Avocet commits to development of Penjom Gold Mine.

VANCOUVER, BC--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 27, 1995--Avocet Ventures Inc. is pleased to announce its decision to go-ahead with the development of its Penjom Gold project in Malaysia.

As announced on 6th November the plan is to construct a conventional carbon in leach (CIL) treatment plant with an ore throughput capacity of 500,000 tons p.a. The orebody lies near surface and will be mined in a series of open pits. The capital cost of the plant, associated infrastructure and preparation of the mine including pre-production working capital and contingencies is estimated at US$16.93 million.

The first US$4 million of expenditure will be provided by Avocet from its own resources with the balance provided from a US$13.5 million project finance loan facility from Macquarie Bank Limited of Sydney, Australia.

Macquarie's offer has been accepted by the Company and preparation of the required documentation is underway. The main process contractor is Lycopodium Pty. Ltd. of Perth, Australia who were responsible for the feasibility study. Work has begun on the construction programme with the first gold pour scheduled for October, 1996.

The mining ore reserves established by independent consultants (Snowden Associates Pty. Ltd. of Perth, Australia) on which the feasibility study was based are 2.01 million tonnes at a grade of 4.42g/t gold in a resource of 6 million tonnes containing 416,000 ounces of gold at a cut-off of 0.4 g/tonne.

Additional drilling subsequent to the data cut-off for the feasibility study has increased the bulk resource model by a further 14.5 per cent in terms of tonnage and 38 per cent in terms of gold content. The updated database prepared in-house includes results from drilling up to 7th October 1995. The comparison is tabulated below: -0-

             Indicator Kriged Bulk  Resource Model -
                                    (0.4g/ton cut-off)
             Feasibility Study      Revised Resource Change

Tonnage      6.12 million           7.01 million     +14.5
                                                     percent
Grade        2.11 g/t               2.54 g/t         +20.4
                                                     percent
Contained
gold         416,000 ounces         573,000 ounces   +37.7
                                                     percent-0-

This substantial increase in the bulk gold tonnage in the Penjom orebody as currently defined is a significant and exciting development strongly suggesting that the mining reserve currently envisaged to last 5 years can also be enhanced significantly.

In the figures no account is taken of the promising gold intersections at Sungei Mutan along strike just to the north and other sporadic intersections further to the north announced in the earlier news release.

The anomalous zones remaining to be tested fully by drilling extend some five kilometres to the north and one kilometre to the south of the currently defined ore zone which has a length of 2.4 kilometres.

The development of the Penjom gold mine will add a fourth mine to the Company's operations. The others are tungsten mines in Portugal (Beralt) and Peru (Regina and Malaga). Beralt is 100 percent owned, Regina 80 percent owned and Malaga 75 percent owned (to be increased to 80 percent by a capitalisation of US$100,000 of outstanding loans from the Company).

The Company is the leading producer of tungsten outside China and the C.I.S. and an important processor of tungsten in the USA through the 100 percent owned Bishop APT plant in California.

The Company is listed on the Vancouver Stock Exchange (symbol AVZ). After completion of the recent transactions with Minorco S.A. announced on 16th November which are subject to V.S.E. approval the Company will have 25.3 million shares in issue.

Significant shareholders will then include management and associates (34 percent), GFM a subsidiary of Metlife (14.9 percent) and Minorco S.A. (5.2 percent).

Plans, previously announced, to seek a listing on the London Stock Exchange in the first half of 1996 are proceeding.

Jocelyn Waller President

CONTACT: Avocet Ventures

Vancouver Office

James Robertson, Director

604/669-8988, 604/669-2744 (Fax)

or

London Office

Patrick Branigan, Financial Controller

44-171-834-1811, 44-171-931-9437 (Fax)

or

Kuala Lipis Office

Jocelyn Waller, President

Keith Chan Foo Kee, General Manager

60-9-3122-684, 60-9-3122-687 (Fax)

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: MINING REPEATS: New York 212-575-8822 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-236-4266 or

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