ALO.L Regulatory News (ALO)

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

10 June 2014

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

Exploration update on the Massakama Target, Kossanto Gold Project, Mali

Alecto Minerals plc (AIM: ALO), the AIM quoted mineral exploration company focussed on West and East Africa, is pleased to announce an exploration update on the Massakama target (one of the two main target areas) at the Company's wholly owned Kossanto Gold Project (the 'Kossanto Project') located in the prospective Kenieba Inlier in western Mali which hosts several major producing gold mines. To view the announcement with maps and pictures please click on the following link.

Highlights:

· New prospects identified at Massakama through extensive artisanal workings, and geological surveys undertaken by the Company - strong indications that Massakama hosts an extensive gold-bearing system

· 22 reverse circulation ('RC') drill holes for 1,998m of scout drilling undertaken at Massakama over four prospect areas, Goreba, Big Pit, MSK Centrale and the newly discovered Rhyolite Hill, serving to strengthen the Company's understanding of this expansive area

o High grade quartz veins intercepted at the Goreba target

o Mineralised intersections in silicified mafic volcanics and siliceous epidote rock intersected at the MSK Centrale target

o An intrusive or structural contact appears to delineate mineralisation at Rhyolite Hill where artisanal miners are successfully targeting gold mineralisation

· Gold mineralisation identified within 18 of the RC holes drilled, including the following intercepts:

o TRC004 - 1m @ 3.95g/t Au from 9m

o TRC004 - 1m @ 12.8g/t Au from 49m

o TRC006 - 1m @ 5.88g/t Au from 20m

o TRC008 - 3m @ 1.81g/t Au from 35m

o TRC009 - 2m @ 13.54g/t Au from 7mTRC013 - 5m @ 2.04g/t Au from 41m

o TRC019 - 28m @ 0.67g/t Au from 16m

o TRC021 - 23m @ 1.35g/t Au from 34m

o TRC022 - 16m @ 1.0g/t Au from 3m

· Grab samples and channel sampling of artisanal pits at the newly identified Toukwatou target underway

o Initial 2m channel sample of 2.62 g/t Au received

o Awaiting results from further channel sampling

· Regional-scale and detailed soil sampling grids, termite mound sampling and channel sampling of artisanal pits underway across the Kossanto Project, expected to enhance understanding of the entire area and at Massakama in particular

Mark Jones, CEO of Alecto, commented:

"We are extremely pleased with these exploration results for the Massakama target at our Kossanto Project, as they offer a very real indication of significant gold mineralisation in this area. The results indicate that we have a mix of high-grade quartz veins and mineralised structures within multiple shear zones. The exploration approach at Massakama has followed the same methodology that we have successfully employed at the Gourbassi target on the Kossanto Project; using scout drilling to identify resource-drill targets. Additionally, we have adopted an exploration approach that has enabled us to live and work in harmony with the very large artisanal mining community, which has been instrumental in assisting us in identifying prospects at the Kossanto Project.

"In tandem, whilst the RC rig was used at the Massakama target, in order to gain the value of concurrent activity, our in-house RAB (reverse air blast) rig has been employed drilling possible extensions to the Gourbassi target, which has a current JORC Code compliant inferred resource estimate of 193,000 oz Au."

Further Information

The Massakama target is located within the Kobokoto Permit at Alecto's Kossanto Project in western Mali and is one of two major target areas (the other target being Gourbassi located 20km to the east of Massakama that contains the existing JORC Code compliant inferred resource estimate of 193,000 oz Au).

The Massakama target is characterised by a large NW-trending fault zone, and bears a very large soil anomaly >100ppb. Across the target area intensive artisanal mining activity has drawn in a transient population of several thousand workers which is currently supporting somewhat of an economic boom in the area. Historical work completed prior to Alecto's acquisition of the Kossanto Project, included RC and RAB drilling, pitting, soil sampling, trenching as well as IP and ground-mag geophysics, which identified high grade mineralisation including an intercept of 8m @ 18.5g/t Au which included 2m at 43g/t Au in an RC hole (MRC08) drilled at the MSK Centrale prospect.

During the 2013/14 field season, Alecto set out to refine its understanding of the large Massakama target area and define specific target areas for future resource-drilling. Alecto's exploration team has conducted scout drilling over four prospects (Big Pit, Goreba, MSK Centrale and Rhyolite Hill) with 22 RC drill holes completed for a total of 1,998m. Gold mineralisation was intercepted at each of the four prospects in a total of 18 of the RC holes drilled. The significant intercepts encountered are set out in the table below:

Table 1. Significant drill intercepts using a 0.3g/t cut off with a maximum 2m internal waste.

Additionally, Alecto has also identified a fifth target area through its reconnaissance work, known as Toukwatou. There is currently extensive artisanal mining taking place in this area and the Company has recently completed channel and pit sampling on this new prospect and is awaiting the assay results.

MSK Centrale

At MSK Centrale, which sits in the centre of a significant gold-in-soil anomaly, an historical RC drill hole (MRC08) completed in 2007 intersected a gold-bearing quartz vein leading to a bonanza grade of 8m @ 18.5g/t Au which included 2m @ 43g/t Au at a depth of 14m in material similar to that seen at other prospects across the Massakama target. Trenching completed nearby this drill hole identified mineralisation in an outcrop of a siliceous epidote rock, and recent field observations have identified a broadly E-W siliceous epidote bearing unit.

Four RC holes for 304m were drilled around MRC08 in a box formation in order to delineate the control on the mineralisation and extensions for follow-up. All four holes drilled intersected gold mineralisation and three contained significant intersections over good lengths. Mineralisation is in silicified meta basalts and in the siliceous epidote rock. The mineralisation encountered in TRC019 and 021, the E-W holes checking for N-S mineralised structures, is in silicified mafic volcanics whilst the mineralisation in TRC022 is in the siliceous epidote. Multiple suphides were identified in these holes.

Big Pit

A total of four RC holes for 270m were completed at the Big Pit in the SW of the Kobokoto Permit, mainly targeting the contact between the granodiorite and mafic volcanoclastic host rocks currently being worked by artisanal workers. All four holes encountered saprolite until approximately 25m, followed by a weakly altered granodiorite with minor sulphides. Abundant quartz veining was found in each hole within the saprolite.

Weak mineralisation was discovered in all of the holes (Table 1), the highlight being the 1m @ 12.8g/t Au found at 49m in TRC004 within the granodiorite, mostly likely due to a high grade quartz vein. Another intercept of 1m @ 3.95g/t Au was intercepted in the same hole at 9m depth within the saprolite.

Goreba

Another eight RC holes for 554m were completed on the Goreba prospect 3.7km NW of Big Pit. Goreba is a very active orpaillage area being worked by several thousand miners where quartz veins are predominantly being targeted.

The majority of the holes exhibit up to 20m of saprolite followed by quartz veins at the contact with fresh sulphide bearing granodiorite. At depth an intermediate to mafic volcanic unit was intersected, which contains minor sulphides that disappear at depth. In holes TRC005, 006 and 008 drilled under a very busy line of pits, wherein flat lying quartz veins targeted by the artisanal miners exhibit visible gold mineralisation, drill intercepts, including 1m @ 5.88g/t Au and 3m @ 1.81g/t Au, were reported at the saprolite/fresh/granodiorite boundary, confirming the presence of the high-grade quartz veins.

Holes TRC009, 10 and 11 were all positioned around the NE-SW striking pits that follow a quartz vein that was previously grab sampled and yielded an assay value of 34g/t Au. TRC009 appears to have intersected one of the high-grade veins, with 2m @ 13.54g/t Au from 7m depth. TRC010 and 011 intercepted minor mineralisation around the saprolite / fresh rock boundary, with 2m @ 1.13g/t Au and 2m @ 1.14g/t Au respectively.

Rhyolite Hill

At the newly discovered Rhyolite Hill, a very recent surge in artisanal mining activity has made the area extremely difficult to access. Miners are recovering coarse grains of gold from surface and in just a few weeks have potted the landscape with pits up to 15m in depth. On the east side of the hill the artisanal miners are exploiting shear structures from 3m to 10m in width which have been found to be mineralised with up to 3g/t Au in historical trenches. These shear structures trend NNW.

Six RC holes TRC013-TRC018 inclusive for 870m, targeted the area to the south of Rhyolite Hill as the northern area had become inaccessible. Holes TRC013 and 014 targeted mapped shear structures, whilst TRC015 and 016 attempted to give access to an inferred NNW structure on the west side of the hill. TRC017 and 018 tested the same targets further to the south.

Logging identified that the holes did cut sheared silicified structures from 1m to 10m in width. These structures often contained multiple sulphides-pyrite, arsenopyrite, chalcopyrite, millerite and galena were all identified. However, only hole TRC013 delivered a significant gold intersection with 5m @ 2.04g/t Au and due to the difficulty in gaining access to the worked area many of the planned drill sites could not be accessed. Selected samples have been sent for multi-element ICP analysis, the results of which are still awaited.

Recent fieldwork and analysis of the tailings from artisanal pits have revealed that the artisanal mining on the west side of the hill targets the granodiorite rather than the meta-basalts intercepted in the scout drill holes. It is believed that this is the preferred host of the mineralisation but it was not possible to access this area with the RC rig due to the extensive ground disturbance associated with the artisanal mining. The contact, either intrusive or structural, between the area of active artisanal mining and where it was possible to access with the RC drill rig is now being mapped and will be targeted as a planned follow-up activity.

Toukwatou

The Toukwatou prospect has recently been identified by Alecto as a highly prospective area. It is located in the centre of the Kobokoto Permit approximately 300m from the Goreba prospect. The area has seen a sharp increase in artisanal mining activity in the last month with the bulk of the effort concentrated on excavating two large pits. An initial 2m channel sample yielded 2.62 g/t Au and we are awaiting assay results from a more extensive channel sampling programme.

The saprolite observed at Toukwatou is heavily stockworked with quartz veining and veinlets and iron oxides after pyrite can be observed along the length of the veins associated with the gold mineralisation.

Review of Information

The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Michael Ware, who is the Company's part time Executive Director and a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

Michael Ware has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking and is a qualified person as defined in the AIM Rules. Michael Ware has reviewed this announcement and consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which they appear.

**ENDS**

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

Notes to editors:

Alecto Minerals plc is an African focussed, gold and base metal exploration and development company quoted on AIM.

The on-going development of the Kossanto Project in Mali is the Company's predominant focus and with significant value upside potential evident across the tenure, the Board plans to build on its current JORC Code compliant inferred resource estimate of 193,000 oz Au for Gourbassi. Alecto also has a joint venture with Centamin plc over two prospective gold exploration licences in Ethiopia, under which Alecto retains exposure to such assets with no capital expenditure obligations, as well as the wholly owned Wad Amour IOCG Project in Mauritania which is at an exploration stage. Combined, these projects provide the Company with a strong, diversified portfolio with exciting exploration upside potential.

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