Using matOpen in Visual Studio 2012

I'm trying to include the libmat library to be able to read .mat files in C++, however I've not been able to link it properly eventhough I've set it up exactly the same way as I have other libraries. I've tried two different approaches, but both fail.

First of all, I've added the following links in the project preferences:

VC++ Directories > Library Directories: C:\MATLABR2011b_x86\extern\lib\win32\microsoft

VC++ Directories > Include Directories: C:\MATLABR2011b_x86\extern\include

C/C++ > Additional Include Directories: C:\MATLABR2011b_x86\extern\include

Linker > Input > Additional Dependecies: libmat.lib; libmx.lib; libmex.lib

And added the libmat.dll, libmex.dll and libmx.dll to the debug folder of the project.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Method 1:

#include "mat.h"
MATFile* file = matOpen("examplefile.mat","r");

I then get the following error:

First-chance exception: Microsoft C++ exception: fl::i18n::MwLcDataNotFound

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Method 2:

#include "mat.h"

std::string  DLLFilename = "libmat.dll";
HMODULE libHandle = LoadLibrary(DLLFilename.c_str());

// I can comment out the following lines and the error persists
MATFile *(*myMatOpen)(const char*, const char*);
myMatOpen = (MATFile*(*)(const char*, const char*))GetProcAddress(libHandle, "matOpen");

And I get the same error using this method.

What am I missing?