Trade Symbol: TSX: TNX AMEX: TRE VANCOUVER, Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Tanzanian Royalty is pleased to announce that it has received all assay results from a Phase 1 drill program conducted on behalf of Sloane Developments on the Company's Itetemia Gold Project in Tanzania. According to Tanzanian Royalty Chairman and CEO Jim Sinclair, "We are delighted to have Sloane as a royalty partner and are even more pleased with the aggressive approach it's taken to exploiting the potential at Itetemia." "Without a doubt, Sloane's drill program has greatly enhanced the economic potential at Itetemia and we see a bright future for this project and for all the others that we are developing under a royalty strategy that is truly unique in the minerals industry," Sinclair said. The Itetemia Project is located in the western part of the Lake Victoria Goldfields approximately five kilometres east of Barrick's Bulyanhulu Mine, an 18 million ounce gold deposit. Consequently both power and water supplies are located within two kilometres of the Itetemia project area. In the first phase drill program, 10 Reverse Circulation (RC) holes were completed aggregating 1,489 metres along with eight diamond holes totaling 2,286.5 metres. The drill program targeted the shallowest part of the previously established Golden Horseshoe reef with a view to developing an open pit resource with a notional floor level of 200 metres below surface. In order to support the preparation of a resource estimate, drill holes were sited to provide data at grid points at or below 50 x 50 metres spacing. A number of deeper holes were also sited to test the extent of the mineralized body at depth and along strike. The drill program indicated that the near surface mineralized zones are very consistent and they exhibit good open pit potential. Before funding a second phase drill program next summer, Sloane has informed Tanzanian Royalty that it intends to complete a 43-101 compliant resource estimate to facilitate planning for the Phase 2 drill program. The following results represent the highlights of the recent drill program on the Itetemia Gold Project: RC Drilling Highlights: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To (x)Intercept Gold Hole No (m) (m) (m) g/t Including Comments ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHRC-001 97 102 5 1.69 SE shoot margin ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHRC-002 106 127 21 1.79 9m at In shoot 3.04 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHRC-003 133 158 25 2.04 13m at In shoot 2.99 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHRC-004 92 107 15 4.33 8m at In shoot 7.58 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHRC-005 104 136 32 2.83 20m at In shoot 3.88 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHRC-006 127 140 13 7.68 4m at In shoot 14.67 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHRC-007 76 100 24 0.90 7m at NW shoot margin 1.49 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHRC-009 65 85 20 0.50 NW shoot margin ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diamond Drilling highlights: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- From To (x)Intercept Gold Hole No (m) (m) (m) g/t Including Comments ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHDD-033 149.55 170.13 20.58 3.00 2m at In shoot 9.83 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHDD-034 331.26 349.24 17.98 2.56 1m at In shoot 14.60 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHDD-035 211.13 229.50 18.37 0.90 2.17m at NW shoot margin 2.60 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHDD-036 274.88 286.26 11.38 0.60 4.66m at NW shoot margin 1.13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHDD-037 189.50 216.97 27.46 2.20 1.00m at In shoot 20.30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHDD-038 235.83 260.30 24.47 1.78 5.02m at In shoot 4.08 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHDD-039 229.67 259.60 29.93 2.01 In shoot ------------------------------------------------------------------------- GHDD-040 233.00 253.60 20.60 1.93 11m at In shoot 2.79 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (x)True thicknesses for these intersections are approximately 50 percent of down hole thicknesses. Sloane's Royalty Agreement with Tanzanian Royalty calls for a work commitment of $US1 million within a two-year period of which $400,000 is expendable in the first year of the agreement and the remaining amount in the second year. Further provisions call for the completion of a bankable feasibility study and the announcement of a production decision before the fifth anniversary of the agreement and the achievement of commercial production before the seventh anniversary. Sloane has the right to earn 100% of Tanzanian Royalty's 90% interest in the Itetemia Project in exchange for meeting its obligations which also include the payment of annual option fees and a sliding scale royalty at commercial production. Service Agreement Tanzanian Royalty conducted all field operations for the Itetemia drill program under a service agreement with Sloane Developments. Drilling was supervised by John Deane, Tanzanian Royalty's Qualified Person. Analysis Fire assay with flame AAS finish was conducted by Humac Laboratories in Mwanza, Tanzania. Standards were inserted in the sample stream sent to Humac, and subsequent analysis shows that all the standards fall within analytically acceptable limits. The figures used in this press release are the average grades taken for between one and three duplicates run by the labs on each analysis. Qualified Person The Company's Qualified Person is Mr. John Deane, the President of Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation Limited. He has an M.Sc. from the University of Cape Town (1993) and is a registered scientist with SACNASP (Reg. #400005/05). Sloane is a private minerals exploration company working in Tanzania since 2005. The company is pursuing a listing on AIM of the London Stock Exchange in 2008. Respectfully Submitted, "James E. Sinclair" James E. Sinclair Chairman and Chief Executive Officer The Toronto Stock Exchange and American Stock Exchange have not reviewed and do not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors - The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms on this news release, such as "measured", "indicated", and "inferred" "resources" that the SEC guidelines strictly prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC. U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File # 0-50634, which may be secured from us, or from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml. Certain information presented in this release may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including risks inherent in mineral exploration and development, which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any projected future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Investors are referred to our description of the risk factors affecting the Company, as contained in our Form 20-F, File # 0-50634, for a more information concerning these risks, uncertainties, and other factors. CONTACT: Investor Relations at 1-800-811-3855, Visit our website: http://www.tanzanianroyaltyexploration.com/ DATASOURCE: Tanzanian Royalty Exploration Corporation CONTACT: Investor Relations at 1-800-811-3855, Visit our website: http://www.tanzanianroyaltyexploration.com/

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