Lydian Intersects Significant New Gold in Scout-Drilling One Kilometer Southwest of the Current Resource Shell at Amulsar

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 6, 2011) - Lydian International Ltd. (TSX:LYD) ("Lydian" or "the Company"), a gold-focused mineral exploration and development company, today announced results from scout drill holes at its Amulsar gold project in Armenia. Amulsar is a high-sulfidation style gold project which currently hosts a CIM compliant combined Indicated and Inferred Category Resource of 2.5 million ounces at 1.0g/t gold (1.1 million ounces at 1.1g/t gold in the Indicated Category and 1.4 million ounces at 0.9g/t gold in the Inferred Category).

Results have now been returned from a program of exploration/scout drilling, using initially just one diamond drill rig, on the lower western slopes of the Amulsar ridge (see attached Figure 1). These holes were drilled early in the field season when snow still prevented access to the main resource area.

Seven scout drill holes drilled up to two kilometers away from and significantly below the current resource shell, have confirmed the source of several gold soil geochemical anomalies and extended the known limits of the mineralized epithermal system at Amulsar (see attached Figure 1). Drill hole DDA-087 was drilled approximately one kilometer to the southwest of the resource shell and at an elevation 500 meters lower than the current resource limit and returned 72m at 0.8g/t gold (including 12 meters at 1g/t and 35 meters at 1g/t gold), nearby drill hole DDA-085 returned anomalous gold (0.3g/t) over the first 42 meters of its drill length, whilst drill hole DDA-081, which is located over two kilometers away from the resource shell, intersected a thin segment of a mineralized fault zone carrying 3m at 1.3g/t gold.

Lydian has increased its 2011 drilling programme with five drill rigs now on site at Amulsar and a sixth drill rig is due in mid-July. The Company plans to complete in excess of 40,000 meters of combined resource upgrade, resource extension and exploration drilling.

"Exploration work at Amulsar is being conducted in parallel with resource infill and extension drilling at Tigranes, Artavasdes and Erato. These initial scout drilling results are very good early indications that the gold mineralized system at Amulsar extends southwestwards for at-least a further kilometer from the current resource shell and that it may extend to a depth of 500 meters beneath the current resource" said Tim Coughlin, Lydian's President and CEO "further drilling will be completed later in the year along the soil geochemical anomaly to fill in the gap between DDA-087 and the limits of the resource shell at Artavasdes. Further exploration targets will also be tested to the immediate northeast of Tigranes, at Erato and at Arshak".

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 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.

Christopher John Bargmann, FGS(C Geol), MAusIMM, Pr.Sci.Nat; is the Qualified Person overseeing Lydian's exploration programs. Mr. Bargmann has supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this press release.

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.

TABLE 1. INTERIM DRILL RESULTS FROM AMULSAR PROJECT
Drill Hole	Dip	Azimuth	Total Depth (m)	From (m)	To (m)	Intersection (m)	Gold (g/t)
DDA-080	-60	30	60.0	NO SIGNIFICANT INTERSECTIONS >1G/T
DDA-081	-60	140	100.4	13.0	16.0	3.0	1.3
DDA-082	-60	120	50.0	NO SIGNIFICANT INTERSECTIONS >1G/T
DDA-083	-60	120	40.0	NO SIGNIFICANT INTERSECTIONS >1G/T
DDA-084	-60	320	112.9	NO SIGNIFICANT INTERSECTIONS >1G/T
DDA-085	-60	120	80.0	0.0	42.0	42.0	0.3
DDA-087	-60	120	122.0	31.0	103.0	72.0	0.8
	Including			33.0	45.0	12.0	1.0
				64.0	87.0	23.0	1.0
	Including Sulphide			87.0	99.0	12.0	0.8
Cut-off 0.2g/t gold, maximum down-hole internal dilution 10m
All intersections are oxide gold unless indicated, not true widths

To view FIGURE 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/710679_fig_1.jpg