You are given the distribution for the individual values - it is the distribution from which you take the sample. The minimum is a statistic, and you need its distribution.
The derivation outlined above is correct. If Y_{\min} is the minimum of a sample, then to get its distribution (assuming the sample comes from a continuous distribution, as yours does). I'll use G, g for the CDF and PDF of Y_{\min}, and F, f for the CDF and PDF of the population.
<br />
P(Y_{\min} \ge t) = P(X_1 \ge t \text{ and } X_2 \ge t \dots \text{ and } X_n \ge t) = (1-F(t))^n <br />
because of independence, so the CDF of Y_{\min} is
<br />
G(t) \equiv P(Y_{\min} \le t) = 1 - (1 - F(t))^n<br />
and the density Y_{\min}is
<br />
g(t) = G'(t) = n(1-F(t))^{n-1} f(t)<br />
In your problem the original data come from an exponential distribution. Use the CDF for that in place of F, the PDF in place of f, to get the density of Y_{min} in this particular case. The expected value of the minimum is
<br />
\int t g(t) \, dt<br />
and this will be a function of \theta. You should be able to finish the problem from there.