Van Eck Global announced today that the Board of Trustees of the Market Vectors ETF Trust has approved a split of the shares of:

• Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Intermediate Municipal Index ETF (ticker: ITM),
• Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Long Municipal Index ETF (ticker: MLN), and
• Market Vectors-Lehman Brothers AMT-Free Short Municipal Index ETF (ticker: SMB).

These splits will take place for shareholders of record as of the close of business on October 21, 2008, and will be payable on October 23, 2008. Fund shares will begin trading on a split-adjusted basis on October 24, 2008. Shareholders will see the change in their holdings sometime after that date, depending upon their brokerage firms’ procedures.

ITM closed yesterday at $95.87 and will split five-for-one. MLN closed yesterday at $83.41 and will also split five-for-one. SMB closed yesterday at $48.71 and will split three-for-one.

The splits will lower the share price of the Funds by increasing the number of shares outstanding, but will not change the total value of shares outstanding. The expected primary benefit of this action is that lower share prices will make the Funds more accessible to investors. Van Eck anticipates that the splits may also create greater liquidity for the Funds and, by extension, facilitate tighter bid-ask spreads.

The Market Vectors family of municipal bond ETFs offers a unique set of benefits for investors seeking to access the tax advantages of the municipal market. With a choice of short, intermediate and long durations, these national municipal bond Funds allow investors to select the level of interest rate risk they wish to undertake. Moreover, the Funds are AMT-free, meaning that their yields are generally not subject to the alternative minimum tax, and they are structured to potentially provide superior yields relative to similar muni products because their underlying indexes cover the full spectrum of investment-grade credit ratings in each duration category. The ETF format also provides investors with price transparency, portfolio diversification, liquidity, tax efficiency and relatively low fees.

Founded in 1955, Van Eck Global was among the first U.S. money managers helping investors achieve greater diversification through global investing. Van Eck’s Market Vectors funds include hard assets, international, specialty and municipal bond ETFs.