Sarama Reports Significant Gold Intersections Over a 1.1km Strike Length in Burkina Faso

PERTH, WESTERN AUSTRALIA, Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Sarama Resources Limited ("Sarama" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the Company's operations in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Highlights

• A 3,600m reverse circulation ("RC") drill program has been completed at the MM Anomaly located at Sarama's South Houndé Project in Burkina Faso. This drilling is part of a broader 11,000m RC drill program on the Tankoro Permit to follow-up earlier scout drilling results.
• Significant down hole intersections include:

• Significant intersections extend approximately 1.1km along the trend of the anomaly with multiple lenses present on all drill sections and the mineralised package remains open to the south, north and also at depth.
• The MM anomaly is situated in the Tankoro Structural Corridor which is over 20km long and 4km wide and has 15km combined strike length of anomalies yet to be tested.
• A 2,800m diamond drill program has been commenced and the scope of the existing RC program has been increased to 30,000m.
• RC drilling has commenced at the Guy Anomaly, located 6km north-north-east of the MM Anomaly and results to date are encouraging with the presence of a broad intersection of an altered porphyritic rock (silica-sulphide altered quartz-feldspar-porphyry) and intervals of silica-sulphide altered metasediments.
  
  

MM Anomaly RC Drill Program

The 3,600m RC drill program focussed on the MM Anomaly - a large gold-in-soil anomaly located on the western side of the Tankoro Permit which is part of the Company's South Houndé Project (refer Figure 1).  The anomaly is defined by a >40ppb Au contour based on a soil geochemistry survey undertaken by the Company in the 1^st half of 2011.

The anomaly measures approximately 1,100m in length and 40m-160m in width and is contained within an interpreted 20km long corridor of gold-in-soil anomalies trending in a north-north-east direction (the "Tankoro Structural Corridor").

Sarama completed two fences of RC scout drilling over a portion of the area in June-July 2011 and eight of eleven holes drilled returned significant intersections including: ¹

¹ For full details, refer to the Company's "NI 43-101 Independent Technical Report on the South Houndé Project, Bougouriba and Ioba Provinces, Burkina Faso" which is filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

The recently completed program comprised 36 RC holes drilled on 5 additional sections oriented east-west and inclined at -55° to the east.  The drilling extended over the 1,100m length of the MM Anomaly at a drill pattern spacing of between 100-220m x 50m, with downhole depth nominally being 100m.

The drilling produced anomalous and significant intersections on all drill fences, with the majority of fences showing potential for multiple mineralised zones.  Mineralisation was encountered across both weathered (saprolitic) and fresh rock profiles.

Several different styles of mineralisation were observed throughout the drill sections including quartz veins cutting predominant sedimentary lithologies.  The broader, higher grade intersections were typically observed to contain sulphide minerals (pyrite and lesser arsenopyrite), silica and carbonate.

Given the strength of the results, Sarama has mobilised a second drill rig to commence diamond core infill drilling at the MM Anomaly.  The holes will extend to a downhole depth of 200m and will be oriented to provide data for structural and stratigraphic interpretation.

Encouraging Visual Results from Guy Anomaly RC Drill Program

The Guy Anomaly is located approximately 6km to the north-north-east of the MM Anomaly on the Tankoro Permit.  A soil geochemistry survey undertaken by the Company in the 1^st half of 2011 produced a coherent gold-in-soil anomaly trending north-south, but contained within the 20km Tankoro Structural Corridor.

Follow-up RC drilling has recently commenced on this target area with visual inspection of the RC chips noting the presence of broad intervals of altered porphyritic rock (sulphide mineralised, silicified quartz-feldspar-porphyry) and abundant intervals of sulphide mineralised, silicified metasediments.

The Company views this preliminary information as encouraging, further underscoring the potential of the Tankoro Permit to host significant gold mineralisation.

Assay results for the RC drill program on the Guy Anomaly will be announced in due course.

Sarama's President and CEO, Andrew Dinning, commented:

"We are very pleased with the results returned from the drilling program on the MM Anomaly and also the preliminary observations from drilling on the Guy Anomaly. These results, combined with the scale of the gold-in-soil anomalism in the Tankoro Structural Corridor, continue to suggest the presence of a very large mineralised system.  Sarama's exploration team originally identified the Tankoro Permit as a high potential area and all our work to date continues to support this view.  Our future work programs will look to increasing our level of understanding of the controls of this system and will initially focus on identifying and evaluating permit-scale features that may control the mineralisation as well as defining specific target areas. The team in country and on the ground have done a fantastic job and are building our understanding of this exciting area and rapidly moving the project forward. With the Company's large land holding in the Southern Houndé Belt, we look forward to assembling this information in a regional context to assist in the exploration of our other permits within the South Houndé Project."

For further information on the Company's activities, please contact:

Andrew Dinning or Paul Schmiede
email:  [email protected]
telephone: +61 8 9363 7600
web:   www.saramaresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

About Sarama Resources Ltd

Sarama Resources Ltd is a Canadian company with a focus on the exploration and development of gold deposits in West Africa.  The board of directors and management team, a majority of whom are founders of the Company, are seasoned resource industry professionals with extensive experience in the exploration and development of world-class gold projects in Africa.

The South Houndé Project in south-west Burkina Faso is the Company's flagship property and is currently the focus of a drilling program to further test gold-in-soil anomalies located in a 20km structural corridor.  The Company has built substantial early stage exploration landholdings in prospective and underexplored areas of Burkina Faso (>2,450 km²), Liberia (>2,400 km²) and Mali (>1,350 km²) and is aggressively exploring across the property portfolio.

Notes

Drilling results are quoted as downhole intersections.  Due to the preliminary nature of the drilling, the nature of the mineralisation is not fully understood and it is not appropriate to provide guidance on the relationship of the downhole intersection length to the true width of mineralisation.  The reported composites were determined using a cut-off grade of 0.30 g/t Au to select significant and anomalous intersections, with a maximum of 2m internal dilution being incorporated into the composite where appropriate.  No top-cuts were applied to assay grades.

Sarama undertakes geological sampling and assay in accordance with its QA/QC program which includes the use of certified reference materials and duplicates.  Gold assay work was undertaken by SGS Burkina Faso SA ("SGS") in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso - a member of the SGS Group (Société Générale de Surveillance).  Assays are determined using fire assay methods with a 50 gram charge, AAS finish with a 0.01g/t Au detection limit.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements

Information in this news release that is not a statement of historical fact constitutes forward-looking information.  Such forward-looking information includes statements regarding the Company's planned exploration programs, including when results may be available.  Actual results, performance or achievements of the Company may vary from the results suggested by such forward-looking statements due to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such factors include, among others, that the business of exploration for gold and other precious minerals involves a high degree of risk and is highly speculative in nature; few properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines; geological factors; the actual results of current and future exploration; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents.

There can be no assurance that any mineralisation will be discovered, that mineralisation will be proven to be economic, or that future required regulatory licensing or approvals will be obtained. The Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the Company's ability to carry on its exploration activities, the sufficiency of funding, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold and other precious metals, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain further financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

Sarama does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable laws.

Qualified Person's Statement

Scientific or technical information in this news release that relates to the Company's exploration activities in Burkina Faso is based on information compiled or approved by Michel Mercier.  Michel Mercier is an employee of Sarama Resources Ltd and is a member in good standing of the Ordre des Géologues du Québec and has sufficient experience which is relevant to the commodity, style of mineralisation under consideration and activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.  Michel Mercier consents to the inclusion in this report of the information, in the form and context in which it appears.

Figure 1: Location of the MM Anomaly Drill Program on the Tankoro Permit

APPENDIX A - SIGNIFICANT INTERSECTIONS - MM ANOMALY

SOURCE Sarama Resources Limited