SEMFAO Provides Ongoing Proximal Drilling Program Results on Natougou

SEMAFO (TSX:SMF)(OMX:SMF) today announced results from an ongoing proximal drilling program at Natougou designed to explore the lateral extensions of the flat-lying Boungou Shear Zone (BSZ) proximal to the current in-pit reserves. Based on the results to date, the Corporation now plans:

• To bring the West Flank Zone into the inferred resources category by year-end 2016;
• To convert the inferred resources into the indicated category by end of first half of 2017; and
• To evaluate the potential for an underground operation

Since July 1, 2016, a total of 6,716 (39 holes) meters of drilling have been completed along the West Flank Zone located immediately to the southwest of the current in-pit reserves of the Natougou deposit (Figure 1). The program was designed to provide 80-meter by 80-meter hole spacing, reaching inferred category, within the known area of mineralization. All drill holes intersected the BSZ at depths ranging from 30 to 180 meters vertically. The BSZ is a gently folded, northwest-plunging shear zone (Figures 2 and 3). The following table provides the highlights of the recently completed program:

TABLE 1

As shown in Figure 1, the mineralization within the West Flank Zone remains open along the plunge towards the northwest where hole TPA0811 returned values of 5.31 g/t Au over 4 meters. In addition, an area of gold mineralization located on the East Flank will be further explored. Finally, the down plunge of the main mineralized trends north of the in-pit reserves remains open and underexplored. Drilling along the East Flank is currently in progress while the proximal first phase of exploration drilling to the north of the in-pit reserves and within the West Flank North Extension Target will be completed before the end of 2016.

Figure 1 - A map is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/SW_Extension_Figure_EN_1.pdf

Figure 2 - A map is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/SW_Extension_Figure_EN_2.pdf

Figure 3 - A map is available at the following address: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/SW_Extension_Figure_EN_3.pdf

Next Steps

The program is designed to identify the most favourable areas for further infill drilling (40-meter by 40-meter hole spacing) with the aim of bringing the inferred resources into the indicated resources category by the end of the first half of 2017. During the second half of 2017, the Corporation intends to complete studies in order to evaluate a potential underground operation accessible by a decline collared at the bottom of the open pit, particularly on the West Flank.

Quality Assurance

For core drilling, all individual samples represent approximately one meter in length of core, which was sawn in half. Half of the core is kept on site for reference, and its counterpart is sent for preparation and gold assaying to the SGS Minerals Services laboratories in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. For RC drilling, all individual samples represent approximately one meter in length of rock chips homogenized and riffle-split to an approximately 2-kilogram subsample that is sent for preparation and gold assaying to the SGS Minerals Services laboratories in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Each sample is fire-assayed for gold content on a 50-gram subsample. In addition to SGS'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.

Michel Crevier, P.Geo MScA, Vice-President Exploration and Mine Geology, is SEMAFO's Qualified Person and has reviewed this press release for accuracy and compliance with National Instrument 43-101.