West African Resources : Awarded Mining Permit

Press Release

19th January 2017 West African Awarded Mining Permit

Gold developer West African Resources Limited (ASX, TSXV: WAF) is pleased to announce the Council of Ministers of the Government of Burkina Faso has approved its mining permit application for the Sanbrado Gold Project (formerly known as Tanlouka Gold Project), Burkina Faso.

Highlights

• Approval of Mining Permit Application
• Project name changed to Sanbrado Gold Project
• Feasibility study on track for delivery Q1 2017
• Construction to begin in late 2017
• $17m cash at bank and no debt

Managing Director Richard Hyde commented:

"We are delighted to announce the Company has now completed the permitting process, and can focus on completing the Feasibility Study, and commencing development of the Sanbrado Gold Project.

"We thank the government of Burkina Faso and local stakeholders for their support."

West African Resources Ltd is pleased to announce the Council of Ministers of the Government of Burkina Faso has approved its mining permit application for the Sanbrado Gold Project. The project name has been changed to better reflect the local community.

The Sanbrado DFS is nearing completion and will be reported along with a NI 43-101 technical report in Q1 2017. Receipt of the mining permit enables development of the Sanbrado Project to proceed on schedule. Construction activities are expected to begin in late 2017 following completion of project financing.

For further information contact:

Richard Hyde Nathan Ryan Managing Director Investor Relations Ph: 08 9481 7344 Ph: 0420 582 887

Email: [e-mail]

Principal Office: 14 Southbourne Street, Scarborough WA 6019, Western Australia

T: + 61 8 9481 7344 F: + 61 8 9481 7355 E: [e-mail] www.westafricanresources.com ACN: 121 539 375

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.