Inaja Project

The Inaja Project is located approximately 400 kilometres south of the city of Maraba and 830 kilometres south-southwest of Belem, the capital city of Para State in northern Brazil, and covers approximately 112,000 hectares. The Inaja Project covers the 100-kilometre long Inaja Greenstone Belt, a readily accessible, but virtually unexplored, Archean greenstone belt. The Company controls approximately 70 percent of the Inaja belt and has completed geological, geochemical and geophysical reconnaissance programs in this area. This work has resulted in the identification of a gold target at the eastern part of the belt and a nickel target at the western end of the belt.

The main gold target identified is a 12 kilometre-long northwest-trending structural lineament that is coincident with numerous artisanal gold workings. This lineament coincides closely with the regional contact between the greenstone sequence and a large intrusive body in the eastern part of the belt.

On August 6, 2008, the Company announced that it had launched a comprehensive program to test and evaluate a major iron occurrence that had been identified during a reconnaissance program undertaken at the Inaja Project. The initial phase of this program of geological mapping and sampling defined the presence of extensive units of banded iron formation, commonly known as “itabirites” that are formed by alternate bands of hematitic and silicious material. These itabirite units form ridges up to 300 metres above the local elevation. Continuous chip sampling of these itabirite units have returned assays ranging from 20% to over 40% iron. A follow-up exploration program encountered several massive hematite units along the southern foot of the Inaja Range. Aura Minerals’ exploration team sampled and mapped these massive hematitic units for 10 kilometres at the western end of the range. Continuous chip samples from these hematitic units returned assays ranging from 40% to greater than 60% iron. These units are open along strike within the 60-kilometre belt. Because of its lower silica content, the massive hematite units have a recessive topographic expression and thus do not outcrop as frequently as the banded iron formation.

In March 2009, the Company announced that its subsidiary, Aura Gold Mineracao Ltda. (AGM) and Vale S.A. (Vale) had signed a definitive option agreement.  As part of this transaction, Vale has made a cash payment of US$3 million to AGM and has agreed to earn a 51% interest in the Inaja Project, by expending US$6 million on the property over a four-year period. The agreement allows Vale the opportunity to earn a further 19% interest in the Inaja Project by funding and delivering a bankable feasibility study within 36 months of electing to earn such additional interest.

Cumaru Project

The Cumaru Project is located in the Carajas Metallogenic province, 320 kilometres south-southwest of the city of Maraba and 750 kilometres south-southwest of Belem, the capital city of the State of Para in northern Brazil. The Cumaru Project currently covers approximately 64,000 hectares.

Exploration to date by the Company has produced both gold and nickel targets.  The Company is not currently conducting work on the Cumaru Project and is seeking joint venture partners to continue follow-up exploration work.