Exploration Update

AIM: KEFI

23rd January 2013

                               KEFI Minerals Plc                               

                      ("KEFI Minerals" or the "Company")                       

                              Exploration Update                              

KEFI Minerals, an AIM-listed gold and copper exploration company with projects
in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is pleased to announce additional diamond drill
results from the initial drilling programme at the Jibal Qutman Licence and the
commencement of second phase drilling at the Selib North Licence, both projects
as operator of the Company's 40%-owned Gold & Minerals Joint Venture ("G&M")

HIGHLIGHTS

  * Diamond Drilling at Jibal Qutman returns encouraging intersections,
    including 4.5m at 17g/t Au, 12.75m at 3.78g/t Au and 13m at 2.35g/t Au.

  * Positive results obtained from an initial internal scoping study for an
    open cut heap leach operation at Jibal Qutman.
   
  * Diamond and RC drilling commenced at Selib North to follow up geophysical
    (IP and SP) and geochemical anomalies.
   
JIBAL QUTMAN

An initial phase of 50 diamond drill holes for 4,569m has been completed at the
Jibal Qutman prospect. Drilling was designed to test the shallow open cut
potential of the gold mineralisation, which is hosted in a series of quartz
veins over a 3km zone.

Gold is hosted in vein sets that dip approximately 20-45° to the east. The vein
sets are comprised of massive quartz veins up to 6m width with a halo of lower
grade parallel stringer veins in zones up to 15-30m width either side of the
main vein. To date, three separate zones have been trenched and drilled at the
Jibal Qutman prospect, the Main, South and West Zones.

The best results not reported previously, include:

 Hole No  From (m)  To (m)   Interval   Au g/t      Zone     
                               (m)                           
                                                             
 JQD 30    36.00    48.75     12.75      3.78       West     
                                                  Structure  
                                                             
 JQD 31    71.00    85.00     14.00      0.81       West     
                                                  Structure  
                                                             
 JQD 37    20.20    29.00      8.80      1.46    South Zone  
                                                             
 JQD 40    32.00    50.00     18.00      0.70    South Zone  
                                                             
 JQD 41    17.00    27.00     10.00      3.43    South Zone  
                                                             
 JQD 42    21.00    23.00      2.00      2.71    South Zone  
                                                             
 JQD 43     8.50    23.00      14.5      5.45    South Zone  
                                                             
Including   8.50    13.00      4.50     17.00    South Zone  
                                                             
 JQD 45    62.00    75.00     13.00      2.35    South Zone  
                                                             
 JQD 46    54.00    58.00      4.00      1.35    South Zone  
                                                             
 JQD 48    90.00    117.00    27.00      0.62    South Zone  
                                                             
 JQD 49    72.00    77.00      5.00      1.07    South Zone  
                                                             
   and     111.00   116.00     5.00      1.11    South Zone  

Drilling has been performed on initial 100m x 50m and 50m x 25m grids over a
600m strike length of the Main Zone and 200m strike lengths of the West and
South Zones. Drilling has focused on the open cut potential and hence holes
have been drilled to shallow depths, testing the mineralisation to a maximum of
80-100m below surface.

The continuity of mineralisation in each zone is excellent and grade
distribution does not display a high nugget effect, and along with mapping and
trench sampling this currently suggests that a drill spacing of 100m x 50m is
considered sufficient for the estimation of an Inferred Resource, 50m x 50m for
an Indicated Resource and 25m x 25m for a Measured Resource.

Within the area drilled to date and also within a conceptual shallow open cut
pit shell to 40-60m below surface, a preliminary first pass estimate of a
combined mineralised zone of approximately >90,000oz Au can be calculated at an
average grade of 1.25g/t Au, using a 0.2g/t Au cut-off. This is a very
preliminary estimate only and is not a JORC compliant resource at this stage.

There is very good potential to significantly increase the current drilled
resources, as the mineralisation is open along strike, to the north and south
in all three zones. Given the aerial extent of the mapped veins in the Licence
area, a target in excess of 200,000oz Au is considered to be a plausible
estimate.

Drilling has been paused to evaluate the potential of the drilled area and to
perform further investigations whether a "pilot" heap leach mining operation
would be beneficial at this stage.

Initial internal scoping studies using local labour, power and mining costs,
suggest that a "minimum pilot" deposit size, amenable to gold extraction by
heap leach, of 80,000oz to 100,000oz at 1.2g/t to 1.3g/t Au would have a cash
operating cost of $640/oz Au, require an estimated $12-14 million of capital
expenditure and generate a cash operating profit of $80 million over a 4 year
mine life.

Samples of pulverised drill core have been despatched to an external laboratory
for preliminary metallurgical gold recovery by cyanide leach.

Gold recoveries from four composite pulp samples of quartz vein style
mineralisation attained 54%, 74%, 76% and 90% gold recovery using a 250ppm
cyanide solution over a one hour period. These are encouraging results given
the dilute cyanide and short extraction time. The sample with 54% recovery was
obtained from a high grade sample of 8.9g/t Au and the lower recovery was
probably due to coarse gold particles, which require a longer extraction time
to be fully recovered in the leaching process.

More extensive metallurgical testwork for Heap Leach processing, including
column leach, to establish optimum grind size and leach times, is currently
being designed and will be initiated in H1 2013.

Should the metallurgical testwork attain gold recoveries of 70% or more, a heap
leach could be the optimum processing method. Should the gold recovery fall
below 70%, it may be more economic to extract gold by CIL processes, which on
current results, indicates a possible recovery around 75-90% of the gold.

Further drilling to extend the open cut potential along strike, both to the
north and south in each of the three zones and to infill drill to a minimum of
50m x 25m spacings is planned for H1 2013, at which point an Inferred and
Indicated Resource is targeted to be announced.

SELIB NORTH

A second phase diamond and RC drilling programme of 2,400m and 1,700m
respectively, is underway. It will test several IP (Induced Polarisation and
resistivity) and SP (Self Potential) anomalies identified in the geophysical
survey completed in December 2012 and the gold mineralisation intersected in
the first phase diamond drilling at the Camel Hill prospect.

Jeff Rayner, Managing Director of KEFI Minerals, commented:

"The initial phase of diamond drilling at Jibal Qutman has been completed with
encouraging early results for an open cut heap leach mining operation. These
results have been achieved in just four months since drilling started in mid
September 2012. Further drilling is planned to extend the gold potential along
strike in all three zones and to further define the gold recoveries with
detailed metallurgical testwork, in H1 2013 and to possibly commence a
pre-feasibility study in H2 of 2013."

KEFI Minerals' Strategic Plan in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Ä°n 2009, KEFI Minerals formed the Gold and Minerals Joint Venture ("G&M") in
Saudi Arabia with local Saudi partner Abdul Rahman Saad Al-Rashid & Sons
Company Limited ("ARTAR"), to explore for gold and associated metals in the
Arabian Shield. To date, the G&M has conducted preliminary regional
reconnaissance and lodged 23 Exploration Licence Applications (ELAs), of which
4 have been granted.

The ELAs were initially applied for and granted to ARTAR. Incorporation of G&M
has been completed and any granted Licences will be transferred into G&M in due
course.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has instituted policies to encourage minerals
exploration and development and KEFI Minerals supports this priority by serving
as the technical partner within G&M. ARTAR also serves this Government policy
as the major partner in G&M, which is one of the early movers in the modern
resurgence of the Kingdom's minerals sector.

                                    -Ends-                                     

Enquiries

                                                                               

KEFI Minerals

Jeffrey Rayner [phone]

Fox-Davies Capital

Simon Leathers [phone]

Bishopsgate Communications

Nick Rome [phone]

References in this announcement to exploration results and potential have been
approved for release by Mr. Jeffrey Rayner. Mr Rayner is a geologist and has
more than 25 years' relevant experience in the field of activity concerned. He
is a Member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and
has consented to the inclusion of the material in the form and context in which
it appears.

Further information on KEFI Minerals is available at www.kefi-minerals.com