Mr. Courtney Chamberlain reports

MINERA IRL LTD DISCOVERS NEW MINERALIZED SYSTEM AT DON NICOLAS PROJECT, ARGENTINA

Minera IRL Ltd. has discovered a significant mineralized system at Choique, approximately one kilometre from the Martinetas vein field, at the Don Nicolas project, located in the Santa Cruz province, Argentina. The Don Nicolas project is currently in the development permitting process.

Highlights:

• Results from 35 holes for 2,386 metres of drilling have demonstrated substantial gold and silver intersections in a new mineralized rhyolite dome host within 50 metres of surface.
• Key high-grade intersections include drill holes CH-D12-015 with 6.70 metres at 10.5 grams per tonne gold and 19.8 grams per tonne silver, CH-D12-018 with 6.10 metres at 5.43 grams per tonne gold and 27.6 grams per tonne silver, and CH-D12-021 with 11.10 metres grading 5.38 grams per tonne gold and 5.26 grams per tonne silver.
• Choique is located only 1.6 kilometres from the planned Don Nicolas treatment plant.

Courtney Chamberlain, executive chairman of Minera IRL, commented: "The strong assay results from a newly recognized rhyolite dome complex at Choique unlock significant value close to the main mineralized vein system at Martinetas and represent a positive return from our recent brownfields program. Only 1.6 kilometres from the planned Don Nicolas plant, the Choique discovery not only shows immediate potential for increasing the resource base and mine life, but also provides great encouragement for more potential discoveries close to Martinetas."

Whilst the Choique prospect within the brownfields exploration search space has been known for some time, there has previously been little work in the immediate area, consisting of only limited trenching and three reconnaissance drill holes. Systematic trench sampling in 2011, integrated with new geological, geochemical and geophysical datasets, defined a compelling target for a drill program which was completed at Choique in July, 2012. Results from this new program have been received from 35 (2,386 metres) of the 40 holes drilled (2,735 metres).

To date, drill testing of this open-ended mineralized system has been restricted to approximately 130 metres of strike and to within 50 metres of the surface. A single scout hole testing an outcropping vein structure 150 metres to the east of Choique returned significant gold anomalous mineralization with assays up to 2.61 grams per tonne gold and 47.1 grams per tonne silver. This further demonstrates the exploration potential of the area.

Assay results have returned numerous potentially economic intersections. Significant intercepts are shown in the table.

                                      RESULTS

Hole No.                    From         To   Interval         Au         Ag
                              (m)        (m)        (m)       g/t        g/t

CH-D12-015                  2.00       7.00       5.00       0.98       11.4
And                        22.00      35.00      13.00       1.52       20.4
Including                  30.00      35.00       5.00       2.81       32.1
And                        41.30      48.00       6.70      10.5        19.8
Including                  42.00      43.60       1.60      39.0        18.1
CH-D12-017                  0.00       8.70       8.70       0.98       11.6
And                        14.20      25.00      10.80       2.21       51.6
Including                  17.00      20.20       3.20       4.67       39.3
And                        30.00      36.00       6.00       1.99       10.8
CH-D12-018                 14.40      17.25       2.85       1.92       12.7
And                        20.40      26.50       6.10       5.43       27.6
Including                  21.00      23.15       2.15      13.4        31.8
CH-D12-021                 20.90      32.00      11.10       5.38        5.3
Including                  24.90      26.00       1.10      37.1        25.5
And                        53.40      54.80       1.40       4.17       18.8

All Choique intercepts can be found on the company's website.

In addition to the high-grade intersections, zones of low-grade mineralization have been identified which may be amenable to future treatment using heap leach technology.

The effective true widths of the mineralized intersections listed are expected to range between 60 per cent and 70 per cent of the widths reported.

Precious metal mineralization at Choique is spatially and genetically related to rhyolite domes. This differs from the nearby Martinetas veinfield, host to much of the Don Nicolas project reserves and resources, where mineralization is mainly in narrow veins hosted by a variety of gently dipping volcanoclastic facies. Volcanic host rocks at Choique are characterized by intensely clay-silica-plus-or-minus-pyrite-altered rhyolitic lavas. Mineralization is dominated by disseminated and massive sulphides plus minor epithermal veining similar to the rhyolite dome complex that hosts the contiguous Minera IRL Escondido and Mariana Resources' Las Calandrias deposit located about 34 kilometres to the northwest.

The Don Nicolas feasibility study was completed in February, 2012. The environmental impact assessment was submitted to the Santa Cruz authorities in May, 2012, thereby commencing the process of obtaining the development and operating permits for the Don Nicolas project. In addition to the drilling at Choique, 15,905 metres of infill and extension drilling have now been completed at Martinetas, both of which will provide the basis for a new resource estimate scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2012.

Subject to timely permitting and arrangement of financing, gold production at Don Nicolas is scheduled to begin toward the end of 2013 to produce an average of 52,000 ounces of gold and 56,000 ounces of silver per year.

Competent persons

The preparation of the technical information contained herein was supervised by Donald McIver, vice-president, exploration, of the company, MSc (exploration and economic geology), a fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, who is recognized as a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, and who has reviewed and approved the technical information in this press release.

Quality assurance and quality control procedures disclosure

The company has implemented and maintains a Minera IRL quality assurance/quality control protocol on the Ollachea project to ensure best industry practice in sampling and analysis of exploration and resource drill core samples. The insertion of field duplicates, certified standards and blank samples into the sample stream form part of the MIRL procedure (these act as an independent check on contamination, precision and accuracy in the analytical laboratory).

Assay results are reported once rigorous QA/QC procedures have been approved.

Independent audit programs

Toward maintaining compliancy with international standards as they pertain to the minerals industry resource evaluation and estimation procedure, MIRL regularly contracts the services of industry experts to conduct detailed audits of established QA/QC procedures.

We seek Safe Harbor.