New Namibian Gold & Rare Earth Licences

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

6 September 2012

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

New Namibian Gold & Rare Earth Licences

and Brandberg Update

New Namibian Gold & Rare Earth Licences

North River Resources plc, the AIM listed resource company focussed on Southern Africa, is pleased to announce that its wholly owned Namibian subsidiary, West Africa Gold Exploration (Pty) Ltd, has been awarded two contiguous Exclusive Prospecting Licences ('EPLs') covering 859.7 sq km of tectono-stratigraphic terrain, considered prospective for gold mineralisation and rare earth elements.

The two contiguous EPLs, 4560 and 4561, which together form the Outjo Project, are located approximately 15km east of the regional town of Outjo, 280km north of the capital of Windhoek. The area is largely underlain by rocks of the Damara Supergroup and straddles the boundary between the Northern/Outjo Zone and the Northern Margin of the Damara Orogen. This setting is considered prospective for gold mineralisation in the Karibib Formation, similar to other known gold deposits in Namibia. This includes AuryxGold Namibia's Otjikoto gold project, which has a current indicated resource of approximately 1.2 million ounces and is, reportedly, being brought into production during 2014.

The Outjo Project also contains a number of discrete magnetic anomalies which are interpreted to be possible alkaline-carbonatite intrusive complexes prospective for rare earth elements.

Exploration will commence with the compilation and review of available data and initial reconnaissance visits to the field area. Initial field programmes will commence with field mapping, soil sampling and ground geophysical surveys aimed at identifying targets for testing in 2013.

Brandberg Update

With regard to the Brandberg Joint Venture agreement, exploration programmes conducted on EPL 3327 and EPL 3328, during 2011 and 2012, have demonstrated the presence of minor secondary mineralisation in the area. The mineralisation is restricted to the top few metres (

These results have shown that the identified mineralisation does not constitute an economically exploitable secondary uranium deposit and therefore no further work is planned. The Joint Venture remains in place and should the application to add nuclear fuels to EPL 3139 ('Ubib') be granted, Brandberg Energy will commence exploration for uranium on that EPL.

North River Managing Director David Steinepreis said, "We are delighted to receive two additional exploration permits in Namibia which we believe are prospective, particularly for gold. The geology of the area is considered to be prospective for gold and rare earth elements, and previous work has indicated these licences have similar geological setting to the areas in Namibia that have already yielded the million ounce gold Otjikoto deposit. With this in mind, we are excited about implementing an exploration programme to quantify their potential.

"Work on the Brandberg EPL's to date has shown that an economically exploitable secondary uranium deposit does not exist in the area and no further work is planned on EPL3327 or EPL3328. Accordingly, we will focus our energies on the new licences, our copper projects and in particular the development of our Namib Lead Zinc Project, which has near term development potential and recently reported excellent results, including samples of up to 20% zinc. With a portfolio at various stages of development, and with an active development plan which includes near-term production potential, we are excited about the future of North River and look forward to keeping shareholders regularly updated on developments."

Review by a Qualified Person

Mr. Jon Andrew, Manager-Geology for North River Resources, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this announcement in his capacity as a qualified person, as required under the AIM rules. Mr. Andrew is a geologist with an Honours degree in Geology, has more than 15 years relevant experience and has been a Member of the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (SACNASP) for more than seven years.

**ENDS**

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