Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector: Exploration & Development 25 January 2013 Alecto Minerals plc (Alecto or the Company) Exploration Programme, Aysid Metekel Gold Project, Ethiopia Alecto Minerals plc, an AIM listed multi-commodity exploration and development company with projects in Ethiopia and Mauritania, is pleased to announce details of its current exploration programme focussed at its 1,953 sq km Aysid Metekel Gold Project located in a highly prospective greenstone belt in north western Ethiopia. As announced on 6 December 2012, an in-house technical study identified five high priority target areas for follow up work: Beles North, Beles Central, Beles South, Bogiz and Gorshi North.

The Company has now established its field crew in the area and commenced a comprehensive soil, rock chip and stream sediment sampling programme, in tandem with mapping, in order to advance and further prioritise these targets.

The implementation of the Companys work programme will take place over the forthcoming 12 weeks and be managed by the Companys Technical Manager, Niall Tomlinson and recently appointed Project Geologist, Tim Strong. Alecto Managing Director Damian Conboy said, "Having already identified five high priority areas of interest at our Aysid Metekel Gold Licence, which in line with our strategy is located in mineral rich and underexplored region of Ethiopia, we look forward to commencing this exploration campaign to further prioritise these targets over the coming months.

Having recently reported positive results from our southern Ethiopian Wayu Boda Gold Licence, we are pleased with how our exploration activities in the country are advancing and look forward to announcing the results at the appropriate time." Figure 1: Target Location Map (Please see the associated PDF at the top of the page) Further Information Beles North The Company will undertake sampling in the south-west of the Beles North target.

This covers an area of a NW trending ridge, the ridge sheds gold into streams draining its northern flank, including areas of alluvial mining and can be considered a high priority target.

Also of high priority is sampling an area of high ground in the NE with outcropping marbles, streams to south of which are worked by artisans for alluvial gold.

Skarn type mineralisation, similar to that at the nearby Fiti deposit, is considered one possible source of the gold.

Stream sediment samples will be taken throughout the area paying particular attention to the northeastern area where previous sampling density was lowest. Beles Central A proposed soil sampling and mapping programme will be conducted over a 23 sq km area.

The programme is designed to evaluate the anomalous regional soil and stream sediment results from previous surveys, interesting interpreted structures in the east of the area and a strong soil anomaly to the west. Beles South Geological mapping, rock chip sampling and an extensive 1,000 station regional soil sampling programme will be undertaken within the Beles South target area.

The area of interest aims to test a west-north-west trending ridge which appears to shed gold into streams draining its northern flank.

An accompanying stream sediment sampling programme will target the drainages from the aforementioned ridge as well as a NE trending ridge that extends from the centre of the area. Bogiz Soil sampling at this target aims to test a west trending ridge that sheds gold into streams draining to the north and a 0.34ppm gold-in-soil result previously obtained in the southeast of the area.

The program plans to map and rock chip sample the entire Bogiz area.

Stream sediment sampling will be distributed across second and third order tributaries in the area. Gorshi North The Gorshi Target lies in one of the most remote regions of the Aysid-Metekel licence.

During the current work programme the field team will conduct a reconnaissance visit to the site to review areas related to high stream sediment sampling results identified from a previous survey and assess the logistical requirements for further work in the area.
**ENDS** For further information, please visit www.alectominerals.com or contact: Damian Conboy Alecto Minerals plc Tel: 020 3137 8862 Jonathan Evans Fox-Davies Capital Ltd - NOMAD & Broker Tel: 020 3463 5000 Elisabeth Cowell St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Tel: 020 7236 1177
Notes: Alecto Minerals plc is an AIM listed exploration company focussed on Africa with a diverse portfolio of exploration assets in Mauritania and Ethiopia. In Mauritania, it has three gold and base metal development licences totalling 1,828 sq km in the highly prospective Mauritanide mobile belt and two uranium licences totalling 1,592 sq km.

It also holds the 1,953 sq km gold exploration licence in the highly prospective Aysid-Metekel region of north western Ethiopia and the 945 sq km Wayu Boda gold licence in the mineral-rich Adola greenstone belt in southern Ethiopia. The Company is committed to conducting exploratory work across its portfolio, designed to strengthen its knowledge of the assets and delineate targets for further exploration.

In tandem, the Board continues to evaluate a number of synergistic assets to build shareholder value.
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