Mariana Resources: Tongoril project Argentina

London, July , 31, 2009. Mariana Resources Limited. AIM and PLUS code: MARL

Drill Targets at Dos Calandrias (Tongoril) gold-silver project in Santa Cruz Province, Argentina.

Highlights:

• Seven drill targets identified to date, scout drilling planned as soon as permitting and limited trenching completed.
• Soil geochemistry has defined two gold anomalies: 850 m by 150 m wide (Calandria Sur) and 550 m by 100 m wide (Calandria Norte).
• The anomalies coincide with hydrothermally altered rhyolite lava domes and surrounding breccias.
• New mineralized zones discovered with high grade gold and silver vein/ breccias at Calandria Norte (six zones) and Calandria Sur (six zones)
• Reconnaissance rock chip sampling at Calandria Sur returned 0.5 m @ 4.5 g/t Au and 405 g/t Ag and 0.8 m @ 5.7 g/t Au and 241 g/t Ag.

Dos Calandrias Lag Sampling Results

First phase coarse-fraction (lag) soil sampling (327 samples) has outlined two main gold anomalies at Calandria Sur (850 m by 150 m)
and Calandria Norte (550 m by 100 m). At Calandria Sur, samples were collected every 50m on E-W lines spaced 50 m apart over an area 800 by 600m. At Calandria Norte, samples were collected every 25 m along SE-NW lines spaced 50 m apart over an area 600m by 300m.

Assays ranged up to 717 ppb gold with 8% of the samples anomalous (Au > 73 ppb). Soil gold anomalies coincide with known silicified rocks and may also indicate mineralized zones concealed by thin colluvium.

Follow Up Results

Follow up of the lag sampling has discovered prospective NW and SE trending breccia zones in float and sub-outcrop in the southernmost part of the property with high gold and silver values in rock chips.
At Calandria Sur, sulphide-rich breccias are surrounded by larger areas of low sulfide quartz stockwork/breccia zones. Rock chips from the Deseada breccia zone assay up to 5.7 g/t Au and 241 g/t Ag, and up to 4.5 g/t Au and 405 g/t Ag from the El Abra breccia zone located 200 m NW of Deseada. The low sulphide breccias returned up to 0.8 g/t Au and 36 g/t Ag and 1.2 g/t Au and 62 g/t Ag at Deseada and Cristal (750m NW of Deseada) respectively (Figure 2).

The Calandria Norte lava dome and surrounding pyroclastics strike NE for more than 700 m and are cut by gold-bearing veins assaying up to 0.7m @ 20.2 g/t Au, 25 g/t Ag (see news release on 2 March 2009).

Proposed Drill Testing
Scout drilling (1500m) is planned once permitting is completed (see Figure 2 for preliminary drill target location). In the meantime, a short trenching program is scheduled to further define targets in covered areas. It is anticipated that the drilling will commence no later than October this year.

Background

The Dos Calandrias Project is located within Mariana Resources Limited's 100% owned Tongoril tenement in the central part of the Deseado Massif of Santa Cruz Province (Figure 1). Dos Calandrias features a rhyolite lava dome complex and underlying pyroclastic rocks. Gold and silver vein type mineralization related to NW and NE
regional structures and assaying up to 21.7 g/t Au & 62 g/t Ag was identified last year during reconnaissance.

Commenting today, Managing Director of Mariana Resources Ltd, John Sutcliffe said
"The recently discovered breccia zones at Dos Calandrias show potential for high-grade vein and bulk tonnage mineralization in this exciting rhyolite dome setting in the Deseado Massif. A limited amount of trenching will be carried out shortly and reconnaissance drilling is planned as soon as the environmental permit is granted".

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
John Sutcliffe
Managing Director

For more information:
Mariana Resources Limited
John Horsburgh (Chairman) +61 2 9437 4588
John Sutcliffe +59 32 298 6464

RFC Corporate Finance Limited (Nomad)
Rob Adamson +61 2 9250 0041
Will Souter +61 2 9250 0050

FinnCap (Broker)
Joe Lunn (Analyst) +44 20 7600 1658
Matthew Robinson +44 20 7600 1658

Or visit website at www.marianaresources.com

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
The exploration programme is being directed by the Argentina Exploration Manager, Dr Gustavo Rodriguez under supervision of Managing Director Mr John Sutcliffe. Exploration information in this announcement has been compiled by John Sutcliffe who is a Fellow of the Geological Society of London, a Chartered Engineer and a Member
of the Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. Mr Sutcliffe has sufficient experience relevant to the style of mineralization and types of gold deposit under consideration and to the activity that he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the JORC Code.

Lag Sampling Technique
The sampling procedure involves collecting 1 kg of material coarser than a Tyler mesh #9 (2.05mm) and sieving fragments coarser than Tyler mesh #4 (typically ~ 7 mm) from 5-20cm below the surface in order to reduce the influence of wind blown sand. The sampled material is submitted to the lab, where it is dried and processed
prior to analysis. Note that the lag soil grids extend over a moderate north and south-dipping slope at Calandria Sur and Norte respectively, and results may be reflect soil transport to some extent.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control
All technical information for the Company's Argentina projects is obtained and reported under a quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program. All samples are collected under the supervision of the Company geologists and dispatched via commercial transport to ALS Chemex laboratories in Mendoza, Argentina, and assayed in Santiago de Chile. ALS Chemex's quality system complies with the requirements for
the International Standards ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025: 1999.
Samples returning greater than 10 g/t gold and/or greater than 100 g/t silver are assayed using gravimetric analyses.
Systematic assaying of sample duplicates and commercially prepared standards and blanks is performed for analytical reliability.

For more information on Mining in Argentina, visit our website: http://www.argentinamining.com