Aurora Gold Corp Identifies Significant New Gold Occurrence, Toucano

ZUG, SWITZERLAND -- (Marketwire) -- 02/01/12 -- Editor's note: There are two photos associated with this release.

Aurora Gold Corporation (the 'Company,' or 'Aurora') (OTCQB: ARXG)(FRANKFURT: A4G)(XETRA: A4G)(BERLIN: A4G)(STUTTGART: A4G), is a mineral exploration company focusing on exploration and development in the Tapajos Gold Province, State of Para, Brazil.

The board of Aurora Gold Corporation is pleased to announce after a review of remote sensing imagery acquired during the last quarter of 2011 a series of areas were delineated as having potential to host significant mineralisation. Follow up of selected areas has resulted in a new highly mineralised occurrence.

Assay results from 4 samples taken from the core, and also 1 from crushed reject material:

TOU 001 89.17g/t gold

TOU 001 33.10g/t gold

TOU 001 18.04g/t gold

TOU 001 19.27g/t gold

TOU 001 89.54g/t gold

The new occurrence, named Toucano, is located in the same vicinity as the Fofoca area of mineralised material and containing a JORC compliant resource of 130,000 ounces, the Attacadau occurrence and also high grade Colibri occurrence. All the mineralised areas, including Toucano, have a strike approximating East-West.

Initial appraisal of Toucano shows that the dimensions are far greater than any of the previous discoveries on the Sao Domingo property. Currently the exposed area of interest measures approximately 320m along strike and with a highly mineralised core measuring approximately 15m in width. The mineralisation occurs at surface and has been excavated down to depth of approximately 5m. The surrounding host rocks are also highly altered and show intense stock work of ferruginous quartz veinlets. The mineralised envelope is approximately 40m in width, and is open to the East and West.

The board of Aurora feels this will evolve as the Company's flagship target on the Sao Domingo property and currently have their technical team on site evaluating the geometry of the mineralisation in preparation for orientation of drill hole locations.

The discovery is significant in that it is sub parallel and proximal to the other mineralised occurrences on site raising the confidence level that the resource inventory could be greatly increased as most occurrences are located within a 2km radius of each other and within 7 km of the Fofoca resource area.

Aurora is currently completing a revised budget to incorporate a drill program to test the depth and strike extensions of Toucano as a priority, along with a back up drill program to test the western extension of the Fofoca resource, and Colibri.

Several other locations have been identified from the satellite images as hosting possible economic mineralisation and Aurora will continue to evaluate these in conjunction with proposed drilling.

Remote sensing imagery is critical as an aid to exploration in the Tapajos due to the nature of the location as well as to the development of the project. By the application of various spectral analytical methods, Aurora has been able to locate numerous areas for follow up investigation. A digital elevation map obtained by SRTM radar mapping has been essential to regional appraisal of the Sao Domingo property. The illustration, as indicated below, shows how Aurora is utilising the satellite imagery for the Sao Domingo property area.

By viewing spectral wave band ratio's designed to indicate iron oxides and clay minerals, Aurora has been able to decipher areas of past artisanal activity which could lead to the discovery of further hard rock targets, as demonstrated by the discovery of Colibri and Toucano.

Aurora's common stock is also traded on the Stuttgart and the Berlin-Bremen Stock Exchanges in Germany under the symbols '(STUTTGART: A4G)(FRANKFURT: A4G)(XETRA: A4G)(BERLIN: A4G).'

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Lars Pearl, CEO and Director

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains statements that plan for or anticipate the future, called 'forward-looking statements.' In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as 'may,' 'will,' 'should,' 'could,' 'expects,' 'plans,' 'intends,' 'anticipates,' 'believes,' 'estimates,' 'predicts,' 'potential' or 'continue' or the negative of those terms and other comparable terminology.

These forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this press release and include, but are not limited to, statements about; our market opportunity; revenue generation; our strategies; competition; expected activities and expenditures as we pursue our business plan; the adequacy of our available cash resources; our ability to acquire properties on commercially viable terms; challenges to our title to our properties; operating or technical difficulties in connection with our exploration and development activities; currency fluctuations; fluctuating market prices for precious and base metals; the speculative nature of precious and base metals exploration and development activities; environmental risks and hazards; governmental regulations; and conduct of operations in politically and economically less developed areas of the world.

Many of these contingencies and uncertainties can affect our actual results and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made by, or on behalf of, us. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements. Specific reference is made to our most recent annual report on Form 10KSB and other filings made by us with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission for more detailed discussions of the contingencies and uncertainties enumerated above and the factors underlying the forward-looking statements. These reports and filings may be inspected and copied at the Public Reference Room maintained by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549. You can obtain information about operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at 1-800-SEC-0330. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission also maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov.

We disclaim any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable laws.

This press release is for informational purposes only and is not and should not be construed as an offer to solicit, buy, or sell any security.

For further information, please call Lars Pearl or Axino AG.

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CUSIP No.: 051642106

WKN: (Germany) 904846

Contacts:

Aurora Gold Corporation

Lars Pearl

President, CEO & Director

(+41) 7887 96966
http://www.aurora-gold.com


AXINO AG

Investor & Media Relations

+49 (711) 25 35 92-30

+49 (711) 25 35 92-33 (FAX)
http://www.axino.de