Board Appointment

RNS Number:2332C
Van Dieman Mines plc
16 August 2007

16 August 2007

                              VAN DIEMAN MINES PLC
                                   (AIM: VDM)

                               Board Appointment

Van Dieman Mines plc (AIM: VDM), the AIM listed mining company which is
developing its 100% owned tin - sapphire mines in Tasmania, Australia, announces
the appointment of Dr Mike Etheridge as an independent Non- Executive Director.

Michael Anthony Etheridge, aged 61, is based in Sydney, Australia and is an
experienced non-executive director. He serves on the Boards of a number of
publicly listed companies, including Lihir Gold, Consolidated Minerals and
Ariana Resources, the last two of which are listed on AIM. He is an experienced
geologist with internationally recognised expertise in minerals geoscience
applications, mineral exploration and technical risk assessment as well as
strategic and business planning. He has founded several companies, including
Etheridge Henley Williams, which became the Australasian business of SRK
Consulting. He was appointed a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company
Directors in 1999. He is also a Fellow of the Australian Institute of
Geoscientists, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering,
and the Society of Economic Geologists. In 2003 he was made Honorary Adjunct
Professor in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Macquarie
University.

Having commenced work as a lecturer in geology at the University of Adelaide he
became Senior Principal Research Scientist at the Bureau of Mineral Resources
before founding a number of consultancy businesses. Following the merger of
Etheridge Henley Williams with SRK in 1997, he became Technical Director, SRK
Consulting, before becoming Chairman of SRK (Australasia) and Director, SRK
Global, in 1998. He served as Chairman of SRK (Australasia) until 2004.

Dr. Etheridge holds or has held the following positions where he was acting in
the capacity of a director in the past 5 years:

Current Directorships                  Previous Directorships

Lihir Gold Limited                     SRK (Australasia) Pty Limited
Geoinformatics Exploration Inc.        SRK (Global) Limited
Ariana Resources plc                   Ballarat Goldfields NL
Consolidated Minerals Limited          Monarch Gold Mining Co Ltd
AuScope Limited                        Scopenergy Limited
Tectonex Geoconsultants Pty Limited    IO Digital Systems Pty Limited

There is no other information that is required to be disclosed pursuant to
Schedule 2 paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules.

Clive Trist, Managing Director, Van Dieman Mines, commented:

"We are very pleased to have attracted someone of Dr Etheridge's calibre to
serve on the Board as a non-executive director based in Australia. His public
company board experience, including directorships with AIM-listed companies, and
all-round commercial experience, will help guide our future growth and
development. In addition, his technical expertise will be invaluable as we move
the project forward and commence production later this year and grow production
thereafter. As an independent director, together with our non-executive
Chairman, Michael Spriggs, Dr Etheridge will have the responsibility of
representing the interests of all shareholders of the Company at Board level".

Dr Etheridge commented:

"I am very excited to be joining the board of Van Dieman Mines. The company's
tin-sapphire project in Tasmania is scheduled to commence production before the
end of the year, and has the potential for significant growth. I am looking
forward to working with the board, management and shareholders to build a strong
company from this base".

ENQUIRIES:

VAN DIEMAN MINES plc                  Tel: [phone]
Clive Trist, Managing Director        Email: [e-mail]

GRANT THORNTON CORPORATE FINANCE      Tel: [phone]
Fiona Owen

FOX DAVIES CAPITAL LIMITED            Tel: [phone]
Richard Hail, Corporate Finance

BANKSIDE CONSULTANTS                  Tel: [phone]
Michael Padley / Libby Moss

Background on Van Dieman (AIM: VDM)

VDM is in the process of developing its alluvial tin, sapphire and accompanying
mineral deposits in the northeast of Tasmania, Australia where it owns 15
exploration and retention licenses. Exploration and development planning consent
is now complete for VDM's Scotia tin and sapphire mine which is scheduled to
move to first production later this year. When in full production the Scotia
Mine will produce annually an estimated 700 tonnes of tin and 1.5 million carats
of mine rough gem quality sapphire. In 2008 it is expected that the second mine,
Endurance, will come on stream.




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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