Aura Minerals Files Technical Reports for Sao Francisco and Sao Vicente Gold Mines

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 31, 2012) - Aura Minerals Inc. ("Aura Minerals" or the "Company") (TSX:ORA) today filed technical reports for the Sao Francisco and Sao Vicente gold mines (the "Brazilian Mines") in Mato Grosso State, Brazil.

On November 10, 2011, the Company issued a press release announcing the updated mineral resource and reserve estimates for the Brazilian Mines. The updated mineral resource and reserve estimates for the Brazilian Mines were prepared internally by the Company and its consultants under the supervision of Ivan C. Machado, M.Sc., P.E., P.Eng, Principal of TechnoMine Services, LLC, an independent Qualified Person for the purpose of Canadian National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties ("NI 43-101").

On December 20, 2011, Aura Minerals was informed of Mr. Machado's death. Mr. Machado is the only member of TechnoMine Services, LLC able to act as a Qualified Person under NI 43-101.

Given Mr. Machado's death, the mineral resource and reserve estimates for the Brazilian Mines were then reviewed and confirmed by J. Britt Reid, P.Eng., Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Aura Minerals, Bruce Butcher, P.Eng., Vice President, Technical Services of Aura Minerals and, Chris Keech, P.Geo., former Manager, Geostatistics of Aura Minerals (currently Principal Geologist of CGK Consulting Services Inc.) prior to preparing the technical reports on behalf of the Company. Messrs. Reid, Butcher and Keech are Qualified Persons for the purposes of NI 43-101.

The Company confirms that the mineral resource and reserve estimates in the technical reports are consistent with the estimates in the November 10, 2011 press release. A copy of each technical report has been filed on the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com.

About Aura Minerals Inc.

Aura Minerals is a Canadian mid-tier gold and copper production company focused on the exploration, development and operation of gold and base metal projects in the Americas. The Company's producing assets include the San Andres gold mine in Honduras, the Sao Francisco and Sao Vicente gold mines in Brazil and the copper-gold-silver Aranzazu Mine in Mexico. Other significant assets include the feasibility-stage copper-gold-iron ore Serrote de Laje Project (formerly known as the Arapiraca Project) in Brazil.