Delta Begins to Drill at Manalo Gold Project

KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA (TSX VENTURE: DEV) is pleased to provide the following update on its 100%-owned Manalo Gold Project, in southwestern Mali, West Africa. Following the completion of a very successful drilling program in late 2007 (see Delta News Release dated January 15, 2008), Delta recently completed a program of targeted Induced Polarization (IP) and infill soil geochemistry, and reinterpreted previous airborne geophysical data as part of a detailed structural analysis of the Manalo area.

Planned 2008 Drill Program

A program of 6000 meters of RC drilling and 600 meters of core drilling will begin early next week to follow up on the 2007 drill program. That program discovered gold mineralization in three new zones at Manalo, now named Dialafara, Mansaya, and Sirabada; and expanded mineralization on the Manalo NE zone which was previously drilled in 2006. In addition to these four prospects, another new zone, MN-3, was identified through prospecting an airborne EM anomaly in late 2007. Manalo SE was previously identified in property-scale soil geochemistry but has not yet been drill tested.

Dialafara Prospect

Infill soil geochemistry (100m x 50m), totalling 2043 samples, covered an area approximately 12 km2 in size. In addition to the original Dialafara artisanal area drilled last December, at least four other anomalous zones are indicated with drill testing planned for each. In addition, eight line-km of gradient IP were completed across the Dialafara artisanal area, highlighting two significant chargeability highs that will be further drill-tested.

The December 2007 drill program at Dialafara consisted of 13 holes totalling 1,412 metres with seven holes returning significant gold assays. Drill holes DL-07-01 and DL-07-02, both of which were drilled under the main artisanal workings, returned high grades associated with quartz veining (see Table 1). Gold was found to be associated with quartz veins hosted in clay-altered Birimian metasedimentary rocks (siltstones and fine-grained sandstones).

Table 1 Dialafara Prospect - 2007 RC Drill Highlights
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Hole ID            From     To     Length     Au (g/t)
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DL-07-01             71     80          9        9.57
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 incl.               75     78          3       24.74
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DL-07-02             87     93          6       29.07
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DL-07-07             85     91          6        2.17
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DL-07-11             17     35         17        0.64
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 and                 53     72         19        1.71
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DL-07-12            102    112         10        0.45
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The Dialafara artisanal site sits in the centre of the permit, at the south end of a large north-trending, anomalous gold-in-soils trend. New geochemical anomalies extend to the north-northwest and lie to the northeast. Twenty RC holes are planned during this phase of drilling.

Mansaya Prospect

A total of 1138 infill soil samples were collected in the Mansaya area to better define an anomalous trend associated with gold mineralization intersected in two drill holes last December. Two 950m lines of High Resolution Induced Polarization (HiRIP) were run across the mineralization to better define the host geology. Resistivity defined four distinct units, including metasedimentary and intrusive rocks, and defined four targets based on high chargeabilities and high resistivities.

At Mansaya, several targets based on anomalous gold in soils and airborne geophysical responses indicative of shear zones, were tested with six holes totalling 552 metres. Several new zones of vein quartz float were identified and significant intercepts of gold were associated with fractured and silicified carbonaceous Birimian metasedimentary rocks in one such zone (see Table 2).

Table 2 RC Drill Results - 2007 Mansaya Prospect
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Hole ID            From     To     Length     Au (g/t)
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MS-07-03             15     20          5        1.96
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MS-07-04             51     82         31        0.69
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 incl.               57     75         18        0.94
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 Incl.               57     69         12        1.01
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Sirabada Prospect

Sirabada consists of an intensely clay-altered zone, locally exploited by artisanal mining, in northerly striking, steep-dipping Birimian metasediments. Two grab samples of quartz vein material in greywacke collected from "ore" dumps ran 32.76 g/t Au and 3.64 g/t Au, respectively. Intervals of anomalous gold mineralization were found in several drill holes but an obvious source of the artisanal gold was not intersected.

529 infill soil samples were collected from a grid 1450m by 2300m in size. A strong northwest-trending anomaly lies immediately west of a strong northwest-trending chargeability high, defined by 12 line-km of gradient IP. Previous drilling came up just short of the overlapping zone of anomalous soil geochemistry and the zone of high chargeability. Eight holes are tentatively planned along this trend.

MN-3 Prospect

At MN-3 (Dialafara Nord), 356 soil geochemical samples were collected along a trend of quartz veining identified in laterite. The southeast portion of the grid is strongly anomalous in gold and trends to the northwest, parallel to the trend of quartz vein fragments in laterite. Two 950m long sections of HIRIP traversed the structural (and geochemical) trend, defining five targets with high chargeabilities along the edge of low resistivity graphitic sedimentary rocks. No previous drilling was completed on the MN-3 target but 10 RC holes are planned during the upcoming phase of drilling.

Manalo SE Prospect

At Manalo SE, 396 soil geochemical samples were collected over an area 1250m x 1600m surrounding a small artisanal mining site. A broad, medium intensity, north-trending anomaly will be tested by 6 to 9 RC drill holes.

Manalo NE Prospect

Drilling along the Manalo NE structure in mid-2006 and late 2007 were successful in defining a continuous north-northwest mineralized structure over approximately 500m. The zone remains open to the south and to depth. Oriented core drilling to better define the lithology and structure are contemplated during the current phase of drilling. Further work, including an IP survey, is planned for later in 2008.

The Manalo Project comprises the Manalo and Balandougou permits totalling 225 square kilometres, located 100 kilometres southwest of Bamako, the capital city of Mali.

Christopher J. Wild, P.Eng, V.P. Exploration for Delta Exploration Inc., is Delta's Qualified Person.

On behalf of the Board of Directors Delta Exploration Inc.

James T. Gillis, President & CEO

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Contacts: Delta Exploration Inc. James Gillis President & CEO [phone] [phone] (FAX) Email: [e-mail] Website: deltaexploration.com