Avocet Mining PLC  - share awards and transactions by PDMRs

Employee Share options awards

The Company announces the award of a total of 720,000 options over ordinary shares of 5 pence in the Company ('Options') to employees on 13 December 2012 ('the Grant Date').  These Options have an exercise price of 67.50 pence, and cannot normally be exercised prior to 13 December 2015, the third anniversary of the Grant Date. In addition to the normal scheme rules, these Options have the additional performance condition that the share price must have increased by at least 100% by 13 December 2015 in order for any Options to be exercisable, and by 125% in order for the full amount to be exercisable. 

These Options were made to various senior employees of the Company, including the following Executive Directors and senior managers denoted as persons discharging managerial responsibilities ('PDMR').  

PDMR interests

As a result of the above transactions, interests in shares held by the following Directors and senior managers (primary insiders), either directly, through connected persons (eg family members), or within the EBT or Avocet Shareholder Incentive Plan ('SIP') will be as follows:

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NOTES TO EDITORS

Avocet Mining 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 3.99 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 and is expected to produce 135,000 - 140,000 ounces of gold in 2012. 

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 are Souma, some 20 kilometres from the Inata Gold Mine, and Filio, adjacent to the mine licence area,  where Mineral Resources of 0.56 million ounces and 0.14 million ounces respectively exist.

In Guinea, Avocet owns twelve exploration licences 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 2.15 million ounces and Kodiéran of 0.87 million ounces.