Banro Corporation announced the appointment of Mr. Colin Belshaw as Vice President, Operations of the Company, effective May 20, 2012.

In this position, Mr. Belshaw will have direct responsibility for all operations, including the Twangiza mine, currently ramping up to full production, the Namoya mine which is currently in the construction phase, and other mines Banro plans to develop along the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mr. Belshaw is a mining engineer with over 30 years' worldwide production mining experience in the base metals and gold sectors, both underground and open pit, with exposure in central and west Africa, eastern and western Europe, Russia, and the United States. Previously, Mr. Belshaw held the roles of Director General, Far East Operations with Kinross Gold in Russia, Vice President Operations with Golden Star Resources in Ghana, and most recently General Manager of Avocet Mining's successful Inata Gold Mine in Burkina Faso, where he managed the project through its expansion phase. Mr. Belshaw holds a Dip.CSM (1st Class) from the Camborne School of Mines, is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM), and is registered as an Incorporated Engineer (I.Eng) with the Engineering Council of the United Kingdom.

"We are very pleased that Colin has decided to join Banro, especially given the competing forces within the industry at present for high calibre, experienced professionals," commented Simon Village, CEO. "Colin's proven track record in both mining and operating in Africa should contribute towards adding value to the Company at this stage of our development. During his recruitment to Banro, he spent a number of days visiting the projects in the DRC together with the Banro team and it is clear that his technical skills and management style would complement those of the existing team, and we look forward to Colin's operational focus as we continue to grow Banro's production profile and develop this significant gold district."

After visiting the Twangiza-Namoya gold belt last week, Colin commented that, "Banro's gold assets in the DRC are very impressive and I look forward to working with the team towards optimizing the value of these assets."