Western Manganese Limited (ASX:WMN) Reshuffles Board and Enhances Management and Operations Team

Sydney, Dec 22, 2011 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Western Manganese Limited (ASX:WMN) is pleased to announce that in further developing its plan as outlined in its IPO Prospectus, the Company has reshuffled its Board of Directors and added a highly experienced management, operation, technical and production team with proven experience and success in the Natural Resources Sector in Indonesia.

As a result of the board reshuffle, Christopher J. Clower has moved from Non-Executive Director to Executive Chairman of the Board. As a result of this, Colin K. Locke resigned as Executive Chairman but remains an Executive Director.

To fill the Non-Executive position that Mr. Clower has left, the Company is pleased to announce Mr. Paulus Irawan has joined the Board as Non-Executive Director. Mr. Irawan adds strength to the Board with his decades of experience in the Mining, Natural Resources, Maritime/Logistics and Banking Industries in Indonesia and Australia. He brings extensive resource sector experience and financial acumen to the Board of WMN.

Mr. Irawan is currently a partner at Trust Capital, a Jakarta based boutique financial services firm focusing on mining and oil and gas in Indonesia. Previously he was a Director at a holding company of PT Citra Tubindo Tbk, an Indonesia Stock Exchange's listed manufacturer of oilfield tubular goods with market capitalization of over US$300 million, and a Director of a holding company of PT Arpeni Pratama Ocean Line Tbk, an Indonesia Stock Exchange's listed bulk carrier, with approximately US$700 million in assets, including Indonesia's largest privately owned shipyard. Previously, Mr. Irawan held various executive positions in the banking industry where he focused on commodity finance, debt restructuring and leverage finance for Indonesian corporate clients in the resources sector at ING Baring Bank in Indonesia, NM Rothschild & Sons, Australia and HSBC, Australia.

Mr. Irawan holds an MBA from Radford University, Virginia and a B. Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern State University, Louisiana. Mr. Irawan is an Indonesian Citizen and holds Permanent Residency in Australia.

Allen Lyons is no longer fulfilling the role of Technical Director but will continue on the WMN Board as a Non-Executive Director.

Management, Operations, Technical and Production Team

WMN is pleased to announce the addition of a new General Manager.

Mr. Bharata Herudhita has been appointed as the new General Manager and Head of Operations/Production. Mr. Herudhita was formerly a Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Commodities Division, in Indonesia. Previous to that, he held various operation and marketing executive positions over 9 years at BHP Billiton's subsidiary, PT Arutmin Indonesia.

Mr. Herudhita earned his B. Bus at Parahyangan University, Bandung, Indonesia. He is currently taking his executive MBA, majoring in Bus. Engineering at Swiss German University, Indonesia.

Additionally, Mr. Marsudi Wijaya has been appointed as Technical Manager. Mr. Wijaya was formerly a Vice President of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Commodities Division in Singapore. Previous to that, he held various technical executive positions at PT. Bumi Resources, one of Indonesia's largest coal producers, for four years and at BHP Billiton, Jakarta for three years. Prior to BHP Billiton, Mr. Wijaya was a coal metallurgist at PT Thiess Contractor Indonesia.

Mr. Wijaya earned his B. Eng, Mining Engineering School, Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), Bandung, Indonesia

Mr. Zulfa Sabily has been appointed as Senior Geologist. Mr. Sabily previously has headed several successful surface mapping and exploration projects in Indonesia for thermal coal, nickel, manganese, tin, zircon and iron ore deposits. He has also been an advisor to the Republic of Indonesia's Department of Mining and Energy.

Prior to this appointment, Mr. Sabily held geological engineering positions in various companies in Indonesia including PT Pama Persada Nusantara, the largest mining contractor in Indonesia.

Mr. Sabily earned his B. Eng, Geology Engineering, Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia. The above mentioned additions to the Management team are now supervising a technical team that is currently in the field evaluating the 7 manganese projects within the Borneo Brothers pipeline, as previously announced on 21 October 2011.

Contact

Colin K Locke Executive Director Western Manganese Limited T: +61-8-9421-7777 Email: locke@westernmanganese.com http://www.westernmanganese.com