VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 28, 2013) - Luna Gold Corp. (TSX:LGC)(OTCQX:LGCUF)(LMA:LGC) ("Luna" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, as a result of positive assay results from the exploration drill program at the 100% Luna owned Touro target in the Luna Greenfields, the Company will continue drilling in order to define a National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 compliant resource estimate.

The Touro target is located 17 kilometres southwest of the Company's Aurizona Gold Mine. Seven diamond drill holes totaling 1,674 metres were drilled testing a strike length of 400 metres. All holes intersected gold mineralization, and the target remains open to the North and South along strike and at depth.

Drill plan maps, cross-sections, and a preliminary 3-D model have been uploaded to the Luna Gold website at www.lunagold.com. A direct link to this section of the website is available at the conclusion of this press release.

Significant intercepts:

• 57.00 metres @ 0.81 g/t Au including 26.00 metres @ 1.26 g/t Au and 1.00 metre @ 7.12 g/t Au in TOURD001 (Section 0000)
  
  
• 24.00 metres @ 1.24 g/t Au including 2.00 meters @ 7.51 g/t Au in TOURD002 (Section 0100S)
  
  
• 85.00 metres @ 0.72 g/t Au including 8.00 meters @ 1.27 g/t Au and 5.00 meters @ 1.11 g/t Au in TOURD003 (Section 0200S)
  
  

"We are pleased by the significant and promising results of our initial drill program at Luna Greenfields," stated John Blake, Luna's President and Chief Executive Officer. "This program has defined mineralization over a 400 metre strike length, with a structure that is open to the north, south, and at depth. We are encouraged by these results, and as a result will continue drilling at the Touro target."

About Touro

Touro was an active garimpo (artisanal mine) in the 1980s. During this time, quartz veins and stockworks hosted by altered tonalities and diorites were mined from open pits and underground workings along a north-south shear zone. A large tailings deposit, the product of artisanal mining, extends for 1 kilometre north-south at Touro. Outcrop is limited to the walls and floors of garimpo pits. Luna conducted several exploration programs in 2012, including geological mapping, rock and channel sampling, geophysical surveys, a scout reverse circulation program, and a tailings auger drill program.

Touro Exploration Results

Results of these programs are summarized below and illustrated on maps and sections that have been uploaded to Luna's website. Assay results of the auger tailings drill program are pending. The seven hole diamond drill program was completed in December 2012.

To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/lgc128-F1.pdf.

Surface Channel Sampling Program

Following reconnaissance geological mapping, a channel sampling program was conducted across all available outcrops at Touro. 461 metres of sampling (523 individual samples including QA/QC) were completed. Detailed mapping was conducted along the channels, and this data has been integrated into a preliminary geologic model. The program identified several zones of both low and higher grade outcropping gold mineralization. Diamond drilling, reported below, has intersected the down-dip extensions of this surface mineralization. Select mineralized intervals are tabulated below in Table 1.

Table 1. Average gold grades from surface channel sampling of saprolite at the Touro target. Mineralized intervals are reported. Assay intervals listed are composites. A total of 461 metres of outcrop were sampled. Assay values for surface channel samples not reported here range between below detection limit (< 0.05 g/t Au) to 2.19 g/t Au.

Reverse Circulation Drill Program

There is lack of outcrop at Touro due to the occurrence of extensive tailings deposits. Accordingly, a reverse circulation ("RC") drill program was conducted to test for mineralized saprolite to a maximum depth of 30 metres beneath these deposits. This program successfully delineated a sub-cropping mineralized zone beneath the tailings deposits to the north and south of the garimpo pits that assisted in the siting of diamond holes and the mapping of the Touro Shear Zone ("TSZ"). Select mineralized RC drill intercepts are tabulated below in Table 2.

Table 2. Top ten mineralized drill intercepts from the scout Touro RC drill program. Intervals are calculated as composites using a 0.30 gram/tonne Au cut-off and maximum 2 metre internal waste. True widths to be established. Mineralized surface tailings material is not reported in the intervals.

Rock sampling was also conducted to determine the grades of individual quartz vein sets. 95 samples were collected during geologic mapping. Gold values range from below detection limit to 26.20 grams per tonne of gold. 35% of samples (34 samples) assayed greater than 0.50 grams per tonne of gold.

Diamond Drill Program

The initial seven hole diamond drill program, which totalled 1,674 metres, was designed to intersect mineralization in transition and fresh rock along the North-South trending TSZ, in addition to providing information to build a preliminary geologic model. All holes were drilled on surveyed 100 metre spaced sections towards 100°azimuth to intersect the shear zone at right angles. All holes intersected mineralization. When integrated with the RC and channel sample data, these holes define a mineralized zone ("MZ") extending for over 400 metres strike length trending North-North/East that remains open to the north and south (Figure 2 - http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/lgc128-F2.pdf). The maximum width of the MZ at surface is 90 metres (section 0100S). Mineralization was defined to a maximum depth of 140 metres right to left (TOURD006, Section 0000). Significant mineralized intercepts from holes drilled across the TSZ are tabulated below in Table 3.

Table 3. Mineralized drill intercepts from the initial Touro exploration drill program. Intervals are calculated as composites using a 0.30 gram/tonne Au cut-off and maximum 2 metre internal waste. True widths to be established. Mineralized surface tailings material is not reported in the intervals.

Gold mineralization at Touro is hosted in sheared tonalities and diorites of Paleoproterozoic age. The principal MZ trends north/northeast within the dextral brittle-ductile TSZ. Intensely altered tonalities constitute the dominant host unit for the wide zones of gold mineralization. Tonalite alteration consists of silicification, sericitization, carbonatization, sulfidation, albitization, and the presence of tourmaline and intense bleaching. Pyrite is the dominant sulfide mineral and constitutes up to 3% of the rock mass. Several sub-parallel narrow mineralized zones also cut the diorite (see cross-sections). Gold is also directly associated with quartz veins and stockworks. Three distinct sets have been mapped to date.

Drilling recommenced at the Touro target in mid-January. This drilling was designed to extend the mineralized structure to the north and south in addition to targeting higher-grade quartz vein systems at depth in the shear zone. Scissor holes will be drilled to better define the dip of the MZ. Luna also recently completed a large soil survey and geological mapping program of newly mapped historic artisanal pits and excavations. These historic sites extend for a radius of 3 kilometres outside the Touro target, and suggest that Touro is part of a larger mineralized gold district. The Company anticipates releasing the results of these exploration programs during the first quarter of 2013.

Touro Section of Luna's Website: http://www.lunagold.com/en/explorationprojects/TouroTarget.asp.

About Luna Gold Corp.

Luna is a gold production and exploration company engaged in the operation and development of gold deposits and advanced stage gold exploration projects in Brazil.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

LUNA GOLD CORP.

John Blake - President and CEO

Regulatory Footnotes

Luna operates a rigorous QA/QC protocol on all aspects of sampling and analytical procedure. Diamond drill core is checked, logged, marked for sampling and sawn in half. One half of the HQ diameter core is maintained for future reference and one half of the core is sent for analysis. Samples are collected at approximately 1 metre intervals which is reduced when a mineralized zone is encountered. Reverse Circulation drill samples are collected at the RC drill rig using 4.5 inch core tools. The entire RC sample is sent to the commercial laboratory for preparation and analysis. Samples are collected at both 1 and 2 metre intervals. Channel sampling is supervised by geologists and mining technicians and recorded on special log sheets. All areas intended for sampling are assessed and marked-up for sampling by geologists. For surface channel sampling all sample faces are cleaned to a depth of 15 centimeters and marked for sampling which is conducted at nominal 1 meter intervals using appropriate sampling tools which are cleaned between each sample. Sample intervals are surveyed using a Total Station. All core, RC and channel samples are stored in secure locked areas under Luna supervision. Samples are transported from the Aurizona project to the ALS Chemex sample preparation facility in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais accompanied by Luna personnel. Samples are assayed at ALS Chemex Labs in Lima, Peru using a 50 gram fire assay with AAS finish. ALS Chemex is an international laboratory and is independent of Luna. Each sample batch contains 10% of randomly inserted internal control samples consisting of certified analytical standards, blanks (barren rock) and duplicates. These QA/QC procedures provide several measures of data quality and assure the Company that the assay data is representative of the original sample.

Titus Haggan Ph.D., EurGeol Certified Professional Geologist #746, Luna's Vice President Exploration is the Qualified Person as defined under National Instrument 43-101 responsible for the scientific and technical work on the exploration program and has supervised the preparation of and reviewed the technical disclosure in this press release. Non-qualified persons currently work on Luna's exploration programs under the guidance of Titus Haggan. Dr. Haggan takes responsibility for work, information and advice generated by non-Qualified persons and has taken the steps required to ensure that the work, information and advice is sound.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. persons unless registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains certain "forward-looking statements" and certain "forward-looking information" as defined under applicable Canadian and U.S. securities laws. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may", "will", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "plans" or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future gold production and/or the results of analysis on gold production. Forward-looking statements are based on forecasts of future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions that while believed by management to be reasonable, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors identified in Luna Gold Corp.'s periodic filings with Canadian Securities Regulators. These factors include the inherent risks involved in the exploration and development of mineral properties, the uncertainties involved in interpreting drill results and other exploration data, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations, accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters, labor disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in production and operations, fluctuating metal prices, unanticipated costs and expenses, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations, currency fluctuations, regulatory restrictions, including environmental regulatory restrictions and liability, competition, loss of key employees, and other related risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information except as required by applicable law. Such forward-looking information represents management's best judgment based on information currently available. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed and actual future results may vary materially. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.