PRESS RELEASE-- SEMAFO TSX-SMF FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SEMAFO SELECTS EPCM CONTRACTOR FOR THE MANA PROJECT Montreal, Quebec, January 31st, 2006. - SEMAFO (TSX – SMF) is pleased to announce that it has selected GENIVAR Groupe Conseils inc. (‘Genivar’), to undertake the Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (‘’EPCM’’) of its Mana gold project in Burkina Faso. Genivar is a Canadian based consulting firm with 45 years of service and more than 1,300 employees, in 30 offices across Canada, Africa and South America. Genivar is a well known and respected leader in the construction and mining industry and has completed various major gold and base metal engineering projects. Mr Benoit La Salle, President and CEO of Semafo comments, “We are extremely pleased to retain Genivar as the EPCM contractor for the Mana project. Genivar adopts a constructive approach and brings a wealth of hands-on experience and multidisciplinary services through their expertise. We look forward to working proactively with them on the Mana project. The selection of Genivar is another major milestone for Semafo and takes us one step closer to unlocking the value of Mana by advancing our third gold mine towards production.’’ The first phase of the EPCM will start immediately and will entail the engineering design of the project that will be done in parallel with , the issuance of the mining permit, all necessary authorizations and appropriate financing, all of which are ongoing. Procurement and construction will follow. Semafo, in its January 19, 2006 press release, updated the mineral reserves at Mana. Using a gold price of $450 per ounce, the total mineral reserves stands at 9,443,000 tonnes of ore at an average grade of 2.89 g/t Au containing 877,200 ounces of gold. Based on the Mana project feasibility study, the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) stands at 20.7%, using a gold price of $400 per ounce and should exceed 60%, using a gold price of $550 per ounce and the updated mineral reserves. The common shares of Semafo are traded on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “SMF”. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS This press release contains « forward-looking statements », including, but not limited to, the statements regarding the Company’s expectations as to the market price of gold, strategic plans, future commercial production, production targets, timetables, mine operating costs, fixed assets expenses, mineral reserve estimates and to the company’s perspectives. Forward-looking statements express, as at the date of this press release, our estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations and beliefs as to future events or results. Forward-looking statements are reasonable, but involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Therefore, actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, factors associated with fluctuations in the market price of precious metals, mining industry risks, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral reserves, risks related to the grade of reserves, risks related to hedging strategies, risks of delays in construction and requirements of additional financing. Semafo is a mining company whose mission is to explore, develop and mine major gold deposits in West Africa. Semafo currently operates the Kiniero mine in Guinea, the Samira Hill mine in Niger and is developing the Mana project in Burkina Faso For more information contact: MONTREAL : RENMARK : Benoit La Salle, Tina Cameron President & Chief Executive Officer Tel : (514) 939-3989 Tel : (514) 744-4408 E-Mail : E-Mail : [email protected] [email protected] More extensive information on Semafo can be found on our home page at http://www.semafo.com NO REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE CONTENT OF THIS RELEASE .