Mkango Files Technical Report for the Maiden Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate for the Songwe Rare Earth Project

Mkango Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:MKA) (the "Corporation" or "Mkango") is
pleased to announce that it has filed a Technical Report (the "Report") for the
Songwe rare earth project in Malawi. The Mineral Resource estimates from the
Report, as previously announced in the News Release of 10th October 2012, are
summarised below and in the tables thereafter. 




---------------------------------------------------------
Cut-off grade     In-situ Indicated      In-situ Inferred
                   Mineral Resource      Mineral Resource
                           estimate              estimate
---------------------------------------------------------
1.0% TREO     13.2 mt grading 1.62% 18.6 mt grading 1.38%
                               TREO                  TREO
1.5% TREO      6.2 mt grading 2.05%  5.1 mt grading 1.83%
                               TREO                  TREO
---------------------------------------------------------



TREO - total rare earth oxides. In-situ - no geological losses applied. mt -
million tonnes




--  NI 43-101 technical report filed, entitled NI 43-101 Technical Report
    and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Songwe Hill Rare Earth Element
    (REE) Project, Phalombe District, Republic of Malawi, and available on
    www.sedar.com 
--  The in-situ Indicated and Inferred mineral resource estimates at the
    chosen base case cut-off grade of 1.0% TREO represent a major milestone
    in the development of the project 
--  Substantial tonnages at a higher grade are also generated at a higher
    cut-off grade of 1.5% TREO 
--  The mineralized zones are untested at depths greater than 350 m below
    the surface of Songwe Hill and are open laterally to the northeast and
    southwest, with additional regional exploration potential 
--  The Indicated component comprises approximately 41.5% of the mineral
    resource and 45.4% of the estimated contained TREO at a 1.0% TREO cut-
    off grade, and, following the results of ongoing metallurgical studies,
    it may form the initial basis for commencement of a pre-feasibility
    study 
--  Heavy rare earths as a percentage of total rare earths are 7.1% and 7.4%
    for Indicated and Inferred mineral resource estimates, respectively, at
    a 1.0% TREO cut-off grade    



Mineral Resource Estimate

The Report was independently prepared by The MSA Group of South Africa ("MSA")
and Dr. Scott Swinden of Swinden Geoscience Consultants Ltd, the "Qualified
Person" (QP), who together have currently identifed 1.0% TREO as an appropriate
base case cut-off grade for the mineral resource estimate. This will be further
investigated on completion of metallurgical test work. The In-situ mineral
resource estimates at different cut-off grades are illustrated in Table 1.


Table 1 - In-situ Mineral Resource estimates at different cut-off grades(1)

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/mka_table.pdf

(1) Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated
economic viability


The estimated mineral resource has been traced in drill holes to a maximum depth
of 350 m below the surface of Songwe Hill and is based on the two phases of
diamond drilling completed by Mkango in 2011 and 2012 totalling approximately
6,850 m. The vast majority of the Indicated mineral resource blocks (at a 1%
TREO cut-off, 9.1 mt of carbonatite, 0.67 mt of mixed and 1.04 mt of fenite) are
at depths of less than 200 m below the surface of the hill. The areas drilled to
date are in an elevated position on the northern slopes of Songwe Hill, which
rises approximately 230 m above the surrounding plain. The approximate
dimensions of the mineral resource estimate are 400 m aligned northeast by 230 m
aligned northwest and to a depth of 350 m below and paralleling the topographic
surface of the hill and surrounding plain.


Higher grade areas occur at various locations within the mineral resource,
including at or close to surface, particularly in the north eastern part of the
carbonatite domain. The mineralisation is not constrained by drilling at depth
and laterally to both the northeast and southwest. 


Geological domains, comprising either carbonatite or fenite dominant rock types,
were used to guide the mineral resource estimate. Where the carbonatite and
fenite lithologies were inseparable, a mixed domain was created. 


The carbonatite dominant domain generally comprises a higher proportion of
elevated TREO grade mineralisation than the fenite dominant domain. This results
in a higher proportion of the mineralisation in this domain being reported above
the 1% TREO cut off, albeit at a similar average grade to the other domains, as
illustrated in Table 2. 


The carbonatite domain is dominant at Songwe, comprising 84% of the Indicated
and 46% of the Inferred mineral resources.


A schematic geological map illustrating the location of the drill holes will
shortly be made available on the Company's website (www.mkango.ca).


The individual REO data and ratios as presented in Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5 were
derived from length-weighted averages of the drill hole data. Heavy rare earths,
as defined here, comprise europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium,
erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium and yttrium. These include the most highly
priced of the more commonly traded rare earths, europium, terbium and
dysprosium. 


The overall weighted average proportion of heavy rare earths as a percentage of
total rare earths for Indicated and Inferred resource estimates at 1.0% TREO
cut-off grade is 7.1% and 7.4% respectively. The heavy rare earths vary with
cut-off grade both in terms of absolute values and relative proportions. As TREO
grade decreases, relative proportions of heavy rare earths increases (at 0.5%
TREO cut-off grade, the HREO proportion is 7.7% and 8.2% for Indicated and
Inferred categories, respectively) and the reverse is also true (at 1.5% TREO
cut-off grade, the HREO proportion is 6.1% and 5.8% for Indicated and Inferred
categories, respectively).


Apart from the proportion of heavy rare earths, a further measure of the
potential value is the proportions of critical rare earths. The US Department of
Energy has highlighted neodymium, dysprosium, europium, terbium and yttrium as
being "critical" rare earths in terms of their importance to the clean energy
economy and risk of supply disruption. Of these, dysprosium, europium, terbium
and yttrium are heavy rare earths and are also reflected in the heavy rare earth
ratio. Neodymium (Nd) is a light rare earth, principally used in the production
of high strength permanent magnets. 


The Songwe Hill mineral resource has an estimated weighted average grade of
2,665 ppm Nd2O3 and 2,240 ppm Nd2O3 in the Indicated and Inferred categories at
1.0% TREO cut-off grade, respectively. This equates to a weighted average
proportion of Nd2O3 as a percentage of total rare earth oxides for Indicated and
Inferred categories of 16.5% and 16.3%, respectively, as derived from Table 2. 


Metallurgical Scoping Test Work

Metallurgical scoping work at Mintek in South Africa is ongoing, comprising
flotation test work and leach tests. The current flotation test work is focused
on a similar reagent regime to that used previously at the Mountain Pass mine
and variations thereof. Further reagent regimes and conditions will continue to
be tested. Rare earth mineralogy at Songwe is well understood, comprising
predominantly synchysite and apatite.


Table 2 - In-situ Mineral Resource estimates at 1.0% TREO cut-off grade(1)

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/mka_tables.pdf

HREO - heavy rare earth oxides

Table 3 - REO distribution for different rock types at 1.0% TREO cut-off grade(1)

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/mka_tables.pdf

(1 ) Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated
economic viability


Key assumptions, parameters and methods used to estimate the Mineral Resources



--  wireframing of the three lithological units was based on surface
    geological mapping extended to depth using the drillhole intersection
    data; 
--  TREO, HREO, Th and U grades as well as Density were determined using
    Ordinary Kriging interpolation into individual 3-Dimensional block
    models constrained by the respective lithological wireframes; 
--  the lithological block models comprised sub-celled block dimensions of 5
    m x 5 m x 5 m. 
--  the lithology wireframes and block models were truncated to the
    topographic surface; 
--  no capping or cutting to limit any input grade data was undertaken as
    part of the mineral resource estimation; 
--  Datamine Studio 3 was the modelling package; and 
--  mineral resources were classified as either Indicated or Inferred
    following an assessment of the grade and geological continuity exhibited
    by the data.



Scientific and technical information, including data verification, contained in
this release has been approved and verified by Dr. Scott Swinden of Swinden
Geoscience Consultants Ltd, who is a "Qualified Person" in accordance with
National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. 


Sample preparation and analytical work for the drilling and channel sampling
programmes were provided by Intertek-Genalysis Laboratories (Johannesburg, South
Africa and Perth, Australia) employing ICP-MS techniques suitable for rare earth
element (REE) analyses and following strict internal QAQC procedures inserting
duplicates, blanks and standards. Internal Laboratory QAQC was also completed to
include blanks, standards and duplicates. 


The Songwe Hill Rare Earth Project

The Songwe Hill rare earth project is located within a 100% owned exclusive
prospecting licence covering an area of 1,283 km2 in southeast Malawi (the
"Phalombe Licence"). Songwe is accessible by road from Zomba, the former
capital, and Blantyre, the principal commercial town of Malawi. Total travel
time from Zomba is approximately 2 hours, which will reduce as infrastructure
continues to be upgraded in the area. 


Mkango Resources Ltd.

Mkango's primary business is the exploration for rare earth elements and
associated minerals in the Republic of Malawi. It holds, through its wholly
owned subsidiary Lancaster, a 100% interest in two exclusive prospecting
licenses covering a combined area of 1,751 km2 in southern Malawi. The main
exploration target is the Songwe Hill rare earth deposit, which features
carbonatite hosted rare earth mineralisation and was subject to previous
exploration in the late 1980s. 


The Corporation's corporate strategy is to further delineate the rare earth
mineralisation at Songwe Hill and secure additional rare earth element and other
mineral opportunities in Malawi and elsewhere in Africa.


Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements 

This news release may contain forward-looking statements relating to the
Corporation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans,
intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their
nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and
unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to
the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other
forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause actual performance
and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or
projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such factors and risks include, among others, the
interpretation and actual results of current exploration activities; uncertainty
of estimates of mineral resources, changes in project parameters as plans
continue to be refined; future commodity prices; possible variations in grade or
recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as anticipated;
labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays in obtaining
governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of exploration.


The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of
the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Corporation
disclaims any intention and assume no obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities law.
Additionally, the Corporation undertakes no obligation to comment on the
expectations of, or statements made, by third parties in respect of the matters
discussed above.


Appendix

Table 4 - In-situ Mineral Resource estimates at different cut-off grades

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/mka_tables2.pdf

Table 5 - REO distribution at different cut-off grades

http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/mka_tables2.pdf

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: 
Mkango Resources Ltd.
William Dawes
Chief Executive Officer
(403) 444-5979
(403) 351-1703 (FAX)
will@mkango.ca


Mkango Resources Ltd.
Alexander Lemon
President
(403) 444-5979
(403) 351-1703 (FAX)
alex@mkango.ca
www.mkango.ca
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