Aura Minerals Inc. Announces Joint Treasury and Secondary Bought Equity
Financing

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES /

VANCOUVER , Jan. 15 /CNW/ - Aura Minerals Inc. (TSX: ORA) (the "Company" or "Aura Minerals") announced today that it and Zoneplan Limited (the "Selling Shareholder"), have each entered into an agreement with Canaccord Financial Ltd. and a syndicate of underwriters (collectively, the "Underwriters"), which have agreed to purchase, on a bought deal basis, 18,000,000 common shares from the treasury of the Company (the "Treasury Common Shares") and 6,000,000 previously issued common shares of the Company from the holdings of the Selling Shareholder (the "Secondary Common Shares", collectively with the Treasury Shares the "Offered Securities") at a price of C$4.20 per Offered Security (the "Issue Price") for aggregate gross proceeds of C$100,800,000 (collectively the "Underwritten Offering").

The Company has granted to the Underwriters an option (the "Over-Allotment Option") to purchase additional common shares from the treasury of the Company at the Issue Price to raise additional gross proceeds of up to 15% of the amount raised pursuant to the sale of the Treasury Common Shares exercisable at any time, in whole or in part, up to 30 days after the Closing (as herein defined). All references herein to the "Offering" shall be read to include the offering of any common shares of the Company pursuant to the Over-Allotment Option.

The net proceeds from the sale of the Offered Securities (other than the proceeds from the sale of the Secondary Common Shares) will be used for exploration and development of the Company's mineral properties, and for general corporate working capital purposes.

The Offering is being made pursuant to a short form prospectus to be filed in the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario. The Offered Securities will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements.

The Offering is expected to close on or about February 4, 2010 (the "Closing").

This press release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in the United States . The securities being offered have not been, nor will be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration requirements.

About Aura Minerals Inc.

Aura Minerals is a Canadian resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration, development and operation of gold and base metal projects in the Americas. The Company's portfolio includes the San Andres Gold Mine in Honduras , the Aranzazu Copper-Gold-Silver Project in Mexico , and the feasibility-stage Serrote Deposit at the Arapiraca Copper-Gold-Iron Ore Project in Brazil . In addition, the Company has agreed to acquire the producing Sao Francisco and Sao Vicente Gold Mines in Brazil , subject to regulatory approvals.

Cautionary Statement:

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. This news release contains forward-looking statements that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking statements include those risks set out in Aura Minerals' public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although Aura Minerals believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Aura Minerals disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information: please visit Aura Minerals Inc.'s web site at www.auraminerals.com or contact: Aura Minerals Inc., Patrick Downey, President & Chief Executive Officer, Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone], Email: [email protected], Website: www.auraminerals.com