West African Resources Appoints Mark Connelly as Chairman

Perth, Australia (FSCwire) - West African Resources Limited (ASX, TSXV: WAF) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mark Connelly as an independent non-executive Chairman.

Mr Connelly is the former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Papillon Resources Limited, a Mali-based gold developer which recently merged with Vancouver-based B2Gold Corp in a US$570 million deal.

Previously he was Chief Operating Officer of Endeavour Mining Corporation following its merger with Adamus Resources Limited where he was Managing Director and CEO.

Mr Connelly has more than 27 years of experience in the mining industry, and has held senior executive positions with Newmont Mining Corporation and Inmet Mining Corporation. He has extensive experience in financing, development, construction and operation of mining projects in a variety of commodities including gold, base metals and other resources in West Africa, Australia, North America and Europe.

Mr Connelly replaces Mr Francis Harper, who has resigned from the board. West African Managing Director Richard Hyde said Mr Connelly would provide important skills to the Company during its transition from developer to producer.

Mr Hyde also thanked Mr Harper for his important contribution to West African since its founding.

“Since joining the board in 2009, Francis has been a very supportive director and shareholder of West African Resources. He has been instrumental in capital raisings for the Company, through Blackwood Capital, including seed funding in 2009 and at IPO in 2010.

Mr Connelly commented.

“The West African team has done an extraordinary job of advancing the Mankarga Project since the acquisition just 18 months ago. I expect this strong project development to continue as the exploration team drills targets nearby the proposed starter pit and across the exploration portfolio.

West African Resources is coming into a pivotal time in the development of the Mankarga Project, and my experience in the West African region will compliment West African’s management team. I am very pleased to join the West African board of directors.”

Subject to shareholder approval, Mr Connelly will be offered 2,000,000 unlisted options pursuant to the West African Resources Limited Share Option Plan. These Options will expire three years from the date of issue and will vest on first production of gold from a heap leach starter project in Burkina Faso. The exercise price will be 14.5 cents each.



For further information contact:

West African Resources Limited
Richard Hyde, Managing Director
Ph: 0413 874 740

Nathan Ryan, Investor Relations
Ph: 0420 582 887
Email: info@westafricanresources.com



Forward Looking Information

This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian and Australian securities legislation, including information relating to West African's future financial or operating performance may be deemed “forward looking”. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that West African expects to occur, are “forward-looking statements”. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects”, “does not expect”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “does not anticipate”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “potential”, “scheduled”, “forecast”, “budget” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will”, “would”, “may”, “could”, “should” or “might” occur. All such forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of the relevant management as of the date such statements are made and are subject to important risk factors and uncertainties, many of which are beyond West African’s ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on estimates and assumptions that are inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In the case of West African, these facts include their anticipated operations in future periods, planned exploration and development of its properties, and plans related to its business and other matters that may occur in the future. This information relates to analyses and other information that is based on expectations of future performance and planned work programs. Statements concerning mineral resource estimates may also be deemed to constitute forward-looking information to the extent that they involve estimates of the mineralization that will be encountered if a mineral property is developed.

Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation: exploration hazards and risks; risks related to exploration and development of natural resource properties; uncertainty in West African’s ability to obtain funding; gold price fluctuations; recent market events and conditions; risks related to the uncertainty of mineral resource calculations and the inclusion of inferred mineral resources in economic estimation; risks related to governmental regulations; risks related to obtaining necessary licenses and permits; risks related to their business being subject to environmental laws and regulations; risks related to their mineral properties being subject to prior unregistered agreements, transfers, or claims and other defects in title; risks relating to competition from larger companies with greater financial and technical resources; risks relating to the inability to meet financial obligations under agreements to which they are a party; ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel; and risks related to their directors and officers becoming associated with other natural resource companies which may give rise to conflicts of interests. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect West African’s forward-looking information. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in the forward-looking information.

West African’s forward-looking information is based on the reasonable beliefs, expectations and opinions of their respective management on the date the statements are made and West African does not assume any obligation to update forward looking information if circumstances or management’s beliefs, expectations or opinions change, except as required by law. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. For a complete discussion with respect to West African, please refer to West African’s financial statements and related MD&A, all of which are filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.