Alecto Minerals plc / EPIC: ALO / Market: AIM / Sector: Exploration & Development 20 March 2014 Alecto Minerals plc (Alecto or the Company) Contract signed for 1,500m of Reverse Circulation (RC) Drilling at the Wad Amour Copper-Gold Project, Mauritania Alecto Minerals plc (AIM: ALO), the AIM quoted mineral exploration company focussed on West and East Africa, is pleased to announce that it has signed a contract with Layne Drilling to undertake a maiden 1,500 metre Reverse Circulation (RC) drill programme at the groups 100% owned 1,369 sq.

km.

Wad Amour Project in Mauritania (Wad Amour or the Project) on the Chiron target, where rock chip sampling has previously returned grades of up to 5.79% copper (Cu) at surface. The drill programme will commence at the Chiron target in April 2014 to test the copper and gold potential at depth (Please see the associated PDF document at the top of the page).

It is currently expected that 12 RC holes will be drilled down to a depth of 80 metres with additional metres testing interesting sections for a more complete understanding.

The planned RC drilling will seek to drill through the hanging wall (chlorotised schists) into the footwall (felsic schists) where each hole will be completed.

The target will be to intercept hydrothermal breccia at depth which should host fresh copper mineralisation and be visible in the drilling chips. The Company has been active on the Project since 2011.

Since then, trenching, soil geochemistry and geophysics surveys on the Wad Amour licence have revealed significant potential for a high-grade Guelb Moghrein style iron oxide copper gold (IOCG) deposit and have defined the two first priority target areas of Chiron and Oued Amour, which has an 800m striking Cu anomaly and grab samples up to 1.2% Cu.

In addition, two secondary targets, Tamourt and Gadel, have also been identified.

The full historic trenching results were set out in the Companys announcement of 30 January 2013. Mark Jones, CEO of Alecto, commented: "We are delighted to be progressing our Mauritanian Wad Amour Project with a well-defined and targeted RC drilling programme.

The visible copper mineralisation at surface across the Chiron target shows exciting potential if the trend can be replicated at depth as this current target is more than 300 metres long and 150 metres wide, within a wider area of mineralisation up to 3 km in length.

Establishing a viable copper asset in Mauritania will strengthen Alectos diversified portfolio, which also includes our flagship Kossanto Gold Project in Mali where drilling is focussed on significantly increasing the current 107,000 ounce gold resource, and our Ethiopian gold projects which are held under a Joint Venture with Centamin plc, providing security and value to our shareholders." [cid:image002.jpg@01CF440B.808F07A0] Review of Information The information in this announcement that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Rasman� Kabor�, who is the Companys Head of Exploration in Mali and a Member of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Rasman� Kabor� has sufficient experience, relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking, to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the 2012 Edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves.

Rasman� Kabor� 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 it appears.
**ENDS**
For further information, please visit www.alectominerals.com or contact: Alecto Minerals plc Mark Jones Tel: 020 3137 8862
Strand Hanson Limited Richard Tulloch Matthew Chandler James Dance Tel: 020 7409 3494
XCAP Securities plc Jon Belliss Abigail Wayne Tel: 020 3693 1470
St Brides Media & Finance Ltd Elisabeth Cowell Felicity Edwards Tel: 020 7236 1177
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 Companys predominant focus and with significant value upside potential evident across the tenure, the Board plans to build on its current gold resource estimate of 107,000 ounces in the near term.

Alecto also has a joint venture with Centamin over two prospective gold exploration licences in Ethiopia, under which Alecto retains exposure to the assets with no capital expenditure, 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 pot [cid:image002.png@01CECBDD.61F8A860] Elisabeth Cowell St Brides Media & Finance Ltd 3 St Michaels Alley, London, EC3V 9DS www.stbridesmedia.co.uk Tel: 0207 236 1177 | Mob: 07900248213 | Twitter: @StBrides1