Operations and Exploration Update

23 July 2013

Mwana Africa PLC

("Mwana" or the "Company")

Quarterly Update - June 2013 Quarter

Mwana Africa PLC is pleased to provide an update on operations and exploration activity for the quarter ending 30 June 2013.

Freda Rebecca

·; 14,716ozs of gold production from Freda Rebecca, representing an increase of 18% over the previous quarter.

·; C1 cash costs of US$949/oz for the quarter.

·; Considerable strides made since the tank failure in February with mill throughput back at pre incident levels.

·; Leach tank 3 set to be commissioned in the next quarter; this should result in an improvement in gold recovery.

·; Encouraging progress was made during the quarter regarding the construction of the gold tailings pilot plant.

Zani Kodo

·; Test work was carried out on samples taken from the Kodo Main orebody, results were positive and confirmed the ore was non-refractory and responded well to all recovery processes investigated, with higher than 90% gold recovery being obtained across all the recovery methods tested.

·; Drilling continued at the Kodo, Lelumodi and Zani North target areas, 42 diamond holes were completed for a total of 11,268m, results include 9m @ 6.46g/t Au and 4m @ 8.33g/t.

·; A resource update is in progress for Lelumodi.

·; Given the focus on cost cutting in light of lower commodity prices, exploration drilling and the pre-feasibility study at Zani Kodo are under review.

Katanga Copper Hailiang JV

·; Initial phase of geological exploration nears completion, a second phase exploration programme will be communicated once all results have been received and interpreted.

Bindura Nickel Corporation

·; Operations have performed well since the Trojan restart with the first shipment of nickel concentrate sold to Glencore in April.

·; Underground production continued to ramp up during the quarter and milling and concentrator sections have performed in line with expectation.

·; As a result of depressed nickel prices, additional financing to fund full ramp up has not been secured; BNC is reviewing options to resolve this shortfall including considering alternative mine plans at Trojan and are in the process of seeking bridge financing.

Kalaa Mpinga, CEO of Mwana, commented: 

"It has been a quarter of mixed fortunes for Mwana. Freda Rebecca continues to perform well, remains cash generative, and I am delighted by the progress made since the leach tank incident earlier in the year. Construction of the tailings pilot plant to test the viability of treating Freda Rebecca's tailings dumps has also progressed well and commissioning of the pilot plant will commence shortly.

An exceptional amount of effort has gone into the Trojan restart over the course of the past year and much progress has been made culminating in sale of first concentrate in April. However, due to a sustained decline in commodity prices, most crucially for Mwana, in the prices of gold and nickel, we have embarked on a significant cost cutting exercise at corporate and project levels. In response to lower nickel prices we are also reviewing a revised mine plan at Trojan which considers focusing mining efforts on the higher grade massives."

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

About Mwana Africa PLC

Mwana Africa PLC is a pan-African, multi-commodity mining and development company. Mwana's principal operations and exploration activities cover gold, nickel, copper and diamonds in Zimbabwe, the DRC and South Africa.

Mwana's Freda Rebecca gold mine in Zimbabwe, having restarted operations in 2009, produced 65,350 ozs of gold in the 12 months to March 2013.

In February 2013, Mwana announced an increased gold mineral resource at its Zani Kodo project in Democratic Republic of Congo of 2.6 million ounces.

In February 2013, Mwana announced the signing of a Joint Venture Agreement with Zhejiang Hailiang Company Limited to jointly explore some of its copper license areas in the Katanga Province of the DRC.

The restart of operations at The Trojan Nickel Mine (owned by Mwana's Zimbabwe subsidiary Bindura Nickel Corporation ("BNC")) followed four years during which all of the BNC assets were on care and maintenance. In September 2012, BNC carried out a restructuring and recapitalisation involving US$23m being invested into BNC which has allowed it to restart the Trojan mine. First sale of concentrate to Glencore took place in April 2013.

Further information on the Company can be found at www.mwanaafrica.com.

Freda Rebecca Gold Mine

A total of 14,716ozs of gold was sold during the quarter ending 30th of June 2013. C1 operating costs increased by 5.7% over the previous full year C1 costs.

Table 1: Summary of Freda Rebecca Quarterly Production Results

Figures shown are unaudited and may vary upon final audit. Gold ounces produced incorporate gold released from or caught in 'lock-up' for each period.

C1 Cash cost includes costs for mining, processing, administration, accounting movements for stockpiles and gold-in-circuit, and, net proceeds from by-product credits. It excludes capital costs for exploration, mine development or processing mill capital works, and, the cost of royalties.

C2 Production Cost reflects C1 costs plus depreciation and amortisation, thus incorporating the capital cost of production.

C3 Total Cost reflects C2 plus interest, other indirect costs and royalties. Total cost represents all costs attributable to gold production over the period.

Mill throughput at Freda Rebecca has recovered from the temporary reductions caused by the leach tank incident in the March quarter. Gold production improved significantly over the previous quarter as a result of the improved mill throughput and the efforts made to reconfigure the production circuit following the tank loss in February. Maintaining mill throughput and improving recoveries remains the main focus for management. Work has progressed well to restore the leach processing circuit. Leach tank 2 was re-commissioned in April and construction work is now nearing completion of the replacement for tank 3, with commissioning expected in the next quarter.

Head grade was in line with planned estimates for the quarter, although represented a 5% decrease from the previous quarter. Recovery was affected by a reduced head grade feed and reduced leach residence periods caused by tank reconfiguration. Improvements in recovery are expected following final commissioning of tank 3. Lower head grade and recovery contributed to the higher C1 costs per ounce relative to last year. The C Costs shown in the table above for the year to March 2013 are slightly higher than those announced in April primarily due to final inclusion of the full cost relating to the leach tank incident. An insurance claim has been made with respect to the costs of the incident however the outcome of this claim is not yet known.

Ore delivery from underground increased in line with improved plant throughput. Surface stocks are being managed and aligned with mill throughput and surface stockpile inventories.

During the quarter, significant progress has been made on the construction of the pilot plant facility for the evaluation of tailings retreatment at Freda Rebecca. Construction is nearing completion and commissioning is expected during the next quarter. The pilot plant will be used to verify the viability of retreating the mine's historical tailings.

The operations team continues to monitor and focus on all areas of expenditure. A review of capital projects has been undertaken, commitments on new projects have been suspended pending further reviews.

Further information about Freda Rebecca Gold Mine can be found at:

www.mwanaafrica.com/operations-and-exploration/zimbabwe/freda-rebecca-gold-mine

Zani-Kodo

During the quarter, results were released from the initial metallurgical testwork programme conducted on ore from the Kodo Main portion of the Zani Kodo project. The ore was found to be non-refractory and responded well to all recovery processes investigated, with higher than 90% gold recovery being obtained across all the recovery methods tested.

Good progress was also made on the Kodo Main prefeasibility study. In light of lower gold prices as part of a group wide review of expenses, work on the pre-feasibility study is under review.

Drilling continued with four diamond rigs active during the quarter. 42 diamond holes for a total of 11,268m were completed.

Exploration drilling was focused on three areas:

§ Kodo downdip extension

§ Lelumodi and extensions

§ Zani North

In addition, infill drilling of the near surface Kodo Footwall zone was also carried out, with a view to converting all near surface resources to indicated status.

The location of these subareas is shown in Figure 1, with the distribution of drilling during the quarter summarised in Table 2:

Table 2: Drilling summary, Q2 2013, Zani-Kodo project.

Kodo Downdip Extension

Drilling of the final step out in this programme was completed during the quarter. All holes continued to intersect broad zones of visible sulphide mineralisation in the target Banded Iron Formation ("BIF") unit at the predicted depth.

Results were received for two holes and are summarised in Table 3, with locations shown in Figure 2.

Table 3: Results received during January-March 2013, Kodo area.

The high grade mineralised zone has been significantly extended and further results are awaited from the final three holes of the programme. A resource update for Kodo will be carried out in August 2013. The Kodo main mineral resource remains open at depth.

Zani North

Drilling at the Zani North target, which lies immediately south of Kodo, was completed during the quarter. Mineralised BIF's have been intersected close to surface, but at depth a late dolerite intrusion has overprinted these zones resulting in disappointing results. One significant intersection has been received during the quarter and is shown in Table 4.

Table 4: Results received during Q2 2013, Zani North area.

Results are awaited for the final two holes in the programme at Zani North.

Lelumodi

At Lelumodi all results have been received for the final 50m step out. Excellent continuity of the broad mineralised zone has been confirmed with intersections of up to 42.3m @ 2.29g/t and 37m @ 2.44g/t as shown in Figure 3. A complete cross section of the Lelumodi zone is shown in Figure 4. A resource update incorporating these significant additional results is currently in progress.

Lelumodi Extensions

Drilling programmes targeting the strike extensions of the Lelumodi mineralised zone to both north and south were initiated during the quarter. The current status of drilling on these extensions is shown in Figure 5.

Northern Extension

The Lelumodi zone is bounded to the north by a well defined NE-SW trending vertical fault (Figure 3) Drilling to the north of this fault and has intersected broad zones of visible mineralisation hosted by felsic volcanics. Results from one hole have been received and these confirm the successful identification of the offset strike continuation of the main mineralised zone in this area (Table 5, Figure 4). This hole also shows an increased grade relative to Lelumodi. The broad zone is completely open along strike and at depth.

Table 5: Results received during Q2 2013, Lelumodi northern extension area.

Southern Extension

Drilling to the south of Lelumodi has also successfully identified the strike extension of the mineralised zone. All holes drilled to date have intersected mineralisation and results received during the quarter are shown in Figure 5 and Table 6.

Table 6: Results recived during Q2 2013, Lelumodi southern extension area

These show the mineralised zone to be between 4m and 8m wide along the first drilled section. However broader visible mineralised zones are present (e.g. Hole ZNSDD096; Figure 6) and the zones are anticipated to widen along strike as seen at Lelumodi. The mineralised zones are completely open at depth and along strike.

Dilolo

This area is situated in a major gold soil anomaly approximately 2km SE of Lelumodi (Figure 1). Drilling was initiated in this area during the quarter with 8 holes completed. These holes have intersected a range of visibly mineralised intersections including BIF's, silicified felsics and breccias, with multiple sub-parallel zones present. These initial observations are encouraging and results are awaited.

Forward Plan

A resource update is in progress for the Lelumodi area. At Kodo the final results are awaited and a resource update will follow receipt of these results. As part of a review of group expenditure in light of lower gold prices, expenditure on exploration drilling at Zani Kodo is under review.

Further information about Zani Kodo can be found at:

www.mwanaafrica.com/operations-and-exploration/drc/zani-kodo-project

Bindura Nickel Corporation

The restart of operations at the Trojan Nickel Mine (owned by Mwana's Zimbabwe subsidiary Bindura Nickel Corporation ("BNC")) followed four years during which all of the BNC assets were on care and maintenance. In September 2012, BNC carried out a restructuring and recapitalisation involving US$23m being invested into BNC which allowed it to restart the Trojan mine. First sale of concentrate to Glencore took place in April 2013.

Operations at Trojan progressed well during the quarter. Underground production continues to ramp up. Underground ore has been supplemented during ramp up from accumulated development ore already stockpiled ahead of the milling section. Milling and concentrator sections have performed well following the restart. Plant recoveries are in line with planned grade recovery curves for the newly commissioned concentrator.

Table 7: Summary of Trojan Quarterly Production Results

Figures shown are unaudited and may vary upon final audit.

Average Nickel Price represents the average LME nickel price utilised under the terms of the Glencore offtake contract.

C1 Cash cost includes costs for mining, processing, administration, offtake costs and penalties, transport costs, accounting movements for stockpiles, and net proceeds from by-product credits. It excludes capital costs for exploration, mine development or processing mill capital works, and, the cost of royalties.

C2 Production Cost reflects C1 costs plus depreciation and amortisation, thus incorporating the capital cost of production.

C3 Total Cost reflects C2 plus interest, other indirect costs and royalties. Total cost represents all costs attributable to nickel production over the period.

The C costs per tonne of nickel presented in the table above are high reflecting the fact that the nickel production volumes are low at this early stage of the restart. These volumes are expected to increase over time and thus the C costs per tonne are expected to decrease in the future.

In June, BNC announced that despite making significant progress over the past year, including the completion of the financial restructuring in September 2012 and delivering first nickel in concentrate in April 2013, it had been unable to raise additional funding to finance the working capital required to ramp up production at Trojan Mine as had been anticipated at the time of the September 2012 rights offer and private placement by BNC. BNC is currently reviewing the operational and funding options available to resolve this shortfall, which includes examining alternative mine plans with the objective of improving short term cash flow and reducing BNC's funding requirement. These plans are reviewing the mining flexibility afforded by the presence of higher grade massive sulphide ore within the Trojan orebody.

Further information about Bindura Nickel Corporation can be found at:

www.mwanaafrica.com/operations-and-exploration/zimbabwe/bindura-nickel-corp-bnc

Katanga Copper - Hailiang JV

EXPLORATION HIGHLIGHTS

·; First phase of three months' geological exploration is nearly completed and all the soil samples have been collected from the field and delivered to the in-house Niton Laboratory for screening assays. The Induced Polaristion (IP) programme is approximately 50% complete and preliminary interpretation is on-going.

·; An in-house interpretation of Niton results will assist in ground-cutting and targetidentification and prioritisation.

·; Newly identified combined Au-Cu soil anomalies on PR750 might indicate a new style of mineralisation, to be followed-up.

·; Preliminary IP interpretation identified strata-bound and structurally controlled chargeability signatures on PR757.

·; Ground-shedding for relinquishment is on course, with the application having been submitted to CAMI in July.

·; A forward exploration programme (post ground-reduction) will be designed as soon as all results have been received and interpreted.

The first phase of the 2013 work programme for the 27 licences under the Hailiang JV in the Katanga Province, DRC, is nearing completion (Figure 7). The work programme focused on facilitating notice of ground shedding. The planned programme covered most of the licences, and comprised:

·; 1400.9 km2 on a 500m×200m soil geochemistry gridding

·; A combined extensive IP and ground-magnetic gridding and profiling programme for prioritising targets

·; A remote-sensing interpretation exercise

SOIL GEOCHEMISTRY

To date soil sampling has generated over 10,000 soil samples, which have been screen assayed by Niton XRF. A total of 625 soil samples were sent to HTZ laboratory in Zambia for a trial assay.

To date over 9,000 soil results by Niton have been analysed and updated on plan.

Niton Results Interpretation

The copper in soil anomalies revealed a strong association with high magnetic zones, favourable lithology and structures. These are important criteria in both target identification and ground shedding.

An example is illustrated in Figure 8, in which moderate soil anomalies match up with magnetic highs and structural targets.

HTZ Laboratory Assay Results

The results of the 625 samples from PR750 were analysed and updated on plan as in Figure 9.

The results to the south of the PR show a combined Au-Cu anomaly in soils which is associated with E-W trending structures and high magnetics. This district has been prospected for Au-Cu related primary mineralisation as indicated by artisanal placer-gold mining activities. This area has strong potential for primary vein-type Cu-Au mineralisation.

COMBINED IP AND GROUND-MAG GEOPHYSICS

An extensive combined IP and ground-magnetic geophysical survey was conducted in prioritised targets. To date, 19 km2 of 1:10K scale, 55 km2 of 1:25K scaled high-resolution IP gridding, and 26km IP profiles have been completed. Preliminary interpretation on site is being done. The chargeability image from the IP survey on PR757 revealed a clear signature of strata-bound and secondary structural enrichment (shown in Figure 10), which might represent a strata-bound Copper Belt type mineralisation at depth. This geophysical anomaly lies along a regional structural trend connecting Shituru and Luishia Cu-Co deposits. The IP surveys clearly add a new dimension in terms of investigating technologies for buried Cu-Co mineralisation within the licences.

Klipspringer Diamond Mine

Further to the announcement of 28th May, construction work, carried out by project partners Greenhurst Mining and Exploration (Pty) Ltd, on the Klipspringer Slimes Retreatment Facility continues to make good progress. Site clearance, terracing and plant laydown civils are nearing completion. Power, water and final tailings disposal reticulation are in progress. The custom built modular processing plant is being fabricated in South Africa and is scheduled to be delivered to site by the end of August.

The processing plant will have a nominal capacity of 50 tonnes per hour, with a projected monthly throughput of 22,560 tonnes. Project commissioning is scheduled for Q4 2013 and production will commence thereafter.

The project is fully funded by Greenhurst Mining and Exploration (Pty) Ltd.

For associated maps (Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10), please click on, or paste the following link in to your web browser, to view the PDF file: