Luna Gold Drills 19.00 Meters @ 4.67 g/t Au and 53.00 Meters @ 2.09 g/t Au at Aurizona


VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - July 25, 2011) - Luna Gold Corp. (TSX VENTURE:LGC)(BVLAC:LGC) ("Luna Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce additional positive assay results from 12 new holes from its ongoing resource drill program at the Piaba gold deposit, Aurizona. An updated drill plan map and cross sections have been uploaded to the Luna Gold website at www.lunagold.com or to view directly click below.

Significant intercepts:

  • 12.00 meters @ 3.43 g/t Au including 0.50 meter @ 49.60 g/t Au and 0.50 meter @ 14.75 g/t Au in BRAZD311
  • 19.00 meters @ 4.67 g/t Au including 3.00 meters @ 14.08 g/t Au and 2.00 meters @ 14.32 g/t Au in BRAZD314
  • 53.00 meters @ 2.09 g/t Au including 2.50 meters @ 7.11 g/t Au and 0.50 meter @ 11.70 g/t Au in BRAZD319

Updated Drill Plan Map :
http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/Piaba_Drill_Plan_Map_190711.pdf

Drill Sections:
100E:
http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/0100E_website.pdf
1000W: http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/0100E_website.pdf
300W: http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/0300W_website.pdf
1200W: http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/1200W_website.pdf
400W:
http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/0400W_website.pdf
1400W: http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/1400W_website.pdf
800W:
http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/0800W_website.pdf

Luna Gold's President & CEO, John Blake, comments, "The company commenced a 20,000 meter drill program in August 2010, these results and a review of the six previous results indicates a very successful program. Our exploration team remains on target to complete a revised NI 43-101 resource update in Q4. All results published to date confirm consistent continuity of mineralization along strike and depth, with the deposit remaining open at depth.

The aim of the program is to significantly increase the company's gold resources by upgrading inferred resources to the measured and indicated categories and by the addition of new ounces at depth and along strike. Previous results, in combination with these results, give us great confidence to deliver these goals."

Of the current 20,000 meter drill program, which commenced in August 2010, assays from 51 holes totaling 14,346 meters have been received and samples from 14 additional holes are currently at the assay lab. Today's assay results are for twelve drill holes totaling 3678 meters drilled on ten sections covering a strike extent of 1.5 kilometers of the Piaba deposit. In eight holes, core was not recovered from surface. Three holes were drilled down dip and are reported separately below. All drill holes intersected considerable zones of gold mineralization and the deposit remains open at depth. Significant mineralized intercepts from holes drilled across the deposit are tabulated below.

SECTION HOLE ID AZI DIP START
DEPTH
(M)
END
DEPTH
(M)
FROM
(M)
TO
(M)
INT
(M)
AU
(G/T)
UNCAPPED
0100E BRAZD319 168.00 -57.00 80.00 239.63 172.00 225.00 53.00 2.09
Including 182.50 185.00 2.50 7.11
And 186.50 187.00 0.50 11.70
And 191.00 192.00 1.00 6.38
And 205.00 207.00 2.00 6.22
BRAZD322 168.00 -68.00 80.00 314.95 196.00 202.00 6.00 1.26
211.00 219.00 8.00 1.48
Including 213.00 213.50 0.50 4.67
243.00 254.00 11.00 1.25
Including 251.00 252.00 1.00 4.78
0300W BRAZD311 168.00 -64.00 50.00 346.40 234.00 240.00 6.00 2.29
267.00 279.00 12.00 3.43
Including 271.50 272.00 0.50 49.60
And 274.00 274.50 0.50 14.75
283.00 292.00 9.00 2.64
Including 284.50 285.00 0.50 33.10
306.00 317.00 11.00 5.61
Including 308.00 309.00 1.00 49.95
BRAZD321 168.00 -71.00 50.00 388.05 304.00 334.50 30.50 1.81
321.00 323.00 2.00 6.50
Including 330.00 332.00 2.00 5.47
And 334.00 334.50 0.50 6.10
0400W BRAZD317 168.00 -50.00 0.00 186.43 32.00 42.00 10.00 2.41
0800W BRAZD312 168.00 -62.00 50.00 276.20 198.00 216.00 18.00 1.39
Including 201.00 202.00 1.00 5.81
And 212.00 214.00 2.00 4.08
219.00 237.00 18.00 1.56
1000W BRAZD320 168.00 -50.00 100.00 248.09 152.00 156.00 4.00 1.36
164.00 168.00 4.00 2.41
Including 165.00 166.00 1.00 7.46
1200W BRAZD314 168.00 -50.00 100.00 179.55 116.00 135.00 19.00 4.67
Including 120.00 123.00 3.00 14.08
And 130.00 132.00 2.00 14.32
1400W BRAZD313 168.00 -61.00 50.00 210.15 140.00 158.00 18.00 1.03
Including 157.00 157.50 0.50 6.33
Table 1. Mineralized drill intercepts from the ongoing Aurizona resource drill program. Intervals are calculated as composites using a 0.30 gram/tonne Au cut-off and maximum 2 meter internal waste. True widths to be established.

Down-Dip Drill Holes

Three holes totalling 1288 meters were drilled down-dip, i.e. following the Piaba ore body, on sections 0350W, 0450W and 0550W. These holes were drilled to determine vertical gold grade distribution, to provide a better understanding of the weathering profile, to determine the relationship of ore to waste in this part of the deposit and to provide structural data. The holes confirm the deposit model of spaced horizontal quartz vein sets linked into sub-vertical mineralized shear zones that collectively form high-grade ladder quartz vein arrays within the disseminated lower grade mineralization. The down-dip holes are plotted on the sections at this location:

Drill Sections:
350W: http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/0350W_website.pdf
450W
: http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/0450W_website.pdf
550W: http://www.lunagold.com/i/pdf/0550W_website.pdf

All these holes intersected considerable zones of mineralization. Significantly continuous zones of mineralization have now been defined to depths of 400 meters within the Piaba structure. Mineralized intercepts from these down dip holes are shown in Table 2.

SECTION HOLE ID AZI DIP START DEPTH (M) END
DEPTH
(M)
FROM
(M)
TO
(M)
INT
(M)
AU
(G/T)
UNCAPPED
0350W BRAZD318 348.00 -81.00 0.00 453.76 0.00 35.00 35.00 1.61
Including 21.00 22.00 1.00 9.84
And 28.00 30.00 2.00 7.05
42.00 49.00 7.00 1.04
52.00 107.00 55.00 1.89
Including 61.00 62.00 1.00 5.49
And 67.00 68.00 1.00 15.50
And 81.50 84.50 3.00 7.18
And 94.00 95.00 1.00 26.96
110.00 136.00 26.00 1.22
Including 110.00 110.50 0.50 4.18
And 135.00 136.00 1.00 4.16
190.00 206.00 16.00 2.97
Including 202.00 205.00 3.00 6.93
296.50 333.00 36.50 1.99
Including 296.50 297.00 0.50 11.05
And 320.00 328.00 8.00 4.57
0450W BRAZD315 348.00 -80.00 0.00 433.47 45.00 62.00 17.00 0.70
79.00 86.00 7.00 1.37
90.00 104.00 14.00 2.47
Including 97.00 98.00 1.00 23.80
133.00 168.00 35.00 2.27
Including 134.00 135.00 1.00 12.25
And 149.00 150.00 1.00 47.20
177.00 185.00 8.00 1.06
Including 177.00 178.00 1.00 4.58
188.00 206.00 18.00 2.33
Including 200.00 202.00 2.00 6.00
258.00 277.00 19.00 1.52
Including 266.00 267.00 1.00 8.26
And 270.00 271.00 1.00 7.28
And 276.00 276.50 0.50 8.32
282.00 287.00 5.00 2.56
Including 282.00 283.00 1.00 7.34
And 286.50 287.00 0.50 4.11
291.00 304.00 13.00 1.74
Including 292.00 292.50 0.50 7.59
And 296.50 297.00 0.50 6.65
And 298.00 299.00 1.00 4.52
0550W BRAZD316 348.00 -84.00 0.00 400.87 3.00 11.00 8.00 1.33
Including 6.00 7.00 1.00 3.29
15.00 68.00 53.00 1.80
Including 15.00 16.00 1.00 8.47
And 18.00 19.00 1.00 9.38
And 26.00 27.00 1.00 5.75
And 45.00 46.00 1.00 5.46
And 62.00 63.00 1.00 7.64
71.00 83.00 12.00 2.20
Including 75.00 76.00 1.00 15.65
92.00 98.00 6.00 1.66
124.00 130.00 6.00 2.60
Including 124.00 125.00 1.00 8.80
136.00 143.00 7.00 1.20
151.00 162.00 11.00 1.50
Including 158.00 159.00 1.00 8.82
188.00 194.00 6.00 1.82
Including 188.00 189.00 1.00 7.65
197.00 212.00 15.00 0.72
228.00 238.00 10.00 1.18
Including 229.00 230.00 1.00 5.03
280.00 293.50 13.50 2.07
Including 282.00 282.50 0.50 8.10
And 290.50 291.00 0.50 6.11
363.00 369.00 6.00 4.89
Including 363.00 363.50 0.50 52.60
Table 2. Mineralized drill intercepts for three down-dip holes from the ongoing Aurizona resource drill program. Intervals are calculated as composites using a 0.30 gram/tonne Au cut-off and maximum 2 meter internal waste. True widths to be established.

About Luna Gold Corp.

Luna Gold is actively engaged in the operation, exploration, acquisition and development of gold opportunities in Brazil. The company currently has a gold mining operation, Aurizona Gold Mine in Maranhão, Brazil, a gold development project, the Cachoeira project in Para, Brazil and the Company is exploring in a large strategically placed greenfields land position in Maranhão, Brazil.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

LUNA GOLD CORP.

John Blake – President and CEO

Regulatory Footnotes

Luna operates a rigorous QA/QC protocol on all aspects of sampling and analytical procedure. Drill core is checked, logged, marked for sampling and sawn in half. One half of the HTW (71 mm diameter) core is maintained for future reference and one half of the core is sent for analysis. Samples are collected at approximately 2 meter intervals, which is reduced to 1 meter interval or less when a mineralized zone is encountered. All core and samples are stored in secure locked areas. Samples are transported from the Aurizona project to the ALS Chemex sample preparation facility in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais accompanied by Luna personnel. Samples are assayed at ALS Chemex Labs in Lima, Peru using a 50 gram fire assay with AAS finish. Each sample batch contains 10% of randomly inserted internal control samples consisting of certified analytical standards, blanks (barren rock) and duplicates. These QA/QC procedures provide several measures of data quality and assure the Company that the assay data is representative of the original sample. Additional technical information about the Aurizona Project is available in our technical report dated September 1, 2010, filed on SEDAR.

Titus Haggan Ph.D., EurGeol Certified Professional Geologist #746, Luna's Vice President Exploration is the Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the scientific and technical work on the exploration program and has supervised the preparation of and reviewed the technical disclosure in this press release. Non- qualified persons currently work on Luna's exploration programs under the guidance of Titus Haggan. Dr. Haggan takes responsibility for work, information and advice generated by non-Qualified persons and has taken the steps required to ensure that the work, information and advice is sound.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains certain "forward looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to the exploration program for the Company's exploration programs and any planned resource upgrades. Forward-looking statements are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that, while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Certain of the statements made herein by Luna Gold Corp. are forward-looking and subject to various risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, many of which are beyond the ability of Luna Gold Corp. to control or predict. Known and unknown factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Luna Gold Corp.'s actual results, performance or achievements may be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, and are developed based on assumptions about such risks, uncertainties and other factors set out here in, including but not limited to the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other exploration data, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities, mine development and production costs, the projected life of the Company's mines, future production levels, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters, labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in production and operations, fluctuating metal prices, unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations, currency fluctuations, regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability, competition, loss of key employees, and other related risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contact Information:

Luna Gold Corp.
Investor Relations
(604) 558 0560
(604) 558-0561 (FAX)
www.lunagold.com