Tolima Gold Inc. Informs About Legal Action in Colombia

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 15, 2013) - Tolima Gold Inc. ("Tolima" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:TOM) announced today that on Tuesday, March 11, 2013, the police and other authorities of the Remedios Municipality, in the department of Antioquia, Colombia, arrived on the site of Tolima's San Pablo mine (mining title 7299) with a court order issued by the Municipal Court of Segovia for the eviction of Remedios Gold SAS ("Remedios Gold"), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Tolima, from the San Pablo mine and from Tolima's nearby processing plant. The court order orders the restitution of the San Pablo mine to a certain plaintiff who allegedly was a former title holder of the San Pablo mine and who, in 1993, had challenged the assignment of the mining title to a company which was a predecessor of the vendor of the concession to Remedios Gold. At the time of the purchase of this property by Remedios Gold, and of Tolima's acquisition of the shares of Remedios Gold, this legal action had been decided on its merits against the plaintiff and without the possibility of appeal (the "Original Decision"). The plaintiff pursued many avenues to overturn the Original Decision, which were denied. However, one of such actions resulted in a higher court finding that the reasons set out in the Original Decision were incomplete, and returned the file to the trial court for such ruling to be reissued. That court reversed the Original Decision and found for the plaintiff, declaring the assignment of the mining title null and ordering the delivery of the mining title to the plaintiff.

Neither Tolima nor Remedios Gold were a party to the court proceedings, and Remedios Gold is currently the registered owner of the San Pablo mining title. The legal proceedings were not registered with the Colombian mining registry, and the assignment of the San Pablo mining title to several acquirors, the most recent of which was Remedios Gold, was never objected to by the plaintiff. Tolima considers the eviction action to be illegal and in violation of its rights and, through Remedios Gold, has filed all available recourses to impede the execution of the court order, and has denounced with the competent authorities the conduct of the Municipal Court of Segovia and of the public officials who have participated in this abusive violation of Remedios Gold's rights.

Following the police action on the San Pablo property, Remedios Gold has suspended operations at its processing plant and only security personnel of Tolima remain on the site. Tolima intends to resume operation of the processing plant once this administrative incident has been rectified.

Tolima believes that the actions of the Municipal Court of Segovia and the administrative authorities against Remedios Gold have no legal support, violate Remedios Gold's rights and go far beyond what had been the subject matter of the litigation. Therefore, Tolima intends to vigorously defend its rights and property in this case. Additionally, under the terms of the share purchase agreement pursuant to which Tolima acquired the shares of Remedios Gold, the vendors (the Minatura Group of companies) have the obligation to indemnify Tolima and hold it harmless against any and all actions or damages deriving from legal action against Remedios Gold's properties, which includes damages resulting from the legal proceedings described above. Tolima also intends to rely on and enforce this indemnity as required.

Information Concerning Tolima

Tolima is a gold exploration, development and production company with interests in mining properties in Colombia. Tolima's properties include the Remedios Project, located in the Remedios/Segovia mining district in the Antioquia Department of Colombia, with over 11,500 hectares of exploration ground, two mines (the "San Pablo" and "Bartola" mines) and an operating gold processing and recovery plant located in the area of "San Pablo" with a capacity of 100 tons per day; the ANCAL Project, located in the Marmato/Caramanta district of the Caldas and Antioquia Departments of Colombia, including more than 28,000 hectares of exploration ground; and the NORTOL project, located in the Tolima Department of Colombia, including more than 48,000 hectares of exploration ground and the "Papayo" mine.

Forward-looking statements

This news release contains certain "forward-looking statements" including, in particular, Tolima's expectation regarding the success of impeding Remedios Gold's eviction from the San Pablo mine and processing plant, preserving legal title to Remedios Gold's property, reliance on contractual indemnities and the resumption of operations at the processing plant. Legal action and the enforcement of contractual rights are complex legal matters, the outcome of which is uncertain and subject to a number of risks, legal interpretation and expenses. Tolima management has expressed forward-looking statements relating to the strength of its, and Remedios Gold's, legal position based on its understanding of such legal matters, in consultation with its legal counsel. In addition, forward-looking statements with respect to the resumption of operations at the processing plant are also subject to economic factors and assumptions regarding the profitability of operations described in previous press releases and Tolima's MD&A. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this news release and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Tolima disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise.