Ashanti Gold Signs Formal Option Agreement for Anumso

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 15, 2016) - Ashanti Gold Corp. (TSXV: AGZ) ("AGZ" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has signed a formal option agreement for the Anumso Project in Ghana (the "Project") with Goldplat PLC ("Goldplat"), following upon a Letter of Intent announced on July 13, 2016.

AGZ has the right to earn 75% of Goldplat's interest in the Project by expending US$3.0M on exploration over 2.5 years. An initial 51% interest will be earned through expenditure of US$1.5M in the first 18 months, which starts with and includes a 6 month review period where AGZ can elect not to continue with the earn-in option, after which AGZ is obligated to either expend US$1.5M on the Project or pay the deficiency to Goldplat. An additional 24% interest can be earned through expenditure of an additional US$1.5M in the following 12 months or pay the deficiency to Goldplat.

The government of Ghana has a carried 10% interest in all minerals and mining concessions in Ghana, thus the 75% interest in Goldplat's 90% interest will reflect a 67.5% net interest for AGZ. AGZ will be the operator of the exploration and development program during the option period. Upon completion of its earn in rights, AGZ and Goldplat will form a joint venture whereby each party will contribute proportionally to the Project's development, or have its interest diluted. If either party's interest is reduced to 10%, that interest is then converted into a 1.5% net smelter return royalty (the "NSR") which the other party can purchase by paying US$100,000 for each 0.1% of the NSR.

The Anumso Gold Project is a 29.63 km2 Mining Lease within two blocks that cover ≥ 5 km of strike length of the well-known Birimian series auriferous Tarkwaian Banket strata within the highly productive Ashanti Belt of Ghana. This portion of laterally continuous Tarkwaian conglomerate strata has produced gold for over 100 years from the colonial Ntronang Mine 7 km to the east and from artisanal miners in more recent years. These same beds are famous in the southern Ashanti Belt for gold produced from the Iduapriem and Teberebie mines of AngloGold Ashanti and the Tarkwa and Demang mines currently in production by Goldfields. The Anumso - Ntronang area is the only location outside of the Tarkwa vicinity where gold has been mined from Banket conglomerate. Gold in these rocks is considered similar to that in the conglomerate-hosted gold deposits of the ~2,800 million year old Witwatersrand of South Africa, except these rocks are younger, being approximately 2,115 million years old. For more information, please see press release dated July 13, 2016 (under Gulf Shores Resources Ltd.).

Grant of Incentive Stock Options

AGZ also announces that, pursuant to its Incentive Stock Option Plan, it has granted incentive stock options to directors, officers and employees of the Company to purchase up to an aggregate of 210,000 common shares in the capital stock of the Company. The options are exercisable on or before September 15, 2018 at a price of $0.48 per share.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of
ASHANTI GOLD CORP.

"Tim McCutcheon"

Tim McCutcheon
CEO

For further information, please contact:
Ashanti Gold Corp.
2300 - 1177 West Hastings Street
Vancouver BC, V6E 2K3
Phone: 604-638-3690

NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information

This news release includes "forward-looking statements", including forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future operations that are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company and are considered "forward-looking information for the purposes of Canadian Securities laws. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. There is no assurance the Company will be successful in raising the funds necessary to earn any interest in the Project, that the Company will be successful in maintaining tenure to the Project due to political or legal changes that are at the discretion of the Ghanaian government, that historic drill results will be verified by the Company, or that any economic resource will be located within the Project.