LONGUEUIL, CANADA--(Marketwire - Feb. 21, 2013) - Reunion Gold Corporation (News - Market indicators) ("Reunion or the "Company") is pleased to announce an initial resource estimate for the manganese deposits of its 100%-owned Matthews Ridge Project in northwest Guyana, South America.

Highlights:

• Total Unconstrained Measured and Indicated Resources of 32.4M tonnes grading 14% Mn when using an 8% Mn cutoff grade on the footprint of Matthew's Ridge.
  
  
• Additional 5.3 M tonnes of Unconstrained Inferred Resources grading 15% Mn at an 8% Mn cutoff grade on the Matthew's Ridge Footprint and from two other prospects.
  
  
• Total Constrained Measured and Indicated Resources of 29.1M tonnes grading 14% Mn at a cutoff grade of 6-8% Mn.
  
  
• Robust resource model as demonstrated by a 90% conversion rate of the measured and indicated resources from Unconstrained to Constrained Resources.
  
  
• Metallurgical testwork indicates good manganese recovery to concentrates of marketable quality.
  
  

Table 1: Unconstrained Mineral Resource Summary at an 8% Mn cut off grade

Table 2: Constrained Mineral Resource Summary

Other Project Highlights:

• Located in Guyana, a mining friendly jurisdiction;
  
  
• Low level of infrastructure requirements;
  
  
• Simple open pit mining and processing operation;
  
  
• The defined resources are of sufficient scale and quality to form the foundation of the ongoing pre-feasibility study to define the economics of project development;
  
  
• Four other prospects in the Matthews Ridge region are being explored for additional resources;
  
  
• Reunion holds exploration licenses for an area of 185 square kilometers in northwest Guyana.
  
  

Resource Estimate

This first Matthews Ridge mineral resources estimate was prepared by Mr. Réjean Sirois, ing., P. Geo., of G Mining Services Ltd. ("GMining"), a Canadian mining consulting firm, for the four types of mineralized materials forming the deposits (defined in Appendix 1). It encompasses over 65 thousand metres of drilling completed by Reunion between 2011 and 2012. The resources have been categorized as measured, indicated or inferred. They have been estimated on an unconstrained basis, as well as, on a constrained basis in a Whittle shell with the utilisation of metallurgical, economical and geotechnical constraints. The results are tabulated below. See Appendix 1 for additional information on parameters and methodology used for resource estimates. (Appendix 1 is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/appendix1_0221.pdf)

Table 3: Constrained Resources - Measured, Indicated and Inferred - Matthews Ridge (Hills 1 to 9)

Table 4: Unconstrained Measured Resources - Matthews Ridge (Hills 1 to 9)

Table 5: Unconstrained Indicated Resources - Matthews Ridge (Hills 1 to 9)

Table 6: Unconstrained Inferred Resources - Matthews Ridge (Hills 1 to 9)

Table 7: Unconstrained Inferred Resource - Arakaka prospect

Table 8: Unconstrained Inferred Resource - Pipiani prospect

 Notes:

1. The effective date of the mineral resource estimate is February 20, 2013.
   
   
2. Unconstrained resources mean total in-situ resources. 
   
   
3. Constrained resources mean resources contained within a Whittle shell when applying industry standard parameters for costs, geotechnical constraints, metallurgical recoveries and indicative value of the final product. The cut-off grade varies by hill and material type and is generally between 6% and 8%.
   
   
4. Lump Product is defined as material from +6mm to -25mm in size while Fine Product is +0.85mm to 6mm in size.
   
   
5. Mineral resources, which are not mineral reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be affected by marketing, fiscal, permitting, legal, or other relevant issues.
   
   
6. Totals and average grades are subject to rounding to the appropriate precision.
   
   

David Fennell, Executive Chairman of Reunion, said: "This is a tremendous accomplishment for Reunion's team. Since obtaining the prospecting licenses for Matthews Ridge in late 2010, our team has embarked on an extensive drilling campaign to establish an initial resource estimate and move Matthews Ridge towards development. We believe that the Matthews Ridge project has the potential to become a leading producer of manganese in the Americas. While this resource is very substantial, many undrilled targets remain available for additional resource growth."

General Project Description

The Matthews Ridge Project consists of four Prospecting Licenses covering an area of 185 km² located in northwest Guyana, in and around the former Matthews Ridge mine (See maps - Figure 1 and 2 are available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/figures1_20221.pdf). Manganese ore was mined from 1960 to 1968 by a subsidiary of Union Carbide and exported via railroad and a fluvial port.

Manganese deposits have been explored in three prospects: 1) Matthews Ridge, corresponding to a series of nine hills extending for 15 km, of which five were previously mined; 2) Arakaka, which is the eastern extension of Hill 1, and 3) Pipiani, which is located 65 km to the southeast of Matthews Ridge.

Manganese mineralization is hosted by the Barama Group sedimentary rocks of Proterozoic age and consists of deposits formed as a result of supergene enrichment of manganese-rich sediments under a tropical climate.

Metallurgical Testing

As part of the metallurgical testing of mineralized materials, representative samples of each material type were processed by scrubbing, wet screening and jigging with an Alljig™ lab-scale jig operated by FILAB Guyana Laboratories under the supervision of GMining. Core samples were split with one portion of the sample being placed into a composite sample of similar material and processed by jigging while the remaining portion was sent to SGS Lakefield in Canada for metallurgical characterization through heavy liquid separation (HLS). GMining supervised all work performed by SGS. HLS results were correlated to the composite jigging results.

Based on the metallurgical testwork and characterization by material type, a relationship was established between the feed grade of the material and its potential upgradability. This was done by associating the feed grade of the material, the concentrate recovery and the concentrate grade while applying minimum concentrate grade requirements set at 36% and 34% Mn, respectively, for the Lump and Fine products. 

GMining concluded that the Matthew's Ridge ore is upgradable to a marketable concentrate. (see Reunion's August 27, 2012 news release). Two distinct types of marketable concentrate can be produced. A higher valued Lump Concentrate (-25 mm + 6 mm) and a lower valued Fine Concentrate (-6 mm + 0.85 mm). The Lump product represents approximately 62% of the total concentrate while the Fine product represents 38% of the total when constrained within a Whittle shell.

The metallurgical testwork also tracked the level of impurities in the feed and in the different concentrates. It is noted that the level of silica and alumina decrease by half while the concentration of iron doubles as a result of jigging. The level of phosphorous remains relatively unchanged, at very low levels. All average impurity levels are within current industry benchmark values for similar concentrates destined to silica-manganese furnaces.

Table 9: Average Resource Impurity Concentrations by Product Size.

Grade and Tonnage Reporting

The Matthews Ridge mineral resource was estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council.

The resource model has been categorized as Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources using the CIM Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines (November 2010).

Plans for 2013

The defined resources reported here provide a platform for Reunion to advance the Matthews Ridge Manganese Project through feasibility. Subject to available financing, the Company's plan for 2013 would be to complete an aggressive resource definition program on the Pipiani and Arakaka prospects, upgrade the inferred resources of the Matthew's Ridge trend and complete a pre-feasibility study.

Qualified Persons

The exploration data used to generate the resource estimates contained in this press release was approved by Carlos H. Bertoni, P. Geo., a consultant to the Company. Mr. Bertoni is an independent 'qualified person' within the meaning of that term under Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101").

The Matthews Ridge resource estimates reported in this news release were undertaken by Mr. Réjean Sirois, ing., P. Geo., of GMining. Mr. Sirois is an independent 'qualified person' within the meaning of that term under NI 43-101. Mr. Sirois has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release insofar as the Matthews Ridge mineral resource estimate is concerned.

Mr. Ahmed Bouajila, ing., of GMining has supervised the metallurgical testing described in this news release. Mr. Bouajila is an independent 'qualified person' within the meaning of that term under NI 43-101. Mr. Bouajila has reviewed and approved the contents of this press release insofar as the Matthews Ridge metallurgical testwork is concerned.

All other technical information contained in this press release was prepared and approved by Mathieu Gignac ing., of GMining. Mr Gignac is an independent 'qualified person' within the meaning of that term under NI 43-101.

A technical report for the mineral resource estimate in compliance with NI 43-101 will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release.

About the Company

Reunion Gold Corporation is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties in the Guyana Shield of South America. The Company through its 100% indirectly owned subsidiary Reunion Manganese Inc., has assembled a large, strategic land position to conduct exploration and development activities for manganese in the North West District of Guyana. The Company also has the right to acquire a 100% interest in a gold exploration project located in the Lely Mountain area in Eastern Suriname.

Manganese is the fourth largest metal consumed in the world, behind iron, aluminum and copper. It is a key component in steel and iron production with no viable substitute.

Additional information about the Company is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and at www.reuniongold.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking information. Although the Company believes in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Forward looking information in this news release includes statements with respect to: the mineral resource estimates and potential expansion and upgrade to a higher level of confidence; the results of metallurgical testwork; the potential to develop the project into a mine and becoming a leading producer of manganese; and statements about the Company's plan and objectives for 2013. Forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Company undertakes no obligations to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless so required by applicable securities laws.