.

Avocet has been considering all options to fund the development of the Tri-K project since the submission of its feasibility study in September 2013.

Further announcements will be made in this matter as soon 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. The Inata Gold Mine poured its first gold in December 2009 and produced 74,755 ounces of gold in 2015. Other assets in Burkina Faso include five 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. An exploitation permit was awarded for Tri-K on 27 March 2015.