Dia Met Minerals Ltd. Announces Mauritania Project Update.

KELOWNA, B.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1999--

Dia Met Minerals Ltd. (TSE:DMM.A.) (AMEX:DMM.A) (TSE:DMM.B.) (AMEX:DMM.B) is pleased to report progress on its joint venture exploration project to discover and develop diamond deposits in Mauritania. In 1998, joint venturer Ashton Mining of Australia discovered the first diamonds and kimberlites reported from the Reguibat Shield in Mauritania. The joint venture, announced on May 3, 1999, now incorporates 20 granted exploration licences covering approximately 234,000 sq km of virgin archean terrain, an area larger than the Slave Craton in northern Canada.

Subsequent work has confirmed that the region is prospective for economic diamond deposits. Kimberlite indicator minerals with compositions similar to those found as inclusions within diamonds have been located on most of the licences, which are widespread over the Reguibat Shield. These diamond indicator minerals include chrome diopside, chromite, group I eclogitic garnets and G10 pyrope garnets of equivalent compositions to those known to be associated with high grade diamond mines worldwide including the Lac de Gras area of Canada's Northwest Territories.

In several areas small diamonds have been found associated with the diamond indicator minerals. Two macro diamonds, the largest being a 1.16 carat gem quality stone, were recovered from the processing of a 50-tonne drainage gravel sample. Six macro diamonds have been recovered from another 15-tonne drainage gravel sample that has just been completed. Regional heavy mineral samples have now been collected on all of the exploration licences and sample processing continues.

Drilling to test at least three previously defined targets commenced in mid-November and will continue on targets defined by a 76,000 line-km aeromagnetic survey, currently in progress.

Under the terms of the Joint Venture agreement with Ashton, Dia Met is committed to exploration expenditures of US$2.5 million by 31 March 2000, of which it is estimated that US$1.9 million will be spent by December 31, 1999. Dia Met may acquire up to 49 per cent of Ashton's equity in the project by staged expenditures of up to US$10 million by March 2003. The Mauritanian Government has a 10 per cent equity interest in some of the tenements included in the joint venture. Although Ashton is the operator of the project, Dia Met has the controlling vote on programs and budgets while solely funding exploration and development.

Dia Met Minerals Ltd. is a publicly traded mineral exploration and development company with a primary focus on diamonds. The company owns a 29 per cent interest in the Core Zone joint venture of the Ekati Diamond Mine, Canada's first diamond mine, which has been in production since October 1998. The company conducts global exploration with projects in Mauritania, Greenland, Finland and the Canadian North.

SIGNED ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Charles E. Fipke, Geologist and Director

The American Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange have neither approved nor disapproved the information contained in this release.