Avrupa Acquires Remaining 10% Interest in MAEPA in Portugal

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - April 11, 2012) - Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:AVU) is pleased to announce that it has purchased the remaining 10% interest in MAEPA -- Empreendimentos Mineiros e Particpacoes, Lda. ("MAEPA") from owner Eng. Adriano Barros, who is one of the leading and most respected exploration and mining advocates in Portugal. Avrupa now owns 100% interest in MAEPA. Eng. Barros will continue with MAEPA and Avrupa in his role as a senior exploration and business development advisor.

MAEPA holds all the Company's licenses and mineral property interests in Portugal. The Company initially purchased its 90% interest in MAEPA in July 2010 as part of its qualifying transaction.

Paul W. Kuhn, CEO of Avrupa Minerals, commented that purchasing the remaining 10% interest in MAEPA allows the Company to better negotiate with potential JV partners on its properties in Portugal.

The terms of the acquisition are:

1. Avrupa shall pay Eng. Barros Cdn$150,000 within 10 days of Avrupa closing a financing, first announced on February 27, 2012;

2. Avrupa shall issue Eng. Barros 500,000 common shares of Avrupa, subject to certain trading restrictions, as soon as Avrupa obtains the approval from the TSX Venture Exchange to this agreement and the issuance of the shares.

This arrangement remains subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

In addition, the Company granted a total of 800,000 options to its directors, officers, employees and consultants at a price of $0.30 for a period of five years expiring April 10, 2017.

Avrupa Minerals Ltd. is a growth-oriented junior exploration and development company focused on aggressive exploration, using a prospect generator model, for valuable mineral deposits in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, including Portugal, Kosovo, and Germany.

The Company has an exciting portfolio of exploration projects consisting of:

• Copper and Zinc in southern Portugal at Marateca and in the Alvalade JV project area located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, where Europe's richest active copper mine operates;

• Tungsten and Gold in northern Portugal at the Covas JV project area;

• Precious metal and REE potential in the Aljezur project area, south Portugal;

• Silver, Lead and Zinc in Kosovo at the Glavej, Kamenica, Selac, and Bajgora properties in the Trepça Mineral Belt of the Vardar Zone, historically, Europe's most productive district for lead and zinc;

• Copper and Gold in southern Kosovo within the Koritnik exploration license area in the Sharr-Dragash intrusive complex;

• Gold in eastern Germany in the 307 km² Oelsnitz exploration license in the historic Erzgebirge Mining District, a 1000-year producer of tin, tungsten, silver, base metals, and uranium.

On behalf of the Board,

Paul W. Kuhn, President & Director

This news release was prepared by Company management, who take full responsibility for its content. Paul W. Kuhn, President and CEO of Avrupa Minerals, a Licensed Professional Geologist and a Registered Member of the Society of Mining Engineers, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has reviewed the technical disclosure in this release.