AFFERRO MINING INC. - NKOUT DRILLED STRIKE LENGTH INCREASES TO 5.9KM

May 5, 2011 (Canada NewsWire Group) --

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISSEMINATION TO US NEWS WIRE SERVICES

TSX-V: AFF
AIM: AFF

LONDON, May 5 /CNW/ - Afferro Mining Inc. ("Afferro" or the "Company"), formerly known as African Aura Mining Inc., the TSX-V / AIM (AFF) listed exploration and development company with iron ore projects in Cameroon and Liberia, is pleased to announce an update on its Nkout project in southern Cameroon, the first since the mineral resource estimate ("MRE") dated 1 February 2011.

Highlights:

• Further 4,248m drilled in Q1 2011 at Nkout Centre and Nkout East
• Hole NKDD012 at Nkout Centre intercepts 548.5m of banded iron formation
• Potential direct shipping ore identified in 3 additional holes over 1.5km of strike at Nkout Centre
• Reconnaissance drilling at Nkout East adds 2.4km of drilled strike length
• A minimum initial target set at 500Mt for Nkout East
• Revised Mineral Resource Estimate expected in September 2011.

Luis da Silva, Chief Executive of Afferro, commented:
"The work on the ground has continued unabated in parallel to the recent corporate restructuring. The total metres drilled since February's 1Bt resource estimate have doubled and we intend adding further drill rigs to aggressively expand the work programme.  The Company is employing a drilling strategy to add BIF resource, upgrade the resource category and identify zones of high grade ore whilst stepping out either side of Nkout Centre giving us coverage of some 8.5km of drilled continuous strike.  The substantial upside is even more evident than before."

On the 1 February 2011, Afferro announced the results of the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") for the Djoum licence area in Cameroon. The MRE focussed on the Nkout Centre deposit with 1.04 Billion Tonnes ("Bt") grading at 34.2% Fe being reported by independent consultants SRK Consulting (UK) Ltd ("SRK"). The Inferred mineral resources reported were generated from assay results obtained from 32 drill holes and 4,359m of drilling over a 3km strike length.

The Nkout Centre drilling now covers a 3.5 km portion of an east-west trending magnetite bearing banded iron formation ("BIF") and associated oxidised cap of dominantly haematite mineralisation; the drilled section is part of a much larger, 20 km long, strongly magnetic anomaly.

Afferro has strategically drilled a further 3,098m at the Nkout Centre deposit and 1,150m at the Nkout East target. Drilling completed to date has confirmed and refined the geometry of the known mineralisation at Nkout Centre and has proven the style and strike extent of the mineralisation at Nkout East.  In addition, drilling at Nkout West has recently commenced with approximately 1,300m of reconnaissance drilling planned over a 2.6km long magnetic anomaly. Once this drilling is completed, the coverage of continuous strike length will total approximately 8.5km.

To assist in the design and control of the current and future exploration and resource definition drill programmes, Afferro commissioned SRK to embed an onsite exploration and resource geologist within the team. This will allow the resource model to be continually updated and refined, enabling optimum drill planning and a rapid turnaround of results thereby providing detailed and continual market updates.

Nkout Centre:
Since completion of the maiden MRE on the Nkout Centre deposit, drilling has continued to focus on the Nkout Centre target with over 3,000m completed within the first quarter of 2011. Seven holes targeting BIF mineralisation totalling 2,783.4m and three shallower holes totalling 314.7m have been drilled into the higher grade saprolite. Additional targets for potential direct shipping ore ("DSO") within the defined saprolite haematite cap are being discovered through the ongoing drill programme allowing future drilling to focus on these higher grade units.

The current drilling is resulting in an increased level of confidence in the deposit geometry and grade continuity within the main BIF.  New intercepts within the BIF have indicated an increase in thickness within the western portion of Nkout Centre by in excess of 200m, 548.5m of interpreted BIF was intercepted in drill hole NKDD012.  Assay results have been returned for all drilling completed up to 4 March 2011.

Table 1: Summary of recent high grade intercepts from the saprolite-haematite mineralised cap rock at Nkout Centre.

The holes are spaced over 1.5km of strike. Further drilling will confirm if these intercepts form part of a contiguous lens.

Drilling will continue to explore the Nkout Centre deposit and to test areas that are supported by the regional magnetic anomaly, now known to be associated with a magnetite BIF, but that are not currently included in the maiden MRE area. SRK believes that these areas within Nkout centre provide considerable upside to the project.

Nkout East
Early indications from the first phase reconnaissance drill programme at the Nkout East target show the continuation of a BIF unit, with similar geological and mineralisation characteristics to the Nkout Centre deposit. To date, a BIF strike length of 2.4km has been identified from 1,150m of diamond core drilling from 12 shallow holes (see Table 2) which have been logged but for which assays are not yet received. With an apparent width of between 120m and 165m of BIF, SRK considers that a reasonable exploration target at this stage of the programme to be in the order of 500 million tonnes ("Mt").  Afferro will now target the deeper parts of the Nkout East BIF to assess the down dip continuity.

Table 2: Summary of drill meters completed at Nkout East (up to and including the 13th April 2011)

This drill programme at Nkout East allows areas of potential high grade DSO material to be identified at the earliest possible time as well as delineating the target zones for further resource driven exploration programmes. Current drilling within the Nkout East target has shown that 65% of all drill core in the weathered zone has been interpreted as magnetite-haematite BIF.  As a direct result of the strategic drilling and geological interpretations, Afferro and SRK have greater confidence when targeting the BIF at depth and the lateral extent of mineralisation. This will enable the development of resource models on a truncated timeline with optimum budget expenditure.

Assay Results
All assay results are being generated at the accredited OMAC Laboratory in Ireland. Afferro and SRK are currently processing the first batch of new assay results which will be incorporated into future market releases. Early indications show the presence of additional high grade intercepts in the surface oxidised cap (as shown in Table 1) and BIF assays similar to those generated in the maiden MRE.

About Afferro Mining Inc.
Afferro Mining is an established exploration and development company listed on the TSX-V (AFF) and London's AIM (AFF). Afferro Mining's portfolio includes a 100% interest in the Nkout iron ore project (the "Nkout Project"), which has an estimated Inferred Mineral Resource of some 1.04 billion tonnes grading 34.2% Fe, 43.0% SiO2 and 2.9% AL2O3 and 0.05% P, and surrounding iron targets in Cameroon which is subject to a resource expansion drilling programme targeting 4Bt. Afferro Mining also has a 38.5% interest in the Putu iron ore project in Liberia (the "Putu Project"), which has an estimated Inferred Mineral Resource of 185 Mt of oxide material with a grade of 37.8% Fe, 17 Mt of haematite itabirite at 48.25% Fe, and 2,173 Mt of magnetite itabirite at 33.7% Fe. The Putu Project is subject to a resource expansion drilling programme and is moving through pre-feasibility managed by joint venture partner Severstal Resources (the mining division of London and Moscow listed OAO Severstal). In September 2010, Putu was granted a 25 year renewable Mineral Development Agreement by the Government of Liberia.

Qualified Person

The technical information contained in this press release relating to the Nkout Project is from the technical report entitled "Mineral Resource Estimate for the Nkout Centre Iron Project, Community of Djoum, Cameroon" dated January 28, 2011 and prepared by Howard Baker, an employee of SRK and a "qualified person" within the meaning National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"), and Robert Goddard, an employee of SRK. Copies of the above-noted technical report is available under Afferro Mining's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com or at www.afferro-mining.com.

Howard Baker has some ten years experience in the exploration, definition and mining of iron ore Mineral Resources. Mr. Baker has sufficient experience which is relevant to the style of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration, and to the type of activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a "qualified person" under NI 43-101 and a Competent Person as defined in the June 2009 Edition of the AIM Note for Mining and Oil & Gas Companies. Howard Baker consents to the inclusion in this press release of the matters relating to iron ore in the form and context in which they appear and confirms that the information is accurate and not false or misleading.

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

Afferro Mining Inc.
Luis da Silva, President & CEO
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7257 2930

Evolution Securities Limited
Jeremy Ellis/ Neil Elliot / Tim Redfern
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7071 4300

Pelham Bell Pottinger
Charles Vivian / James MacFarlane
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7861 3232