SEMAFO Drills 4.07 g/t Au Over 43 Meters to Further Expand Wona SW Deep Zone at Mana Parallel zone returns 4.43 g/t Au over 25 meters

MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwire) -- 10/18/11 -- SEMAFO (TSX: SMF) today reported drill results from its ongoing exploration and in-fill program on the Wona SW zone, located immediately southwest and parallel to the Wona Deep zone. Core drilling results have added underground depth potential revealing wide and high-grade mineralization. Results with values including WDC319, which returned 4.07 g/t Au (4.33 g/t Au uncut) over 43 meters, extend the mineralization at-depth and suggest a mineralized plunge similar to the central portion of the Wona Main zone.

Results from Wona's Parallel zones show interesting values and thickness that suggest important swelling as confirmed by hole WDC322, which returned 4.43 g/t Au (8.63 g/t Au uncut) over 25 meters (Figure 1: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/sea1710.pdf).

Following SEMAFO's press release dated of May 12, 2011, a total of 34,659 meters of core drilling in 95 holes (up to WDC421) have been completed on the Wona and Wona SW zones with the available results to date presented below. All assays remain pending for holes WDC328 to WDC421.

Wona SW Zone Results

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DDH No.(iii)       Zone  Section (N)      From        To  Au(i) / Length(ii)
--------------------------------------------------------
WDC288          Wona SW        15750     164.0     172.0   3.30 g/t/   8.0 m
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WDC289          Wona SW        15750     199.0     217.0   3.16 g/t/  18.0 m
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                                                            (4.28 g/t uncut)
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Including                                199.7     204.0   6.90 g/t/   4.3 m
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                                                           (11.60 g/t uncut)
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WDC290             Wona        17000     555.0     569.0   3.51 g/t/  14.0 m
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WDC291          Wona SW        15750     243.0     255.0   2.78 g/t/  12.0 m
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WDC293          Wona SW        15750     329.0     336.0   3.08 g/t/   7.0 m
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WDC294             Wona        17100     502.0     506.0   2.95 g/t/   4.0 m
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WDC295          Wona SW        15550     209.0     234.0   2.86 g/t/  25.0 m
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Including                                222.0     230.0   4.00 g/t/   8.0 m
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WDC296             Wona        17150     533.7     536.0   5.05 g/t/   2.3 m
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WDC297          Wona SW        15550     309.0     327.0   3.82 g/t/  18.0 m
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Including                                319.0     327.0   5.43 g/t/   8.0 m
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WDC298          Wona SW        15450     253.0     272.0   2.36 g/t/  19.0 m
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Including                                264.0     272.0   3.27 g/t/   8.0 m
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WDC299             Wona        17150     581.0     585.0   1.10 g/t/   4.0 m
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WDC300          Wona SW        15550     388.0     396.0   3.41 g/t/   8.0 m
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                                                            (4.36 g/t uncut)
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WDC302             Wona        16850     389.3     391.3   3.43 g/t/   2.0 m
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WDC304          Wona SW        15450     185.0     208.0   2.56 g/t/  23.0 m
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Including                                196.0     204.0   3.95 g/t/   8.0 m
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WDC306          Wona SW        15750     373.0     391.0   2.11 g/t/  18.0 m
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Including                                388.0     391.0   5.02 g/t/   3.0 m
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WDC308          Wona SW        15850     203.0     213.0   2.68 g/t/  10.0 m
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Including                                209.0     213.0   4.25 g/t/   4.0 m
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WDC309          Wona SW        15850     160.0     168.0   1.76 g/t/   8.0 m
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WDC310          Wona SW        16450     302.5     321.0   4.64 g/t/  18.5 m
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                                                            (4.94 g/t uncut)
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Including                                303.5     310.0   6.03 g/t/   6.5 m
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                                                            (6.89 g/t uncut)
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WDC311             Wona        16900     541.0     547.0   4.00 g/t/   6.0 m
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WDC312          Wona SW        15850     235.0     249.0   2.30 g/t/  14.0 m
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WDC313          Wona SW        16450     347.0     361.0   2.47 g/t/  14.0 m
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Including                                347.0     350.0   5.88 g/t/   3.0 m
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WDC314          Wona SW        15850     293.0     299.0   2.72 g/t/   6.0 m
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WDC315             Wona        16800     355.0     362.0   2.92 g/t/   7.0 m
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WDC316          Wona SW        16450     435.5     440.0   1.51 g/t/   4.5 m
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WDC317          Wona SW        15850     349.6     361.0   3.73 g/t/  11.4 m
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Including                                351.8     358.4   4.75 g/t/   6.6 m
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WDC318             Wona        16750     422.0     428.1   2.25 g/t/   6.1 m
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WDC319          Wona SW        15850     486.0     529.0   4.07 g/t/  43.0 m
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                                                            (4.33 g/t uncut)
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Including                                507.0     521.0   5.16 g/t/  14.0 m
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                                                            (5.79 g/t uncut)
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WDC320          Wona SW        16450     551.2     557.2   2.73 g/t/   6.0 m
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WDC321             Wona        17000     665.4     668.8   3.10 g/t/   3.4 m
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WDC322          Wona SW        15600     380.0     387.0   1.05 g/t/   7.0 m
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WDC323                                                               Pending
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WDC324             Wona        17200     379.0     385.0   4.92 g/t/   6.0 m
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WDC325                                                               Pending
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WDC326                                                               Pending
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WDC327          Wona SW        16550     356.9     365.3   2.57 g/t/   8.4 m
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(i) All individual samples are cut at 15 g/t as per Wona Deposit procedures.
(ii) All lengths are measured along the hole axis; additional information is
required to determine true widths.
(iii) WDC301, WDC303 and WDC305 have not been drilled on the Wona - Kona
zone, and WDC292 and WDC307 were cancelled due to strong deviation.

Core drilling completed includes infill drilling of the Wona and Wona SW as well as extensions. The results confirmed the high-grade potential of the Wona SW zone with values of up to 4.64 g/t Au (4.94 g/t Au uncut) across 18.5 meters, as well as identified a wide and higher-grade zone at greater depths with hole WDC319 returning 4.07 g/t Au across 43 meters. Hole WDC319 belongs to the same trend as previously announced holes WDC284 and WDC287 (reference SEMAFO's press release dated May 12, 2011), which returned 2.27 g/t Au over 51 meters and 2.24 g/t Au over 29 meters respectively. This suggests the presence of a second wide ore shoot plunging slightly north, similar to the Wona main ore shoot, and could hold a large area of wide gold mineralization. Further drilling is scheduled to test this area and its extensions.

Parallel Zones

The parallel zones, located 10 to 30 meters east of the Wona structure, continue to be increasingly significant towards the southwest showing areas of swelling with above-average grades as confirmed by hole WDC322 which returned 4.43 g/t Au (8.63 g/t Au uncut) across 25 meters and hole WDC297 with 3.12 g/t Au (7.03 g/t Au uncut) over 13 meters.

Parallel Zones Highlights

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  DDH No.        Zone  Section (N)      From        To  Au(i) / Length(ii)
  ----------------------------------------------------
  WDC291     Parallel        15750     342.0     346.0    2.39 g/t/  4.0 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC291     Parallel        15750     352.0     358.0    3.93 g/t/  6.0 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC291     Parallel        15750     364.0     369.0    4.49 g/t/  5.0 m
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  WDC293     Parallel        15750     315.0     322.0    2.55 g/t/  7.0 m
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  WDC293     Parallel        15750     426.0     431.0    2.33 g/t/  5.0 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC294     Parallel        17100     601.0     605.0    3.28 g/t/  4.0 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC295     Parallel        15550     302.0     305.0    7.14 g/t/  3.0 m
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  WDC297     Parallel        15550     286.0     290.0    3.01 g/t/  4.0 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC297     Parallel        15550     378.0     391.0    3.12 g/t/ 13.0 m
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                                                          (7.03 g/t uncut)
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC298     Parallel        15450     291.0     305.5    1.73 g/t/ 14.5 m
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  WDC298     Parallel        15450     329.0     336.0    4.01 g/t/  7.0 m
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  WDC302     Parallel        16850     352.3     356.8    5.04 g/t/  4.5 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC306     Parallel        15750     359.0     366.0    1.95 g/t/  7.0 m
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  WDC306     Parallel        15750     454.0     464.0    3.03 g/t/ 10.0 m
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  WDC308     Parallel        15850     247.0     251.0    2.78 g/t/  4.0 m
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  WDC311     Parallel        16900     642.0     646.3    1.89 g/t/  4.3 m
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  WDC311     Parallel        16900     680.0     682.0    5.96 g/t/  2.0 m
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  WDC314     Parallel        15850     366.0     370.0    1.61 g/t/  4.0 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC314     Parallel        15850     383.2     388.0    7.35 g/t/  4.8 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC318     Parallel        16750     333.0     343.0    1.48 g/t/ 10.0 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC322     Parallel        15600     409.0     434.0    4.43 g/t/ 25.0 m
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                                                          (8.63 g/t uncut)
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Including                            427.0     434.0    7.31 g/t/  7.0 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                         (22.17 g/t uncut)
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC323     Parallel        16550     319.0     333.0    1.40 g/t/ 14.0 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  WDC324     Parallel        17200     649.0     658.7    1.68 g/t/  9.7 m
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------

(i) All individual samples are cut at 15 g/t as per Wona Deposit procedures.
(ii)All lengths are measured along the hole axis; additional information is
required to determine true widths.

The exploration programs were designed and managed locally by Dofinta Bonde and David Legault, Mana Mineral's Exploration Chief Geologists, David Lalonde, Deputy Exploration Manager, and Richard Roy P Geo, Exploration Manager, and guided and supervised under the direction of Michel Crevier, P.Geo MScA, Vice-President, Exploration and Mine Geology and SEMAFO's Qualified Person who has reviewed this press release for accuracy and compliance with National Instrument 43-101.

All individual core samples represent approximately one-meter in length of core, which was sawed in half. Half of the core is kept on site for reference and its counterpart is sent for preparation and gold assaying at the ALS Chemex laboratories in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Each sample is fire-assayed for gold content on a 50-gram sub-sample at the same ALS Chemex laboratories. In addition to ALS Chemex's own QA/QC (Quality Assurance/Quality Control) program, an internal quality control and quality assurance program is in place throughout the sampling program, using blind duplicates, blanks and recognized industry standards.

About SEMAFO

SEMAFO is a Canadian-based mining company with gold production and exploration activities in West Africa. The Corporation currently operates three gold mines: the Mana Mine in Burkina Faso, the Samira Hill Mine in Niger and the Kiniero Mine in Guinea. SEMAFO is committed to evolve in a conscientious manner to become a major player in its geographical area of interest. SEMAFO's strategic focus is to maximize shareholder value by effectively managing its existing assets as well as pursuing organic and strategic growth opportunities.

CAUTION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions and accordingly, actual results and future events could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. You are hence cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include words or expressions such as 'further', 'expand', 'ongoing', 'suggests', 'remain', 'pending', 'could', 'scheduled', 'continue' and other similar words or expressions. Factors that could cause future results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include the ability of WDC319 to suggest a mineralized plunge similar to the central portion of the Wona Main zone, the ability of the trend to which WDC319 belongs to suggest the presence of a second wide ore shoot plunging slightly north and to hold a large area of wide gold mineralization, the ability to execute on our strategic focus, fluctuation in the price of currencies, gold or operating costs, mining industry risks, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral reserves and resources, delays, political and social stability in Africa (including our ability to maintain or renew licenses and permits) and other risks described in SEMAFO's documents filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. You can find further information with respect to these and other risks in SEMAFO's 2010 Annual MD&A and 2010 Annual Information Form, as updated in SEMAFO's 2011 First Quarter MD&A and 2011 Second Quarter MD&A, and other filings made with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and available at www.sedar.com. These documents are also available on our website at www.semafo.com. SEMAFO disclaims any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.

Contacts:

SEMAFO

Sofia St Laurent

Communications

1 (514) 744 4408

North America Toll-Free: 1 (888) 744 4408

Email: sstlaurent@semafo.com


Maria Bang

Brunswick Group Stockholm

46 (8) 410 32 189
mbang@brunswickgroup.com