Grant of New EPLs in Namibia

North River Resources plc / Ticker: NRRP / Index: AIM / Sector: Mining

17 February 2011

North River Resources plc ('North River' or 'the Company)

Grant of New Exclusive Prospecting Licences in Namibia

North River Resources plc, the AIM listed southern African multi-commodity resource company, is pleased to announce the granting of four new Exclusive Prospecting Licences ('EPLs') which cover 3,838km2 across two project areas in Namibia ('the New Licences'). The New Licences, which have been granted to the Company's wholly owned subsidiary West Africa Gold Exploration (Pty) Ltd ('WAGE'), increase North River's total land position in Namibia to 5,459 km2.

The New Licences, which cover two project areas, Kamkas and Hero, have been granted for base, rare and precious metals, as well as industrial minerals and non-nuclear fuels, for a period of three years expiring 16 January 2013. The location of the New Licences in relation to North River's existing wholly owned assets and its Joint Venture Project which the Company is developing in conjunction with Extract Resources Limited ('Extract') can be found on the Company's website at www.northriverresources.com.

North River Managing Director, David Steinepreis, said, "These new greenfield exploration licences, three of which are located in a well established mining region and the fourth of which has historic records of mineralisation, provide North River with a further significant prospective landholding in Namibia. As we focus on the rapid development of our more advanced assets within our Namibian portfolio, these two new areas, which have had limited or no exploration work to date, provide North River with an additional dimension to our portfolio and the potential for significant upside from any greenfield discovery.

"We have a comprehensive work programme in place for 2011, focussing on underground drilling at our Namib Lead/Zinc project, nuclear fuels exploration in conjunction with our joint venture partners Extract and exploration on our Ubib Copper/Gold Project. We also intend to commence preliminary reconnaissance work at Hero and Kamkas, leading to remote geophysical data gathering later in the year. Drilling at Kamkas targeting reported mineralisation will be considered once all historic data has been analysed."

Kamkas Project

The Kamkas Project, which comprises EPL4419, is located in the Maltahohe region of southern Namibia near the town of Maltahohe. The area is underlain by Nama Group rocks of Cambrian/Neoproterozoic age which cover older Basement rocks of the Mesoproterozoic Sinclair Group. The area is characterised by a prominent airborne magnetic anomaly which occurs at the intersection of several regionally significant structural lineaments. However, the source of the magnetic anomaly is not yet known and there has been no previous exploration for base and/or precious metals carried out in the area.

Water borehole drilling in the area in recent years indicated elevated copper-zinc-lead-silver ('Cu-Zn-Pb-Ag') values in a grab sample from the drill cuttings, but from an unknown depth within the borehole. The Company plans to commence initial reconnaissance work in the area with the aim of generating potential targets prior to the commencement of a drilling programme to define the source of the elevated values of Cu-Zn-Pb-Ag.

Hero Project

The Hero Project comprises three contiguous licences, EPL4487, EPL4488 and EPL4489, located to the east of Grootfontein and the established mining town of Tsumeb in the Grootfontein and Rundu Regions of Northern Namibia.

The geology of the area is underlain by the Cenozoic Kalahari Group and unconsolidated sands of the Kalahari Desert. The area is considered prospective for extensions of the Neoproterozoic Damara Supergroup which extend under the Kalahari sand cover sequences, which are believed to be between 50m and 200m thick. However, no previous exploration for base and/or precious metals has been carried out on the Hero project area. The Damara rocks to the west of the Hero project boundary host many significant base and precious metal deposits, including the Tsumeb polymetallic deposit, the Kombat Copper Mine, the Berg Aukas Lead-Zinc Mine.

The extension of the rocks which host these significant base and precious metals deposits are the target for future work by the Company. Existing regional airborne geophysical data will be acquired and this will be complemented with additional airborne surveys if required. Limited soil geochemistry is possible in the west of the area where cover thicknesses are interpreted to be less than 50m. Follow-up ground geophysical surveys will be followed by drilling.

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.northriverresources.com or contact:

Notes:

North River Resources plc is an AIM listed emerging southern African focussed multi commodity resource development company. Its current portfolio includes gold, base metal and uranium assets in Namibia; uranium, and base and precious metal interests in Mozambique. North River's strategy is to identify, acquire and develop a portfolio of resource opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa at various stages of development in order to create value for its shareholders. The Company has a highly experienced board and management of industry and corporate professionals, led by David Steinepreis and Luke Bryan.