Appleton Exploration Inc. Intersects 10 metres of 5.03 gpt Au at the Manalo Gold Project in Mali

The main thrust of the 2009 drilling program has been to further evaluate the large (3km x 0.5km) Dialafara gold soil anomaly, which has previously produced drill intercepts such as 15.64 gpt Au across 16.0m and 29.07 gpt Au across 6.0m. Additional reconnaissance footage has been allocated to test previously untested sub-parallel gold soil anomalies.

The drilling has focused on the northern and southern segments of the Dialafara Anomaly. Holes DL-09-041 to DL-09-052 concentrated on the 700 metre long northern segment to follow up drill intercepts of 15.64 gpt Au across 16.0m, 1.61 gpt Au across 16.0m and 2.26 gpt Au across 10.0m. These twelve angled holes encompassed 1272 metres of reverse circulation drilling and 264 metres of core drilling. Holes DL-09-053 to DL-09-055 concentrated in the southern segment of the Dialafara Anomaly to follow up drill intercepts of 29.07 gpt Au across 6.0m, 9.57 gpt Au across 9.0m and 1.71 gpt Au across 19.0m.

Northern Segment Drilling

Dialafara Drill Highlights – Northern Segment

The drilling in the northern segment of the Dialafara Anomaly demonstrates the presence of multiple steeply dipping northwest trending quartz-gold bearing structures for an approximate strike length of 700m within Birimian sediments.  The drill results correlate well with the previous two intersections of 1.61 gpt Au over 16 metres in DL-08-032 and 2.26 gpt Au over 10 metres in DL-08-036. Drilling in the area of the deeper silicified zone mineralization in DL-08-036 (15.64 gpt Au over 16 metres) intersected 2.55 gpt Au over 7.5 metres in DL-09-042. All holes were drilled at -55 suggesting the widths reported are approximately 70% to 75% of true width. The grades intercepted are comparable to grades at producing gold mines in Birimian rocks of Western Africa.

Southern Segment Drilling

Dialafara Drill Highlights – Southern Segment

Three reverse circulation holes were completed in the southern segment of Dialafara Anomaly with highlights shown above. Preliminary mapping has shown that the Dialafara South Area exhibits two dominant trends: the dominant NNW trend and a secondary NE trend. Previous drilling concentrated on the secondary structural trend. Holes DL-09-053 and DL-09-054 were drilled to the south and DL-09-055 was drilled to the north to intersect both the NNW and NE structures. All three holes intersected abundant quartz throughout their length. DL-09-053 intersected 1.58 gpt Au over 10 metres and DL-09-054 intersected 5.03 gpt Au over 10 metres. Further drilling will be required before estimates of true thickness can be made.

Drilling in the Dialafara southern segment is still in progress. Five transects of angled reverse circulation drilling  will be completed across the full width of the 1700 metre long by 400 to 600 metre wide gold-in-soil anomaly to prospect for additional quartz-gold bearing structures and assist in correlating mineralized intercepts in this wide gold soil anomaly.

Reconnaissance RC Drilling

The reconnaissance RC program consisted of a number of lines or fences consisting of a continuous series of angle holes across the width of the gold-in-soil anomaly. The objective of the program is to prospect for gold bearing quartz structures that may be the source of the gold anomaly. Results have been received for three lines.

Drill Transect Line NW 1 consisted of 11 angled holes totaling 582 metres located 800 metres north of the Dialafara Zone where soil values reach  +1 gpt Au. Holes AC-09-01 through AC-09-06 intersected gold with hole AC-09-01 encountering a 29.0 m zone of mineralization with values to 0.82 gpt Au over individual 1 metre samples. Hole AC-09-03 intersected 1.25 gpt Au and 1.23 gpt Au each over 1m. Further drilling is required to follow up on these excellent results.

Drill Transect Lines NE 1 and NE 2 tested the Dialafara East Anomaly, a 1.0km long gold soil sub-parallel anomaly located 2.2km northeast of the Dialafara Zone. Two lines, spaced 450 metres apart were completed; Line NE 1 – 16 holes, 4 28 metres and Line NE 2 – 14 holes, 374 metres. The last two holes on Line NE 2 intersected gold mineralization of 3.04 gpt Au across 2.0 m and 0.25 gpt across 7.0m.

The drilling program is being conducted under the supervision of Mr. Chris Wilde, P. Eng., a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.  QA/QC protocols of standards, duplicates and blanks are being incorporated in the sampling program. Assaying is being completed by ALS Chemex in Bamako, Mali.

The assay results from the northern and southern segments of the Dialafara Anomaly are very encouraging and demonstrate multiple gold bearing quartz structures that have gold grades similar to those from producing Western African Birimian gold mines. Additional drilling will be required to establish zone correlation and grade continuity.

Appleton is earning a 100% interest in the Manalo Gold Project, subject to a 2% Net Smelter Return (NSR) Royalty, from Delta Exploration Inc. (“Delta”) a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rockgate Capital Corp. (RGT – TSX.V).

About Mali

Mali is the fastest growing gold producing country in Africa. Production in 2007 amounted to 2 million ounces of gold making Mali Africa’s third-largest gold producer after South Africa and Ghana. AngloGold Ashanti Limited, one of the largest gold mining companies in the world, has interests in three operating mines in Mali: Sadiola, Yatela and Morila.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,

“R. Tim Henneberry”

R.Tim Henneberry, P.Geo.

President and CEO

R. Tim Henneberry, P.Geo., President and Director of Appleton Exploration Inc., is the Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.