MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwired - Aug. 1, 2013) - SEMAFO Inc. (News - Market indicators)(OMX:SMF) today announced that the Corporation completed Diamond and reverse circulation ("RC") delineation drilling at the Siou Sector at 25 meter x 25 meter spacing, down to approximately 150 meters. Drilling was also carried out at 50 meter x 50 meter spacing on some of the known extensions of the deposit. In addition, drilling within the deeper south area has returned consistent mineralization. Given the excellent results from the Siou south extension (ref. SEMAFO's press release dated May 1, 2013) and the availability of rigs on site, the Corporation decided to proceed with the drilling originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013. This program, which consisted of 3,847 meters of drilling, has been completed and the results are to be incorporated in our next reserves and resources estimate scheduled for September 2013.

Delineation drilling was completed in June 2013 with a total of 129 core holes (25,001 meters) and 237 RC holes (30,674 meters). The following table presents the recent drilling program results for zones Nine and Siou, along with zones 55 and 56, which represent branches of the Nine Zone.

Both continuity and grades remained in line with expectations. Additionally, detailed drilling provided a better understanding of some of the parallel zones including the 55 and 56 zones, which are interpreted as branches originating from the Nine Zone (ref. Figure 1). Within the 55 and 56 zones, mineralization appears more erratic than in the Nine and Siou zones but locally, gold mineralization can be traced over up to 300 meters in length.

Further drilling at 200-meter to 300-meter depths in the south part of the deposit where significant results were previously obtained (e.g. Section 1321000N WDC-681: 8.66 g/t Au over 4.1 meters at the Nine Zone and 3.88 g/t Au over 7.3 meters at the Siou Zone) added many new significant intervals. Results including holes WDC-711 (5.82 g/t Au over 13.3 meters), WDC-769 (19.76 g/t Au over 3.0 meters), and WDC-764 (4.40 g/t Au over 13.8 meters) cover an area of more than 300 meters long where Zone Nine and Zone 56 both returned high grade mineralization over above-average widths. Other results above 20 gram-meters within this area are presented below (ref. Figure 2)).

SEMAFO is currently performing the geological modelling and the reserve/resource estimation, along with a proposed mine plan for the Siou deposit. We are progressing towards production faster than initially planned with stripping activities now scheduled for the third quarter of 2014 instead of the fourth quarter of 2014.

Michel Crevier, P.Geo MScA, Vice-President Exploration and Mine Geology is SEMAFO's Qualified Person and has reviewed this press release for accuracy and compliance with National Instrument 43-101.

All individual samples represent approximately one-meter in length of core which was sawn in half. Half of the core is kept on site for reference and its counterpart is sent for preparation and gold assaying at the ALS Chemex laboratories in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso or at SEMAFO's Mana Mine Lab which uses separate sample preparation equipment exclusive to exploration samples. For RC drilling, all individual samples represent approximately one-meter in length of rock chips homogenized and riffle-split to an approximately 2kg subsample which is sent for preparation and gold assaying at the ALS Chemex laboratories in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso or at SEMAFO's Mana Mine Lab. Each sample (core, and RC) is fire-assayed for gold content on a 50-gram sub-sample. In addition to ALS Chemex's own QA/QC (Quality Assurance/Quality Control) program and Mana Lab's own QA/QC program, an internal quality control and quality assurance program is in place throughout the sampling program, using blind duplicates, blanks and recognized industry standards at both ALS samples and Mana Lab samples.

About SEMAFO

SEMAFO is a Canadian-based mining company with gold production and exploration activities in West Africa. The Corporation currently operates three gold mines: the Mana Mine in Burkina Faso, the Samira Hill Mine in Niger and the Kiniero Mine in Guinea. SEMAFO is committed to evolve in a conscientious manner to become a major player in its geographical area of interest. SEMAFO's strategic focus is to maximize shareholder value by effectively managing its existing assets as well as pursuing organic and strategic growth opportunities.

CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions and accordingly, actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. You are hence cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include words or expressions such as "underway", "scheduled for", "progressing", "committed", "evolve", "become", "pursuing", "growth", "opportunities" and other similar words or expressions. Factors that could cause future results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include the ability to update our reserves and resources for September 2013, the ability to begin stripping activities at Siou in the third quarter of 2014, the ability to execute on our strategic focus, fluctuation in the price of currencies, gold or operating costs, mining industry risks, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral reserves and resources, delays, political and social stability in Africa (including our ability to maintain or renew licenses and permits) and other risks described in SEMAFO's documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. You can find further information with respect to these and other risks in SEMAFO's 2012 Annual MD&A, as updated in SEMAFO's 2013 First Quarter MD&A and other filings made with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com. These documents are also available on our website at www.semafo.com. SEMAFO disclaims any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.

The above information has been made public in accordance with the Swedish Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act

Maps are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/0731SEMAFO.pdf