Desert Gold Ventures Commences a Mining Feasibility Study on Its Barani East Project in Western Mali

Desert Gold Ventures Inc. (TSX VENTURE:DAU) (the "Company" or "Desert Gold") is
pleased to record extensive metallurgical test work conducted on bulk mining
samples from the recently drilled and sampled Barani East Gold Deposit (the
"Deposit") indicates gold recoveries up to 85%. The company is currently engaged
in a feasibility study to support fundraising for the development of a mine on
the deposit. 


Process Design

A two ton bulk sample of ore collected from the Barani east prospect was
submitted to Peacocke Simpson & Associates (Pty) Ltd's minerals processing
laboratory in Harare, Zimbabwe for bulk metallurgical work.


The company has commissioned an engineering design team from Appropriate Process
Technologies (Pty) Ltd (Johannesburg, South Africa) ("APT") for plant design.
APT specialises in the manufacturing of modular mineral processing plants and
are designing a plant to optimise the economic exploitation of the resource. The
latest tests indicate that a low capital cost plant comprising a wash and screen
(2 mm) circuit, with minor crushing, feeding to a Knelson gravity concentrator
will recover 40.3% of the gold. The tailings from the Knelson concentrator were
fed to a Knelson continuous variable discharge concentrator (CVD) from which
concentrates with a mass yield of approximately 11% were subjected to a cyanide
leach, which resulted in an additional 25% of the gold to be recovered. Although
this process, in aggregate, generates a lower recovery of the gold (65%)
compared to other processing alternatives, this configuration requires the least
capital investment, being some 80% cheaper than the alternative maximum recovery
design plan, and having the lowest operating costs. Tailings with the
unrecovered gold will be stockpiled as an asset for later re-treatment.


About the Project

The Barani East Gold Deposit occurs on the Desert Gold's Farabantourou Permit
located in Western Mali. The permit falls on the Senegal-Mali Fault Zone
("SMFZ"), 40km south of Sadiola Mine and 50km north of the Loulou-Gounkoto mine
complex (Fig. 1). Both these mines are on the SMFZ. 


Barani East is the first of 6 prospects with proven gold mineralization expected
to be developed by Desert Gold on the permit. The project has been drilled to a
depth of 120m with mineralization open to depth in the southern part of the
deposit (Fig. 2).


To view Figures 1 and 2 please click on the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/DAU0602.pdf 


The Resource

The company has focused drilling on the Barani East prospect and has completed a
maiden mineral resource estimate, which indicates a total of 108,100 oz gold in
the indicated and inferred categories with average grades of 2.50 g/t gold at a
cut-off value of 1.0 g/t gold. (Table 1). This resource is currently defined to
a maximum depth of 120 m below surface over a strike length of 400m. The deposit
is tabular, mineralisation varying in thickness from 4.5m to 15m, and dipping to
the east between 45 degrees and 60 degrees. The gold mineralisation is
associated with quartz hematite rocks and kaolinite veins within siltstone and
shale.




-----------------------------------------------------------------
                                              Grade        Ounces
Resource Category              Tonnes      (g/t Au)            Au
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Indicated                     514,000          2.46        40,600
Inferred                      828,000          2.53        67,500
-----------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL                       1,342,000          2.50       108,100
-----------------------------------------------------------------





At a cut-off grade of 1 g/t                                                 
Table 1. Barani East estimated mineral resource (April 2013).               



Farabantourou Strategy

Desert Gold's Farabantourou permit strategy is to develop the other 5 known gold
prospects to a mineral resource definition stage similar to what has been
achieved at Barani East. Funding for drilling on the other 5 prospects will be
provided out of mining revenue from a low cost opencast mining operation on
Barani East. A feasibility study is being concluded to define the CAPEX and
related operational cost associated with a potential mining operation to extract
the resource as defined from surface. High grade Au intersections of 9.99g/t
over 4m and 8.60g/t over 3.5m at 120m vertical depth show potential for
developing an underground resource at Barani East following the exploitation of
the open pit resource. 


About Desert Gold

Desert Gold Ventures Inc. is an advanced exploration and development company
which holds mining assets in Mali and Rwanda.


For further information concerning Desert Gold Ventures Inc. and the TransAfrika
material properties, please refer to Desert Gold's SEDAR profile at
www.sedar.com or visit our website at www.desertgold.ca. 


This announcement has been reviewed by Mr. Mark Austin, Senior Partner of
Applied Geology & Mining Pty Ltd, who has more than 30 years of relevant
experience in the field of activity concerned. He is a fellow of the Geological
Society of South Africa ('GSSA') and is registered as a Professional Natural
Scientist with the South African Council for Natural Scientific Professions (No.
400235/06) and he has consented to the inclusion of the material in the form and
context in which it appears.


This news release has been prepared on behalf of the board of directors of
Desert Gold, which accepts full responsibility for its contents.


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: 
Desert Gold Ventures Inc.
Jared W Scharf
CFO
M: [phone]
[e-mail]