OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 4, 2013) - Orezone Gold Corporation (News - Market indicators) is pleased to announce additional positive results from an ongoing infill and expansion drill program at its wholly owned Bomboré Gold Project in Burkina Faso, West Africa. An additional 75,000 m of results have now been released since the August 2012 resource estimation.  The 100,000 m drill program continues to demonstrate the potential to upgrade and expand the resources, especially the softer near surface oxide resources.  The current resource is constrained within optimized open pit shells that span 11 km and includes 4.13 Moz of measured and indicated (125 Mt @ 1.03 g/t) and 1.03 Moz of inferred resources (35 Mt @ 1.00 g/t) with an average depth of drilling to only 120 meters.  The oxide portion of the resource occurs in the top 50 m and includes 1.76 Moz M&I and 0.26 Moz Inferred resources.  The Company has recently commissioned an interim/internal resource update using 63,500 m (771 holes) of the current program that will bring the total database to over 400,000 m (5,034 holes).  The update is expected to be completed in Q1 2013 and will be the basis for the reserves of the full Feasibility Study ("FS") to be released during the second half of 2013. 

"The additional drilling completed since the release of the 2012 Resource has been successful in infilling and expanding the known resources.  This is expected to have a positive impact on the Bomboré gold resource in terms of both size and the project economics," said Pascal Marquis, SVP Exploration for Orezone.

Results for this release include 9,509 m of reverse circulation (RC) drilling (170 holes) and 9,756 m of core (DD) drilling (73 holes) and are mostly from the northern area of the deposit.  The drilling in this location was designed to upgrade the largely inferred resources and test some new oxide targets.  Some of the holes were also part of a geotechnical drill program that was necessary to finalize the plant, tailings and infrastructure sites as part of the FS.

Feasibility Study Update:

Work continues on the FS with various trade-off studies to finalize the plant site location, optimal grinding circuit, water storage system, tailings design, geotechnical and environmental studies. All geotechnical drilling and work on the ground was completed prior to year end with the results and reports pending.  The Q1 resource update will include pit slopes derived from the geotechnical drilling and studies.  Although results from the 2012 detailed variability metallurgical tests should be released during Q1 2013, the Company continues to study both the soft and hard rock ores to further optimize the design of the grinding circuit so that the CIL plant can be built in two phases.  Preliminary results to date are positive and indicate that up to 60% of the near surface saprolite oxide resources (approximately 65% of the total oxide resource) does not require grinding and could report directly to the CIL leaching circuit.  This would allow for a small grinding circuit (ball mill) with lower power consumption. The Company's objective is to improve project returns by reducing both the initial capital expenditures and operating costs through the processing of only the softer surface ores for at least the first 5 to 6 years, with subsequent expansion of the grinding and leaching circuit funded from cash flows generated from the operation.  Results of the ongoing trade-off studies will be released as they are completed.

Table 1. Cumulative Results Excluded from the August 2012 Resource Reported to Date

Table 2. Breakdown of Drilling Meterage for this Release

Table 3. Highlights of Diamond Drill Hole Results for this Release

Table 4. Highlights of Reverse Circulation Results for this Release

The mineralized intervals are based on a lower cut-off grade of 0.5 g/t, a minimal width of 3 m and up to a maximum of two consecutive meters of dilution being included. The true width of the mineralization is approximately 85% of the drill length intervals in KT, CFU, Maga, P16, P17 and P8P9 areas, and 95% of the drill length intervals in the Siga area.

The half-core samples were collected by Orezone employees using a diamond saw. The core samples were prepared by SGS Burkina Faso s.a.r.l. at the Bomboré site facility and then split by Orezone to 1 kg using Rotary Sample Dividers (RSDs). A 1 kg aliquot was analyzed for leachable gold at BIGS Global Burkina s.a.r.l in Ouagadougou, by bottle-roll cyanidation using a LeachWell™ catalyst.

The RC drilling samples were divided by Orezone employees using Rotary Sample Dividers (RSDs). A 2 kg split was prepared by SGS Burkina Faso s.a.r.l. at the Bomboré site facility and then split by Orezone to 1 kg using Rotary Sample Dividers (RSDs). A 1 kg aliquot was analyzed for leachable gold at BIGS Global Burkina s.a.r.l in Ouagadougou, by bottle-roll cyanidation using a LeachWell™ catalyst.

The leach residues from all samples with a leach grade in excess of 0.2 g/t were prepared by BIGS Global Burkina s.a.r.l. and then split by Orezone to 50 g using Rotary Sample Dividers (RSDs). A 50 g aliquot was analyzed by fire assay at SGS Burkina Faso s.a.r.l.

Orezone employs a rigorous Quality Control Program (QCP) including a minimum of 10% standards, blanks and duplicates. This program was executed under the supervision of Pascal Marquis, SVP Exploration for Orezone, who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and approved the technical information in this release. A complete table of results and the NI 43-101 Bomboré Resource Report that describes the Bomboré resource model can be found at www.orezone.com.

About Orezone Gold Corporation

Orezone is a Canadian company with a gold discovery track record of +12 Moz and recent mine development experience in Burkina Faso, West Africa.  The company owns a 100% interest in Bomboré which is situated 85 km east of the capital city, adjacent to an international highway. Mineral resources are constrained within optimized open pit shells that span 11 km, and include 4.13 Moz of measured and indicated (125 Mt @ 1.03 g/t) and 1.03 Moz of inferred resources (35 Mt @ 1.00 g/t) with an average depth of drilling to only 120 meters.  The Company is working to further expand the resources at Bomboré while it completes a FS for a phase one oxide-only CIL plant in 2H 2013 and becomes a mid-tier gold producer by 2015.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are frequently characterized by words such as "plan," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding, among others; capital and operating cost estimates; gold production for the project; completion of a FS in 2H 2013;  completion of an internal resource update in Q1 2013; commencement of production at the Bomboré Project in 2015.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS are based on certain assumptions, the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, the ability of contracted parties (including laboratories and drill companies to provide services as contracted); uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future and other factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Comparisons between any resource model or estimates with the subsequent drill results are preliminary in nature and should not be relied upon as potential qualified changes to any future resource updates or estimates.

Readers are advised that National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators requires that each category of mineral reserves and mineral resources be reported separately. Readers should refer to the annual information form of Orezone for the year ended December 31, 2011 and other continuous disclosure documents filed by Orezone since January 1, 2012 available at www.sedar.com, for this detailed information, which is subject to the qualifications and notes set forth therein.