Minera IRL Commences Permitting on Ollachea Gold Project, Peru

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM and TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Dec. 21, 2012) - Minera IRL Limited ("Minera IRL" or the "Company"), (TSX:IRL)(AIM:MIRL)(BVLAC:MIRL) the Latin America gold mining company, is pleased to announce that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has been submitted to the Peruvian authorities on 20 December 2012 thus commencing the permitting process at the Company's flagship Ollachea Gold Project.

Highlights:

• Unanimous approval of the EIA by the Ollachea community general assembly on 29 November 2012. Community approval is a prerequisite to submission to the government
  
  
• EIA submitted to the Peruvian authorities based upon the recently completed Ollachea Feasibility Study
  
  
• Company anticipating Ollachea development permit to be granted mid-2013
  
  

"After obtaining a very satisfactory result on the Ollachea Feasibility Study, the EIA has now been submitted to the authorities," said Courtney Chamberlain, Executive Chairman of Minera IRL. "We have received outstanding support from the Ollachea community with a general assembly unanimously approving the EIA thus fulfilling the first requirement of the permitting process. Our objective is to obtain the development permit in mid 2013."

The Company has carried out comprehensive environmental baseline studies over the past three years. This information has been incorporated into the details of the projected mine, processing and infrastructure plans to evaluate the environmental impact of the operation. In all cases, internationally recognized environmental guidelines have been used to mitigate impacts. Key environmental related features include the following:

• Ollachea will be an underground mine resulting in minimal surface disturbance and impact
  
  
• Process tailing will be filtered and dry-stacked. Rehabilitation will blend with the local environment
  
  
• A water treatment plant will ensure that all water release complies with the rigorous Peruvian standards
  
  
• Careful attention has also been given to the key aspect of socio-economic impacts including planned sustainable development projects
  
  

The EIA was compiled by environmental consultancy Tecnologia XXI S.A. A number of Peruvian government departments will participate in the permitting process.

The Ollachea Project Feasibility Study, announced on 29 November 2012, was carried out by international engineering firm AMEC in conjunction with Coffey Mining. The Project involves a 1.1 million tonne per annum underground mine and conventional gold processing plant to produce an average of 113,000 ounces of gold per annum at full capacity. Up-front capital cost is projected at US$177.5 million and a life-of-mine cash operating cost of US$499/ounce. Operations are scheduled to commence at the beginning of 2015.

The 1,200 meter long exploration drive has now passed 1,000 meters. Satisfactory ground conditions have allowed the tunnel to progress at a rate well above expectations. Another positive feature is that water seepage into the tunnel is much lower than expected. Exploration drilling of the eastern strike extent of the Minapampa Zone is scheduled to commence on 2 January 2013.

The preparation of the technical information contained herein was supervised by Courtney Chamberlain, Executive Chairman, BSc and MSc Metallurgical Engineering, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (FAusIMM), 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.

Minera IRL Limited is the AIM traded, TSX and BVL listed holding company of precious metals mining and exploration companies focused in Latin America. Minera IRL is led by an experienced senior management team with extensive industry experience, particularly operating in South America. The Group operates the Corihuarmi Gold Mine and the advanced gold projects Ollachea in Peru and Don Nicolas in Argentina. For more information, please visit www.minera-irl.com.

Some of the statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements, such as estimates and statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals, including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated condition or result to occur. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature, they involve inherent risks and uncertainties.

While these forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment regarding the direction of our business, actual results will almost always vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates, predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance suggestions herein. Except as required by applicable law or regulation, Minera IRL Limited does not intend to update any forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control Procedures Disclosure

The Company has implemented and maintains a Minera IRL quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) protocol 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 QAQC procedures have been approved.

Independent Audit Programs

Towards 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 QAQC procedures.