Lydian International Boosts Treasury With Proceeds from IFC Warrant Exercise

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 15, 2011) - Lydian International Ltd. (TSX:LYD) ("Lydian" or "the Company"), a gold-focused mineral exploration and development company, today announced that it had received around a further two million Canadian Dollars in proceeds from the IFC exercising the majority of its remaining warrants.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC; part of the World Bank Group), have recently exercised 4 million warrants at a strike price of £0.3125 providing Lydian with an additional £1.25m (around CAD$2M) and taking the IFC's undiluted interest in the Company to 17.35%.

"This is a further show of support for Lydian from its largest and most influential shareholder the International Finance Corporation." said Tim Coughlin, Lydian's President and CEO. "This means the Company will go into 2012 with a healthy treasury in excess of 13 million Canadian Dollars".

About Lydian International

Lydian is a gold-focused mineral exploration and development company with expertise employing "first mover" strategies in emerging exploration environments. Currently Lydian is focused on Eastern Europe and on developing its flagship Amulsar gold project in Armenia. The current resource at Amulsar comprises of 32.4 Mt at 1.1 g/t Au (1.1 million ounces) of Indicated Category resources and 48.3 Mt at 0.9 g/t Au (1.4 million ounces) of Inferred Category resources. The Amulsar group of licenses is wholly owned by Lydian's Armenian subsidiary (Geoteam CJSC). Lydian also has a pipeline of promising early-stage gold and base metal exploration projects in the Caucasus regions.

Lydian's management team has a track record of success in grassroots discovery, in acquiring and developing undervalued assets, and in building companies. Lydian has a strong social agenda and a unique understanding of the complex social and political issues that characterize emerging environments. The Company's significant shareholders include the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which is a member of the World Bank Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). More information can be found on Lydian's web site at www.lydianinternational.co.uk.

Lydian employees are instructed to follow standard operating and quality assurance procedures intended to ensure that all sampling techniques and sample results meet international reporting standards. All assay work for the released results was carried out by ALS Chemex analytical laboratory in Rosia Montana, Romania. More information can be found on Lydian's web site at www.lydianinternational.co.uk.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release may contain certain information that constitutes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are frequently characterized by words such as "plan," "expect," "project," "intend," "believe," "anticipate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drilling results and other geological data, fluctuating metal prices and other factors described above and in the Company's most recent annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors" which has been filed electronically by means of the Canadian Securities Administrators' website located at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.