Aura Minerals Inc. Announces Arrangement of US$25 Million Revolving Credit Facility and Completion of Debt Restructuring

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 21, 2011) - Aura Minerals Inc. ("Aura Minerals" or the "Company") (TSX:ORA) is pleased to announce that it has arranged a two year US$25 million revolving credit facility with Barclays Capital ("Barclays Capital"), the investment banking division of Barclays Bank PLC. The credit facility will be used for working capital purposes at the copper-gold-silver Aranzazu Mine in Zacatecas, Mexico and for general corporate purposes. In addition, further to its news release dated March 6, 2011 (see News Release no. 2011-02), the Company has now completed the debt restructuring of its contractual obligations to Yamana Gold Inc.

The credit facility bears interest at LIBOR plus 2.75% and matures on June 30, 2013. The undrawn portion is also subject to a 1.0% commitment fee, payable quarterly. As a condition, the Company will be required to enter into a program, within 30 days of signing, to hedge a minimum of 6,000 tonnes of copper from the Aranzazu Mine, between May 2011 and the maturity date. This hedging requirement represents approximately 25% of the Aranzazu Mine's estimated production during this period and the instruments utilized by the Company to implement the program will take the form of zero-cost put/call collars.

Commenting on the credit facility, Mr. Patrick Downey, President and CEO of Aura Minerals, stated, "A significant amount of work has been accomplished at the Aranzazu Mine over the past year and its ramp-up to the targeted throughput levels is now progressing as planned. Further, the dedicated stripping program that has been underway for almost four months at the Sao Francisco Gold Mine in Brazil is nearing completion and the mine is in final planning stages for restart of operations based on a new mine plan, improved pit layout and an upgraded process plant and associated infrastructure. As such, the arrangement of the credit facility and the completion of the debt restructuring strengthen our balance sheet and provide considerable flexibility for the Company to optimize and expand its operations. We are also pleased with the speed and efficiency with which Barclays Capital arranged the revolving facility and look forward to working with them in the future."

About Aura Minerals Inc.

Aura Minerals is a Canadian mid-tier gold production company focused on the acquisition, 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, and the Sao Francisco and Sao Vicente gold mines in Brazil. The Company also operates the copper-gold-silver Aranzazu Mine in Zacatecas state in Mexico. Other significant assets include the feasibility-stage Serrote Deposit at the copper-gold-iron ore Arapiraca Project in Brazil.

For further information, please visit Aura Minerals' web site at www.auraminerals.com.

Cautionary Statement: This news release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include those risks set out in Aura Minerals' public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Aura Minerals believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Aura Minerals disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.