TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 20, 2012) - Calvista Gold Corporation (TSX:CVZ) ("Calvista" or the "Company") is pleased to announce selected drill hole results from the recently completed Phase I exploration drilling program at its Buenavista and Callejon Blanco prospects which indicate two new mineralized gold zones in the highly prospective California Valley of Colombia.

The Phase I drilling program at our California Project was completed in January 2012 and consisted of 15,054.43 metres of diamond core drilling over 38 holes in total. Of this program, 2,328.10 metres (5 holes) were drilled at the Buenavista prospect, and 12,726.33 metres (33 holes) were drilled at the Callejon Blanco prospect.

The Company's Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Mark Haywood, stated that "the results of the Phase I drill program show that continuity of gold mineralization on two of our California zones now extends our strike to at least 650 and 300 metres, respectively. Calvista is excited that the resource estimation currently in progress on these mineralized zones may result in a significant initial gold resource in the coming month."

Our exploration activities on the Callejon Blanco prospect have now connected previously unknown mineralized structures with the adjacent mineralized zones which were defined by Galway Resources (See Figure 1 below). Primarily as a result of the Phase I drill program, we have identified a new mineralized gold zone with a strike distance of approximately 700 metres commencing near surface and open at depth.

At our nearby Buenavista prospect (See Figure 1 below) exploration activities have also discovered a mineralized gold zone of approximately 300 metres in strike distance. This zone of mineralization is adjacent to the Aserradero mineralized zone which has been defined by AUX Canada Acquisition Inc. (formerly Ventana Gold Corp.), and confirms that gold mineralization is present parallel to the well-defined La Mascota gold zones.

A mineral resource estimate incorporating all of our exploration results to date for the Callejon Blanco and Buenavista zones is being prepared under NI 43-101 guidelines by our independent expert, James Steel (P.Geo., MBA) of GENIVAR. The resource estimate, as advised in previous press releases, is on track and due for completion shortly.

Drill hole intersections are reported as drilled thicknesses. True width thicknesses of mineralized intervals are interpreted to be between 50 and 100% of the reported lengths. A table with all assay results over 1 gram per tonne gold (DDH-01 to DDH-38) is available at www.calvistagold.com

A Phase II drilling plan is also being prepared for activities to commence within the month.

To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/CGFig.pdf

The Company also wishes to thank Mr. Edgar Castellanos, who as of early last month is no longer ad-honorem advisor to Calvista.

Quality Assurance

Calvista has developed and implemented Quality Assurance/Quality Control protocols that exceeds current industry best practices. Calvista's exploration protocol includes the insertion of blanks, duplicates, standards and external controls on all their samples. Samples with assay results greater than 10 g/t Au are re-assayed by metallic screen analysis. Sample preparation is conducted by SGS Colombia S.A ("SGS") in Medellin, Colombia before being analyzed at the SGS certified assay laboratory in Lima, Peru.

Technical Information

Mr. Ricardo Valls, P. Geo., Calvista's VP Exploration, is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43- 101") and has reviewed and validated that the technical information contained in the release is accurate.

About Calvista

Calvista is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of properties for the mining of gold and other minerals. All our prospects in the California Valley are located below 3,200 meters and are not affected by the Paramo ecosystem law. With a head office in Toronto and Colombian headquarters in Bucaramanga, Calvista is led by a management team with over 50 years of exploration and mining experience, principally in South and Central America. For further details on Calvista, please refer to Calvista's web site (www.calvistagold.com) and Calvista's Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, Calvista's objectives, goals or future plans, statements regarding exploration results, exploration plans and the timing of a potential resource estimate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, uncertainties inherent to preparing a resource estimate within expected timeline, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, enhanced risks inherent to conducting business in a jurisdiction such as Colombia, and those risks set out in Calvista's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although Calvista believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies 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. Calvista disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

To view the Table associated with this press release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/CGTable.pdf