AUU Gold79 Mines Ltd

Aura Silver Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE: AUU) ("Aura Silver" or the "Company") is pleased to report that after an extensive review of its geochemical and geophysical data, the next phase of drilling will commence at the Company's Taviche property in Oaxaca, Mexico on January 10, 2011. The Company will be targeting the Higo Blanco prospect with approximately 12 to 15 drill holes, some of which will focus on deeper structures: to discover the source of current high grade silver mineralization as well as to determine the extent to which gold grades increase with depth along the Mezcal vein. The drill program will extend from the Piedra del Sapo zone in the northwest to the Mezcal vein and Cerro La Mina zone to the southeast within the East Taviche concession.

In addition, given recent community approval, we will be targeting a number of highly prospective zones, in particular the La Noria prospect on the Company's property within the West Taviche concession which surrounds the San Jose mine, owned by Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (TSX: FVI) (http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/aura_figure_1.pdf).

Further, the Company reports a continued increase in its joint ownership in the Taviche joint venture.

Robert Boaz, President and CEO of Aura Silver, recently visited La Noria and states, "We are excited to commence drilling at La Noria following our positive results in 2007. The development of the San Jose mine by Fortuna is clearly visible from La Noria. The broad community support for this development has given us a new found confidence for resuming our exploration in this area. We are also excited to expand the size of our silver and gold discoveries at Higo Blanco in the East Taviche concession".

La Noria Comes to the Forefront

Exploration will resume at the Company's highly prospective La Noria prospect located two kilometers west of Fortuna's San Jose mine and within the West Taviche concession (http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/aura_figure_2.pdf). The San Jose mine is currently under development and Fortuna has estimated an indicated resource of 37,596,000 ounces (150 g/t cutoff) at 435 g/t equivalent ounces of silver.

The La Noria prospect is permitted for drilling and garners strong support from the hosting community. It is comprised of two north-south trending veins, between 250 and 400 meters apart, connected by several northwest trending "en echelon" style extensional veins (see Figure 2). The West Noria vein has been mapped over a distance of about 600 meters and disappears below overburden both to the north and south. Samples from dumps contain up to 17.1 g/t gold and 751 g/t silver. Rock chip samples along strike of the main vein and adjacent "en echelon" veins gave values from 0.015 to 1.52 g/t gold and 1.4 to 100 g/t silver.

The East Noria vein has been traced for over 1 kilometer and dips steeply to the east; it is dominated by vein breccia and silicification up to 20 meters wide. In the southernmost 300 meters of the vein, rock chip samples contain up to 4 g/t gold and 210 g/t silver. The main veins widen where they are joined by the "en echelon" veins. Drilling in 2007 across the East Noria vein (3 holes totaling 722.4 meters) identified a significant mineralized and altered package that ranges in width from 15.5 meters in the northern hole (LN04-07) to 126 meters in the south (LN06-07). All intervals are defined by strong quartz-adularia-pyrite and quartz-illite-pyrite alteration with widespread intervals of moderate to strong, multistage quartz-sulphide-adularia veinlets as well as hydrothermal vein breccias up to 8 meters wide. The geologic environment seems to be that of a north-trending shear zone defined by multiple, steeply, east-dipping faults. Gold and locally, silver values are anomalous across all three zones and range up to 1.32 g/t gold and 77 g/t silver.

The style of mineralization observed in the East Noria drill holes is dominated by broad zones of multi-staged quartz-sulphide-adularia stockwork and, more locally, hydrothermal breccias. A similar style of broad, diffuse packages of quartz stockwork has been identified at the San Jose mine but contains discrete quartz-sulphide-(adularia)-carbonate veins up to several meters wide. Careful analysis of our data indicates that similar gold-silver vein deposits may be present along the La Noria vein system but possibly at greater depths than observed at the San Jose mine's Trinidad and Bonanza deposits. This may be the result of a normal fault between the two vein systems with the La Noria side being displaced downward.

In addition, Aura Silver speculates that the San Jose resource extends both north and south beyond Fortuna's concession boundaries and onto the Company's West Taviche concession. Figure 3 (http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/aura_figure_3.pdf), a generalized longitudinal section (position located on figure 2), illustrates the potential for the development of an additional resource north of the San Jose mine on Aura Silver property once community approval is obtained. Also, as part of examining these extensions the Company will begin geologic mapping, sampling and later in 2011, drilling of the Donaji prospect, located along the southern extension of Fortuna's Bonanza and Trinidad veins.

Update on Taviche Joint Venture Earn-in

Aura Silver is also pleased to report that it has made the second to last option payment of US$200,000 to Plata Panamericana SA de CV, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pan American Silver Corp (TSX: PAA / NASDAQ:PAAS) as required by the Option Agreement ("Agreement") dated June 8, 2009. Required minimum exploration expenditures under the Agreement of US$4 million have been achieved with expenditures to date totaling approximately US$4.3 million. A final option payment of US$250,000, due on or before September 1, 2011, remains as the final financial obligation to complete the joint venture earn-in.

Company expenditures to date represent an approximate 42.3% total interest in the Taviche project. Ongoing expenditures for the Taviche project continue to be solely funded by Aura Silver and will increase the Company's interest in the Taviche project toward the completion of final earn-in.

Dr. James M. Franklin, P. Geo. is Aura Silver's qualified person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101) and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

About Aura Silver

Aura Silver is a TSX Venture listed company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of precious metal prospects in Canada (100% owned Greyhound project) and in Oaxaca, Mexico. Aura Silver has 77,512,290 common shares outstanding.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain forward looking statements that are made as of the date hereof and are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions which involve risks and uncertainties associated with our business including the uncertainty as to whether further exploration will result in the target(s) being delineated as a mineral resource, capital expenditures, operating costs, mineral resources, recovery rates, grades and prices, estimated goals, expansion and growth of the business and operations, the private placement financing activities of the Company, plans and references to the Company's future successes with its business and the economic environment in which the business operates. All such statements are made pursuant to the 'safe harbour' provisions of, and are intended to be forward-looking statements under, applicable Canadian securities legislation. Any statements contained herein that are statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements require us to make assumptions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. We caution readers of this news release not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements as a number of factors could cause actual results or conditions to differ materially from current expectations. Please refer to the risks set forth in the Company's most recent annual MD&A and the Company's continuous disclosure documents that can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Aura Silver does not intend, and disclaims any obligation, except as required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither the 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.

Contacts: Aura Silver Resources Inc. Robert Boaz, President and CEO 905-403-8010 boaz@aurasilver.com www.aurasilver.com.