Aura increases the Serrote Da Laje Resource

Aura Minerals Inc., a Canadian resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, development and operation of mining properties in the Americas, announces the completion of an updated resource estimate at its wholly owned Serrote da Laje deposit in Alagoas State, Brazil.

This updated resource estimate clearly demonstrates the significant expansion from the National Instrument 43-101 (NI 43-101) resource reported in June 2007.

Of more significance is the fact that the major portion of this updated resource is now in the Measured and Indicated category. The 2007 resource was 111 million tonnes inferred at 0.55% copper at a 0.20% copper cut-off.

The Serrote da Laje deposit can be segregated into a northern and southern zone, which have yet to be fully delineated by drilling.

Also of importance, is that parts of both these zones are at or near surface and contain some of the higher grades within the deposit.

Mining of the higher grade portions of the deposit that occur near surface in the earlier years of any planned operations would have a significant positive impact on the project economics.

The resources shown above comply with the definitions for Measured, Indicated and Inferred resources as outlined by the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and NI 43-101 guidelines. Numbers have been rounded subsequent to calculations.

Mr. Patrick Downey, President and CEO of Aura Minerals Inc., said, this new resource is a significant step forward for the Company in the development of the Serrote da Laje deposit.

It clearly demonstrates that Serrote da Laje is a large well-defined multi-metal deposit and it still remains open to expansion. We have several thousand metres of drilling still being assayed and continue to have three rigs drilling in the southern and eastern extensions where the deposit remains open, added Mr. Downey.

I am also very pleased that we have taken a deposit that was 100% Inferred in mid-2007 and increased the resource beyond that size within a Measured and Indicated category.

We also plan to complete a resource estimate on the nearby Caboclo deposit during 2008 which should add to our overall resource base, he added.

It is also significant that we may have sufficient oxide resources to support a small SX/EW operation.

If so, this could be put into production ahead of the main concentrator thereby adding to our copper production from the Aranzazu Project in Mexico and further strengthening our balance sheet, concluded Mr. Knowles.