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

16 May 2014

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

Positive RC Drilling Results Highlight Opportunity to Build on Current Inferred Resource Estimate of 193,000 oz Au

Alecto Minerals (AIM: ALO), the AIM quoted mineral exploration company focussed on West and East Africa, is pleased to announce positive results from all six reverse circulation ('RC') holes (comprising 864m) recently drilled on its Gourbassi resource zone in order to infill the central section of Gourbassi West ('GBRW') following the completion of the previous rotary air blast ('RAB') drilling. The Gourbassi resource zone comprises the Gourbassi East ('GBRE') and GBRW targets (together 'Gourbassi'), two of the three main target areas at the Company's wholly owned Kossanto Gold Project (the 'Kossanto Project') located in the Kenieba inlier in western Mali which hosts several major producing gold mines. Gourbassi has a current JORC compliant inferred resource estimate of 193,000 oz Au with a cut-off grade of 0.5g/t Au.

Highlights:

· Recent RC drilling forms part of an ongoing work programme to infill the central section of the GRBW resource estimation area and to test for a possible northern extension to the mineralisation

· All of the latest six RC holes drilled on GRBW intercepted shallow gold mineralisation with the best intercepts including:

- GRC076 - 10m @ 1.77g/t Au from 24m and 104m @ 0.92g/t Au from 37m

- GRC078 - 4m @ 3.51g/t Au from 5m

- GRC079 - 21m @ 1.24g/t Au from 14m

- GRC081 - 14m @ 2.10g/t Au from 17m

· Exploration upside potential demonstrated as the Company seeks to build on its current inferred resource estimate of 193,000 oz Au for Gourbassi

· The northern-most hole, GRC081, exhibits robust mineralisation thereby underpinning the Board's belief that the mineralisation remains open to the north

· A total of 17 RC holes for a total of 1,861m, two diamond drill ('DD') holes for a total of 200m and 2,247m of RAB drilling have now been completed at GRBW during this season's drilling programme

· Work programme and metallurgical testing on-going in line with the Company's strategy to assess the opportunity for near term production at the Kossanto Project

- RAB drilling programme underway to test 1.8km of the total strike length and soil and rock chip geochemistry to test the northern extension of GRBW

Mark Jones, CEO of Alecto Minerals, commented:

"These latest results demonstrate the strong potential to add further ounces to our existing inferred resource estimate at the Kossanto Gold Project in Mali. Work is ongoing to test the extensions to the mineralisation revealed to date and with the recent preliminary metallurgical work highlighting the potential amenability to the use of cyanide leach recovery for Gourbassi, we are confident that we are developing an economic mining opportunity. Add to this the close proximity of productive world-class deposits, which underpins the prospectivity of the region, and the fact that there are a number of synergistic deposits which could present opportunities for collaboration, we believe that Alecto is well positioned to become a mid-tier producer of gold in Mali and we look forward to providing further results in due course as they become available to us."

Further Information

The Kossanto Gold Project is located in the centre of the Kenieba inlier in western Mali. The Kenieba inlier is a block of ancient greenstones and granites hosting many significant gold deposits in Senegal and Mali, making it one of the most important gold regions in Africa. Major projects in the region include AngloGold Ashanti Limited's 13.0Moz Sadiola and 4.5Moz Yatela gold mines, Randgold Resources Limited's 12.5Moz Loulo gold mine and Teranga Gold Corporation's 3.0Moz Sabodala gold mine in the neighbouring Senegal. Crucially, the geology of the Kossanto Project appears consistent with these major gold producing mines, comprising a mix of basic and acidic volcanics with turbidites, and pervasive shearing and fracturing.

Initially three priority target areas were identified at the Kossanto Project being GRBE, GRBW and Massakama. The Company announced an inferred resource estimate of, in aggregate, 193,000 oz Au for GRBE and GRBW and due to their close proximity, the Company now views them as a project. In addition to the drilling undertaken this field season, the Company's geologists have been actively seeking to identify further targets within the Kossanto Project area, using a mixture of remote sensing and ground sampling techniques and it is currently anticipated that some of these new prospects will be drill ready for next season.

As announced on 2 April 2014, the resource upgrade included a maiden inferred resource estimate for GRBW and two zones of gold were defined at this area over a total strike length of more than 1,000m. Recent testing by RAB drilling indicated that the mineralisation is continuous between these zones. With that in mind, this latest round of six RC holes was focussed on infilling the 200m gap area between the two zones (as indicated in the GRBW Target Map in the Company's announcement of 2 April 2014) and testing the mineralisation to the north, with the aim of providing resource level results. The significant intercepts encountered are set out in the table below:

Note: The lengths indicated above, are drilled lengths, not true widths

The intercepts were calculated using a 0.3g/t Au cut off with a maximum of 2m internal waste. A plan showing the location of the holes with gold histograms is shown in Figure 1. The main highlights of the above results are as follows:

· GRC076 - 10m @ 1.77g/t Au from 24m and 104m @ 0.92g/t Au from 37m

· GRC078 - 4m @ 3.51g/t Au from 5m

· GRC079 - 21m @ 1.24g/t Au from 14m

· GRC080 - 15m @ 0.84g/t Au from 0m, 13m @ 0.94g/t Au from 43m, 21m @ 0.84g/t Au from 114m and 14m @ 1.2g/t Au from 145m

· GRC081 - 25m @ 1.46g/t Au from 15m and 14m @ 0.78g/t Au from 43m

All of these holes exhibit shallow mineralisation in saprolite and oxidised rock, and the southern and northern most holes exhibit quite robust mineralisation. Alecto is confident that the results from these six RC holes will ultimately add to the existing inferred resource estimate on this prospect and the mineralisation remains open to the north.

Recent reinterpretation of the local geology by structural geologist Dr Kevin Downing has led to the conclusion that gold mineralisation at GRBW is associated with hydrothermal alteration of sandstones and conglomerates of the Kéniébandi Formation. Calcareous fluvio-deltaic sandstone, conglomerate and sedimentary melange sediments appear to have undergone silicification, with the calcite cement of the sediments being replaced by fine grained silica with or without gold. Mineralisation is found in saprolite and silicified sediments.

Whilst the silicified sediments appear to be truncated by a major shear structure in the south east, the northern limit of the silicification has yet to be found. To date, Alecto has identified a 2.7km strike length of this target lithology. Not all of the silicified lithologies contain gold, but the silicification does indicate the presence of hydrothermal activity that has deposited gold in parts of the GRBW prospect. Identification of this alteration type is a key aspect in directing the Company's exploration efforts.

Following the completion of the RC drilling on GRBW, a total of 17 RC holes for a total of 1,861m, two DD holes for a total of 200 m and 2,247m of RAB drilling have now been completed at GRBW during this season's drilling programme.

A RAB drill programme comprising 14 fence lines, averaging 200m in length, is currently underway to test a 1.8km strike length of the central and south-eastern part of this silicified zone, whilst the northern extension will be tested by soil and rock chip geochemistry. These programmes are expected to be completed before the beginning of the rainy season in July 2014.

Figure 1: RC drilling assays from GRBW, identifying significant Au intercepts.

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 Gold 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 total inferred resource estimate of 193,000 oz of gold 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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