Orezone Gold Corp.: Brighton Expands Niger Uranium Discovery to 14 km2 of Mineralization

Drilling resumes with a 15,000 m program and new targets generated from a recent airborne survey

OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire - Nov. 28, 2011) - Orezone Gold Corporation (TSX: ORE) is pleased to announce an exploration update for its 67% owned subsidiary, Brighton Energy Limited (“Brighton“). A 29-hole, 4,179 m drill program completed during Q3, has further expanded the uranium discovery made earlier this year on its 482 km2 Zéline 1 exploration permit in Niger, West Africa (see map). Results indicate that the previously delineated area of significant uranium mineralization extends to the north by an additional 2.5 km, expanding the total area from 6 to 14 km2. In addition, Brighton completed a 46,049 line-km airborne magnetometry- radiometry survey, at a 100 meter line spacing, over its 5 exploration permits covering a total area of 3,958 km2. Several new targets have been identified from the geophysical data and a 15,000 m program has commenced. The program will focus primarily on the new targets on the Zéline 4, Abelajouad and Assaouas 2 permits as well as follow-up definition drilling on the Zéline 1 and Assaouas 1 discoveries.

The Zéline 1 discovery drilling to date has focused on a 25 km² area adjacent to the Arlit Fault in the southwest portion of the permit and consisted of vertical holes on a grid pattern of 800 m centers to an average depth of 144 m. Twelve of the holes intercepted uranium mineralization above a lower cut-off of eU3O8 = 100 ppm (0.01%), with eight of the holes intersecting more than 200 ppm of eU3O8. As with the previously reported drilling (February 24, 2011), the Guezouman-Talak Formation, which is the host rock of the neighboring Cominak mine and Madaouela deposits, was consistently mineralized within a 6 km² zone at depths from 112 to 182 m. Mineralization occurs in the same sequence of Carboniferous rocks and has a similar structural setting as the neighboring mines that have produced uranium for the last 40 years. AREVA's open pit SOMAIR mine, together with its COMINAK underground mine, have produced approximately 240 million pounds of uranium oxide (U3O8) since 1971, are the highest grade uranium mines in Africa, and are located 25 km to the south of the Zéline 1 permit. The new discovery is considered to be shallow and amenable to open pit mining, and is also largely associated with reduced rocks that are typically amenable to standard extractive processes.
Table 1: Highlights from the latest drilling at the Zéline 1 permit, with a eU3O8 cut-off of 200 ppm (0.02%).

	From 	To 	Length 	eU3O8
Hole ID 	m 	m 	m 	ppm
Z1M0070 	137.70 	137.90 	0.20 	229
Z1M0072 	139.80 	140.50 	0.70 	498
Z1M0073 	142.00 	142.30 	0.30 	408
Z1M0077 	186.10 	186.70 	0.60 	368
Z1M0080 	99.60 	100.20 	0.60 	393
Z1M0081 	79.20 	79.80 	0.60 	415
Z1M0087 	112.70 	113.80 	1.10 	480
Z1M0095 	181.30 	181.50 	0.20 	259

Complete results (>100 ppm and >200 ppm eU3O8) from all drill holes completed to date on Zéline 1 are available on the website Cuttings were collected for each 1-m interval of the mud rotary boreholes and a detailed geological log and interpretation was established by ULC Afrique de l'Ouest. ULC also performed the down-hole logging of the radioactivity, resistivity and hole diameter using a GeoVista logging unit at a sampling rate of one reading per ten centimeters. True widths are approximately 90% of the drill length intervals presented in tables 1 through 3. This program was executed under the supervision of Pascal Marquis, SVP Exploration for Brighton and Orezone, who is a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and approved the technical information in this release.

“The recent results expand our discovery area and are quite positive given the widely spaced drill pattern and the consistency of the mineralization,“ said Pascal Marquis, SVP Exploration for Brighton and Orezone. “We look forward to the next phase of definition drilling in order to outline the thicker and higher grade paleo-channels that are characteristic of the ores of the neighboring operations.“

Brighton is a private company, owned 67% by Orezone, with the remaining interest held by private and institutional investors. The company has a well located 4000 km2 land package and a seasoned team of nationals to carry out its ongoing exploration programs. With analysts forecasting a fundamental shortage in uranium supply over the next decade, the stakeholders of Brighton and Orezone are well positioned to benefit from the recent exploration success.


About Orezone Gold Corporation

Orezone is a Canadian company with a gold discovery track record of +10 M oz and recent mine development experience in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Bomboré, the Company's 100% owned flagship project, is one of the largest gold deposits in the country and is situated 85 km east of the capital city, adjacent to an international highway. Resources are constrained within optimized open pit shells that span 11 km, and include 1.6 Moz indicated and 1.9 Moz inferred resources with an average drill depth of only 60 meters. The Company is currently completing a $24 M, 170,000 meter drill program to significantly expand resources and support the completion of feasibility studies in 2012. Orezone's goal is to develop Bomboré into a world-class deposit by 2012 and become a mid-tier producer by 2015.


FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:

This news release contains certain “forward-looking statements“ within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are frequently characterized by words such as “plan,“ “expect,“ “project,“ “intend,“ “believe,“ “anticipate“, “estimate“ and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions “may,“ “could“ or “will“ occur. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding, among others, the completion of a $24 M 170,000 m drill program at Bomboré and a 15,000 m drill program on the Brighton uranium properties; completion of a resource update and feasibility study on the Bomboré project in 2012; and commencement of production at the Bomboré Project.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS are based on certain assumptions, the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal prices, the possibility of project cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses, the ability of contracted parties (including laboratories and drill companies to provide services as contracted); uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future and other factors. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Comparisons between any resource model or estimates with the subsequent drill results are preliminary in nature and should not be relied upon as potential qualified changes to any future resource updates or estimates.

Readers are advised that National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators requires that each category of mineral reserves and mineral resources be reported separately. Readers should refer to the annual information form of Orezone for the year ended December 31, 2010 and other continuous disclosure documents filed by Orezone since January 1, 2011 available at www.sedar.com, for this detailed information, which is subject to the qualifications and notes set forth therein.



Contact Information

Orezone
Ron Little, CEO
(613) 241 3699 or Toll Free: (888) 673 0663
rlittle@orezone.com

Orezone
Pascal Marquis, SVP Exploration
(613) 241 3699 or Toll Free: (888) 673 0663
pmarquis@orezone.com
www.orezone.com