Drilling commences at Horse Hill

3 September 2014

ALBA MINERAL RESOURCES PLC

("ALBA" or the "Company")

Drilling commences at Horse Hill

ALBA (AIM: ALBA) is pleased to announce that drilling operations on the Horse Hill-1 well have now commenced.

The Horse Hill-1 well is planned to be drilled to a Total Depth ("TD") of 2,646 metres (8,680 feet) and is designed to test for a number of conventional stacked oil targets in the Jurassic rocks of the Weald Basin, as well as a deeper conventional gas target in the underlying Triassic rock formations.

The operator, Horse Hill Developments Ltd ("HHDL"), is a special purpose company with a 65% operating interest in the PEDL 137 license in the Weald Basin to the north of Gatwick Airport in Surrey. ALBA has a binding heads of terms agreement in place to own a direct 5% interest in HHDL.

The participants in the Horse Hill Prospect are HHDL (65%) and Magellan Petroleum Corporation (35%).

Michael Nott, the Company's CEO, commented:

"This is an exciting time for ALBA as HHDL commence the drilling of this well that will test a number of conventional oil formations and also be one of the first wells drilled in this part of the Weald Basin to test for the potential of conventional gas in the deeper Triassic formations."

About Horse Hill:

The 99.29 km2 (24,525 acre) Horse Hill Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence No. 137 (PEDL 137) ("Horse Hill") is located in Surrey, a few miles north from Gatwick Airport

Enquiries:

Notes to Editors:

Alba holds interests in Mauritania (uranium: JV with FOSSE Investments Limited) and Ireland (base metals) and the right to acquire a 5 per cent. interest in Horse Hill Developments Limited, the company which has the right to earn a 65 per cent. participating interest and operatorship of the Horse Hill oil and gas project (Licence PEDL 137). The projects are at different stages of development. The Mauritania uranium project comprises early phase exploration targets, whereas drilling has been undertaken on the Irish base metals project. . 

Alba continues actively to review and discuss other project opportunities which have value enhancing potential for the Company whether by acquisition, farm in or joint venture in a range of jurisdictions around the world.

-ENDS-