Sula Iron & Gold plc / Index: AIM / Epic: SULA / Sector: Natural Resources

24 September 2013

Sula Iron & Gold plc ('Sula' or 'the Company')

Further Drill Results Confirm Significant Iron Prospectivity in Sierra Leone

Sula Iron & Gold plc, an iron ore and gold exploration company focussed on Sierra Leone, is pleased to announce that, further to the announcements of 2 September and 9 September 2013, it has received the final positive assay results from its nine hole 2,000m drilling programme targeting iron mineralisation at its wholly owned 153 sq km Ferensola Project, located in the northern part of the Sula-Kangari Greenstone Belt in Sierra Leone ('the Licence'), which is prospective for iron and gold.  The full set of results confirm Ferensola's prospectivity for iron and it is the Company's strategy to delineate a maiden resource in 2014.

Overview

• Final three assays demonstrate high grade iron consistency - 73.18m at 43.66% iron ('Fe'), 99.81m at 31.17% Fe and 43.73m at 33.89% Fe,
• Drill programme tested the strike continuity, thickness, and iron grade of a 2.2km section (Area 1) of a 3.1km banded iron formation ('BIF'), which is coincident with a strong linear magnetic anomaly, proven to extend from African Minerals 12.8Bt iron Tonkolili licence area
• Plan to conduct further infill drilling subject to funding requirements to delineate a JORC compliant iron ore resource in 2014 and a second phase programme to test direct shipping ore ('DSO') potential 
• Maintaining dual exploration programme to target the Licence area's iron and gold prospectivity in order to maximise the Ferensola value potential

Sula's Non-Executive Technical Director Gareth O'Donovan said, "These final results further underpin Ferensola's prospectivity for iron, confirming a consistent high grade zone of iron mineralisation over a 2.2km strike.  With a further 900m of undrilled BIF strike extent in Area 1 and several untested anomalies offering further potential to further extend the known areas of mineralisation within the Licence area, I believe we are well set to add value and delineate an economic JORC resource.  With the full results in hand, we are now focussed on reviewing and interpreting the geological data with the aim of refining our exploration model and subject to funding requirements conducting infill drilling for both BIF and DSO material in the near term and defining a maiden resource in 2014."

Further Information

In line with the Company's on-going exploration and development programme to advance the Licence towards a maiden JORC compliant iron resource in 2014, Sula has completed a scout drilling programme over a 2.2km section of the Banded Iron Formation ('BIF'), which has a known strike length of 3.1km.  Once the assay results have been fully analysed, Sula will look to test the entire strike length in further drilling programmes, with the ultimate aim of delineating a JORC compliant iron ore resource in 2014 and testing the DSO potential.

The BIF is located in Area 1, in the southwest part of the Licence, and is located directly along strike from an undrilled magnetic high within African Minerals Limited's 12.8 billion tonne Tonkolili Licence.  The drilling tested the strike continuity, thickness and iron grade of the main BIF target at Ferensola, which has been identified as a high priority target.

The Diamond drilling programme comprised a total of nine drill holes for 2,000m of drilling over a strike length of 2.2km. Positive iron interceptions have been received from all nine holes, confirming the presence of high grade iron mineralisation.

Drill results received from drill holes BHDD001, BHDD002, and BHDD009 returned best intersections of 73.18m at 43.66% iron ('Fe'), 99.81m at 31.17% Fe and 43.73m at 33.89% Fe (see Table 1 below for further details).  These results further support the drill results received from the previous six holes (see announcement dated 9 September 2013, 2 September 2013 and 22 July 2013 and Table 2 below for details) and confirm the high grade consistency of the iron mineralisation within the Licence area. 

Table 1: Drilling Results:

* calculated by SRK ES using cross-sectional interpretation of the mineralised intercepts in three dimensions; used alpha angle intersection trigonometry, which has assumed the geologies constantly dipping at 70? NW and no hole deviation.

** calculated using a conservative core loss value of 0% Fe.

Figure 1: Map of drill hole locations:

Cross Section for holes 1-2:

All the data from this first phase drilling will be analysed in its entirety with the aim of placing geological constraints on the mineralisation within three dimensions using GIS software. This will target both the main magnetite body as well as the higher grade oxidised cap, which will aid in the planning of a second phase programme of shallow vertical holes which may be required to test Area 1's potential for DSO iron.

Table 2: Best drill intersections from the full scout drilling programme

* calculated by SRK ES using cross-sectional interpretation of the mineralised intercepts in three dimensions; used alpha angle intersection trigonometry, which has assumed the geologies constantly dipping at 70? NW and no hole deviation.

** calculated using a conservative core loss value of 0% Fe.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC)

Sample intervals are reported as both metres downhole and as true thickness, which have been calculated by SRK Exploration Services using cross-sectional interpretation of the mineralised intercepts in three dimensions, and oriented core. The actual dip of the BIF varies but is generally fairly steep.

All samples were sent by courier to ALS Preparation Laboratory in Monrovia, Liberia then sent to The ALS Group Laboratory in Johannesburg, South Africa, a SANAS accredited laboratory for analyses by XRF.

A set of standards, duplicates and blanks is inserted by SRK ES into the sample stream on a regular basis in addition to the laboratory's own internal QA/QC standards and duplicates. QA/QC results are well within the accepted norm.

**ENDS**

For further information please visit www.sulairongold.com or contact the following:

Notes

Sula Iron & Gold plc is a multi commodity exploration company focussed on West Africa.  The Company's main objective is to explore and advance its Ferensola Project, in Northern Sierra Leone, which is highly prospective for iron and gold.  Sula is currently focussed on delineating a maiden JORC compliant iron resource and proving up the gold mineralisation in 2014, by conducting soil geochemistry and ground geophysics prior to a Diamond drilling programme, in order to maximise the Licence area's value potential.  The 153 sq km licence area is contiguous to African Minerals' operational Tonkolili Iron Mine, which has a JORC compliant resource of 12.8 billion tonnes Fe.

Exploration work at the project has confirmed the presence of Banded Iron Formation ('BIF') at surface, which has a known strike length of 3.1km.  The BIF is proven to extend NE from the Tonkolili licence into Sula's licence area.  A 2,000m scout drilling programme conducted over a 2.2km section of BIF, confirmed the Licence area's prospectivity for consistently high grade iron mineralisation.  An exploration target of 500 million tonnes at 30.4% iron for magnetite and 55% iron for hematite has been given by independent exploration consultants SRK Exploration Services Ltd.

Significant Greenstone Belt-style gold mineralisation has also been identified at various prospects within the licence area.   Five target areas for hard rock gold mineralisation have been identified based on the location of historic drill intercepts, the source areas for alluvial gold deposits, and the position of major structures as defined by airborne magnetic data and drainage orientation.