Exploration Update, Wad Amour IOCG Licence

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Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector: Exploration & Development

4 December 2012

Alecto Minerals plc ('Alecto' or 'the Company')

Positive Exploration Update, Wad Amour IOCG Licence

Alecto Minerals plc, an AIM listed multi-commodity exploration and development company with projects in Ethiopia and Mauritania, is pleased to provide initial results from its recently completed 1,200m trenching campaign targeting Iron Oxide Copper Gold ('IOCG') mineralisation at its 613 sq km Wad Amour exploration licence located in the highly prospective Mauritanide mobile belt within Mauritania.

The trenching campaign was designed to test the extent and tenor of mineralisation at the Chiron prospect where rock chip sampling previously returned up to 5.8% copper, 0.66 g/t gold and 13.9 g/t silver with anomalous copper values over 800m of strike. 1,199 samples were taken in total and the Company has received the results from 234 taken from the MTR0001 trench. The balance is pending in the laboratory.

The MTR0001 trench was dug for ~400m, intersecting the flanks of both the southern and northern ridges at the Chiron target. Results are currently available for the southern portion of the trench. Although high grade mineralisation is absent from the trench due to its position on the flanks of the ridge, a larger low grade halo within the host schists is present of 93.6m at 0.11% Cu, including 30m @ 0.24% Cu and 1m @ 0.7g/t Au. Results are displayed in the map of the southern ridge portion of the Chiron Target below, the second map shows trenching in the wider Chiron target area for which the results are pending. 

Alecto Managing Director Damian Conboy said, "We are very pleased with the initial results which indicate the potential for widespread low grade bulk tonnage mineralisation. This is in addition to the high grade portions of up to 5.8% Cu identified from previous rock chip sampling. As we receive further results from this programme, as well as from our 2013 campaign which we anticipate to include further trenching, a tentative scout drilling programme and wider regional exploration to explore 1,828 sq km of prospective licences in the Southern Mauritanides, we look forward to updating the market and building on these assumptions in order to strengthen our understanding of this mineral rich and under-explored area."

**ENDS**

For further information, please visit www.alectominerals.com or contact:

Notes:

Alecto Minerals plc is an AIM listed exploration company focussed on Africa with a diverse portfolio of exploration assets in Mauritania and Ethiopia.

In Mauritania, it has three gold and base metal development licences totalling 1,828 sq km in the highly prospective Mauritanide mobile belt and two uranium licences totalling 1,592 sq km. It also holds the 1,960 sq km gold exploration licence in the highly prospective Aysid-Metekel region of north western Ethiopia and the 945 sq km Wayu Boda gold licence in the mineral-rich Adola greenstone belt in southern Ethiopia. 

The Company is committed to conducting exploratory work across its portfolio, designed to strengthen its knowledge of the assets and delineate targets for further exploration. In tandem, the Board continues to evaluate a number of synergistic assets to build shareholder value.