Calvista Commences Phase II Drilling Program

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 3, 2012) -

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Calvista Gold Corporation (TSX:CVZ) ("Calvista" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that the Phase II diamond drilling program recently commenced at its California Valley project.

The Phase II drilling program commenced on the 20^th of March 2012, and consists of approximately 5,000 metres of triple tube diamond core drilling, with 2,500 metres of drilling planned for both Callejon Blanco and Buenavista prospects, respectively. Proposed and previous hole locations are located as shown in the two figures below. Logan Drilling Colombia S.A.S. will have two drilling machines on site, and samples will be prepared and assayed by the ALS Group of certified laboratories using the Company's Quality Assurance/Quality Control protocols.

The Company's Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mark Haywood, stated that "the objective of the Phase II drilling program is to increase the potential forthcoming mineral resource estimate currently being prepared by James Steel of GENIVAR."

A phase III drilling program is also being prepared, which is planned to include 10,000 metres of diamond core drilling, and expected to commence on the conclusion of the Phase II drilling program.

In addition, further to the Company's press releases dated December 21, 2011 and February 8, 2012 where the Servicio Geologico Colombiano (formerly Ingeominas), Colombia's mining authority, by Resolution GTRB-0208 dated December 15, 2011 transferred 100% title of license 90-68 ("El Carmen") to Calvista and denied the relief sought by Galway Resources Holdco Ltd. ("Galway"), Galway has now filed a lawsuit before the First Civil Court of the Circuit of Bucaramanga in the City of Bucaramanga, Santander, against the former Titleholders and Calvista Colombia. In its claim, Galway admits that it did not adhere to payment terms and deadlines in its option agreement. Notwithstanding this admitted fact, Galway seeks to obtain a declaration that its option agreement with the former Titleholders is valid and that Calvista's agreement is invalid. Galway has estimated the damages at approximately US$340,000, and also alleges a "loss of profit" resulting from its inability to exploit the mineral reserves in the area El Carmen, which they are valuing at approximately US$15 million using a theoretical amount of 100,000 ounce gold reserve estimate.

Galway has also made a mediation request before the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota, as a pre-requisite to commencing civil proceedings against Calvista Colombia, alleging unlawful competition practices by Calvista Colombia, namely tortious interference with contract and acts of discredit resulting from Calvista Colombia's execution of an option agreement in respect to El Carmen. The mediation hearing will be held on April 12, 2012.

The Company's Director David Oyuela who represents the "Sociedad Minera la Baja California, S.A.S.", a Colombian association with more than 300 local miners and families who hold 21% of the shares in Calvista Gold, stated on behalf of the Company: "Galway failed to pay its option agreement on El Carmen, and, in addition, the option agreement expired. We acted in good faith to negotiate with the former title holders and in strict accordance with the Colombian Mining Authority. Calvista is now the sole registered holder of El Carmen, which is a small part of Callejon Blanco prospect. We fully disagree with Galways' claims and intend to defend our rights strongly."

Calvista Colombia has retained Colombian counsel Cardenas & Cardenas to defend both of these matters vigorously and believes that the claims are without merit.

Quality Assurance

Calvista has developed and implemented Quality Assurance/Quality Control protocols that exceeds current industry best practices. Calvista's exploration protocol includes the insertion of blanks, duplicates, standards and external controls on all their samples. Samples with assay results greater than 10 g/t Au are re-assayed by metallic screen analysis. Sample preparation is conducted by the ALS Group ("ALS") in Bucaramanga, Colombia before being analyzed at the ALS certified assay laboratory in Lima, Peru.

Technical Information

Mr. Ricardo Valls, P. Geo., Calvista's VP Exploration, is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this press release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and has reviewed and validated that the technical information contained in the release is accurate.

About Calvista

Calvista is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of properties for the mining of gold and other minerals. All our prospects in the California Valley are located below 3,200 meters and are not affected by the Paramo ecosystem law. With a head office in Toronto and Colombian headquarters in Bucaramanga, Calvista is led by a management team with over 50 years of exploration and mining experience, principally in South and Central America. For further details on Calvista, please refer to Calvista's web site (www.calvistagold.com) and Calvista's Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, Calvista's objectives, goals or future plans, statements regarding exploration results, exploration plans and the timing of a potential resource estimate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, uncertainties inherent to preparing a resource estimate within expected timeline, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, enhanced risks inherent to conducting business in a jurisdiction such as Colombia, and those risks set out in Calvista's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although Calvista believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies 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. Calvista disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

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