Anooraq Completes Significant Labour Restructuring at Bokoni Mines

VANCOUVER, May 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Anooraq Resources Corporation ("Anooraq" or the "Company") (TSXV: ARQ; NYSE Amex: ANO; JSE: ARQ) confirms that the labour restructuring process entered into at its flagship operation, Bokoni Platinum Mines ("Bokoni"), during the fourth quarter of 2009, has been completed.

The labour restructuring agreements were finalised with the relevant trade unions in December 2009. The subsequent implementation of the labour restructuring plan affected some 840 on-mine personnel, comprising approximately 25% of the Bokoni workforce.

As a result of the labour restructuring, 153 employees were retrenched and 374 employees were transferred from positions in services to production activities. During January 2010, some 103 employees were dismissed from the operations due to an unprotected strike and six production shifts were lost during the industrial action.

The completion of the labour restructuring lays the foundation for the Company's production growth strategy at Bokoni, commencing with effect from April 2010. This strategy will see the introduction of additional stoping teams at the operations, as well as additional production efficiency measures being implemented to improve current production volumes. The Company intends increasing its number of stoping teams at Bokoni by 40% from its current base of 70 teams, to some 100 stoping teams in service by year end.

Philip Kotze, CEO of Anooraq, said, "The labour restructuring at Bokoni was a key component of the turnaround strategy, which we identified when assuming operational control of the mine in July 2009. We now have the right people in the right jobs, ready to maximise efficiencies both from a production and cost perspective. We believe the benefits of this restructuring should start to bear fruit at the operations during the second quarter of 2010."

For further information, please visit our website www.anooraqresources.com, call investor services in South Africa at +27 11 883 0831, in North America at 1 800 667 2114 or use the contacts referenced below.

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

The NYSE Amex has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this release.

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address the engagement of a new chief financial officer, future production, reserve potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that Anooraq expects are forward looking statements. Anooraq believes that such forward looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, including assumptions that Anooraq will be able to engage a new chief financial officer within a reasonable period of time. Forward looking statements, however, are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, changes in and the effect of government policies with respect to mining and natural resource exploration and exploitation and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and those actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements. For further information on Anooraq, investors should review the Company's annual information form filed on www.sedar.com or its form 20-F with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its other home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE Anooraq Resources Corporation

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