Tanzanian Royalty Signs Definitive Joint Venture Agreement That Will Facilitate Development of Buckreef Gold Project

Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation(TSX: TNX / AMEX: TRX)
is pleased to announce that it has entered into a Definitive Joint
Venture Agreement with the State Mining Corporation of Tanzania
(Stamico) for the development of the Buckreef Gold Project in Tanzania.

Buckreef is located in the prolific Lake Victoria Goldfields of northern
Tanzania within the Rwamagaza Greenstone Belt. Major gold producers in
the region include AngloGold Ashanti′s Geita mine (18M Oz), the largest
gold producer in Tanzania which is located 30 kilometres to the
northeast of Buckreef, and African Barrick′s Bulyanhulu gold mine (12M
Oz) which is situated 60 kilometres to the southeast.

The Buckreef Project contains National Instrument 43-101 compliant gold
resources at a 0.5 g/t cutoff grade in the following categories:
Measured, 5.176 million tonnes grading 2.05 g/t (341,000 oz); Indicated,
24.97 million tonnes averaging 1.19 t/g (954,000 oz); Inferred, 17.173
million tonnes grading 1.51 g/t (835,000 oz).

Through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tanzanian American International
Development Corporation 2000 Limited (Tanzam), the Company will hold a
55% interest in the joint venture company, Buckreef Gold Company
Limited, with Stamico holding the remaining 45%.

At a public signing ceremony attended by invited dignitaries and the
media in Dar es Salaam on October 25, 2011, the Honourable William
Mganga Ngeleja, Tanzanian Minister for Energy and Minerals, told the
gathering: 'Today, I am most delighted to witness this historic event of
the signing of the Joint Venture Agreement for the Re-development of
Buckreef Gold Mine between Stamico and Tanzam.?

Responding to the minister, James E. Sinclair, the President and CEO of
Tanzanian Royalty, stated that the agreement represents 'a new model?
with respect to how international mining companies conduct business in
mineral rich countries in the developing world.

'Our policy has always been to empower Tanzanians to create their own
future and we take great pride in the fact that our corporate,
professional and support staff in Tanzania are indigenous to the region.?

According to Joseph K. Kahama, Chairman and Chief Operating officer
(Tanzania), 'This is truly a milestone agreement and an example of what
a visionary like our President and CEO, James Sinclair, can achieve for
his shareholders and the people of Tanzania.?

'We see this agreement with the Tanzanian government and Stamico as the
first step in an enduring relationship that will bring lasting benefits
to both parties.?

A Preliminary Economic Analysis (PEA) of the Buckreef Project is
currently under way and upon the favourable completion of the PEA, the
joint venture will undertake a Definitive Feasibility Study. Under the
recently concluded definitive joint venture agreement, the parties
intend to work toward bringing the Buckreef project into commercial
production within a 30 month period.

As part of its ongoing efforts to enhance the economic potential of the
Buckreef Project area, Tanzam filed an application in July, 2011 to
enlarge the area of the Buckreef mining license. The area encompassed by
the license application includes exploration targets identified by
previous operators.

The government has assured the Company that the mining license
application will be given priority and the minister confirmed he had
'instructed the Acting Commissioner for Minerals to expeditiously
process the application for the enlargement? noting that ?the project is
a 'role model which must receive our utmost cooperation and attention.?

Tanzanian Royalty is well financed to advance the Buckreef Project with
approximately $30 million in working capital and strong interest
expressed on the part of lenders and other financial institutions to
fund the project to commercial production.

At the present time, the Company has two RC drills and one diamond drill
operating on the Buckreef property as part of a program to confirm the
additional resource potential that was established by previous
exploration.

The Company′s Qualified Person, Mr. Peter Zizhou, has reviewed and
approved the contents of this news release. He has a Master of Science
(Exploration Geology) degree from the University of Zimbabwe (2000) and
is a registered scientist with SACNASP (Reg. No. 400028/08).

Respectfully submitted,

James E. Sinclair

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact Investor Relations at
1-800-811-3855

Visit our website: www.TanzanianRoyalty.com

The Toronto Stock Exchange and NYSE Amex Equities have not reviewed and
do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors - The United States Securities and
Exchange Commission limits disclosure for U.S. reporting purposes to
mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or
produce. We use certain terms on this news release, such as 'reserves?,
'resources?, 'geologic resources?, 'proven?, 'probable?, 'measured',
'indicated', or 'inferred' which may not be consistent with the reserve
definitions established by the SEC.U.S. Investors are urged to
consider closely the disclosure in our SEC filings.You can
review and obtain copies of these filings from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information. All statements, other than statements of
historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information that involve various risks and
uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove
to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ
materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's
expectations are disclosed in the Company's documents filed from
time-to-time with the British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario provincial
securities regulatory authorities.

Certain information presented in this release may constitute
'forward-looking statements? within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking
statements are based on numerous assumptions, and involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including risks inherent
in mineral exploration and development, which may cause the actual
results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially
different from any projected future results, performance, or
achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Investors are referred to our description of the risk factors affecting
the Company, as contained in our SEC filings, including our annual
report on Form 20-F and Registration Statement on Form F-10, as amended,
for more information concerning these risks, uncertainties, and other
factors.

Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation

Investor Relations:

David
Duval

South Surrey Office:

Email: investors@TanzanianRoyalty.com

Website:
www.TanzanianRoyaltyExploration.com

Suite
404 ? 1688 152nd Street

South Surrey, BC V4A 4N2

Toll Free:
1-800-811-3855

Tel: (604) 536-7873

Fax: (604) 536-2529