Minera IRL Announces Exploration Update, Escondido Project, Argentina

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM and TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 3, 2011) - Minera IRL Limited ("Minera IRL" or the "Company"), (TSX:IRL)(AIM:MIRL)(BVLAC:MIRL) the Latin American focused gold mining, development and exploration company, announces an exploration update at the Escondido Project in Patagonia, Argentina. Assay results have now been received from 9 new widely spaced holes into the Northern Breccia trend. 

Highlights:

• Best intersections into the bulk tonnage target area include E-D10-020 with 33.5 meters grading 0.89g/t gold and 2.83g/t silver, including 10.2 meters of 1.83g/t gold and 4.45 g/t silver and E-D10-24 with 17.0 meters grading 1.13g/t gold and 8.23g/t silver

• A new IP Gradient Array geophysical survey east of the previous IP grid has defined a highly encouraging resistivity and conductivity anomaly along the untested 900 meter south-easterly trending extension of the Northern Breccia trend

• The next stage of diamond drilling into the Northern Breccia Zone, with a program of approximately 4,000 meters, is scheduled to commence during March 2011

Minera IRL Limited announced a new discovery in September 2010 at the Escondido Project, Santa Cruz Province, Argentina. Drilling identified wide zones of potentially bulk minable gold and silver mineralization, contiguous to Mariana Resources Las Calandrias Project. More encouraging assay intersections have now been received from the widely spaced second-pass scout drilling program carried out in December 2010. The drill program confirms that mineralization extends over almost 700 meters of strike from the northern tenement boundary and remains open-ended toward both the east and south-east. 

Results have also been received from an extended IP Gradient Array geophysical survey which shows a wide resistivity anomaly over the remaining 900 meters of untested ground between the current drilling and the eastern boundary of the Escondido tenement block. A substantial, chargeability anomaly coincident with the resistivity has also been identified. The extended geophysics provides another excellent drill target for the 4,000 meter diamond drill program about to commence in March. 

"The recent drill results provide a significant step forward in progressing our immediate objective of probing the limits of mineralization on the Escondido Northern Breccia trend" said Courtney Chamberlain, Executive Chairman of Minera IRL. "A new fence of holes to the south east has confirmed continuity of gold/silver mineralization along strike of a newly defined chargeability high within a broad resistivity geophysical anomaly. This confirms a strong probability for disseminated sulphide mineralization within a silicified zone giving us another excellent target for the pending drilling program."

Selected intercepts from the second pass Escondido scout drilling are tabulated below.

	Intercept			Assay – g/t
Hole Number	From	To	Meters	Au	Ag	Gold Equivalent – g/t*
E-D10-020	51.00	84.50	33.50	0.89	2.83	0.91
including	56.15	66.35	10.20	1.83	4.45	1.90
E-D10-022	10.00	62.45	52.45	0.64	9.51	0.80
including	26.00	29.45	3.45	3.53	26.37	3.97
E-D10-024	15.00	32.00	17.00	1.13	8.23	1.27
E-D10-027	20.60	65.00	44.40	0.52	1.79	0.55
E-D10-033	86.25	90.70	4.45	0.82	59.02	1.80

*Gold equivalent grade is calculated by dividing the silver value by 60 and adding this to the gold value.

Minera IRL considers that there are several significant findings in these results. Hole E-D10-024 confirms the presence of precious metal mineralization in a central area where results reported in September 2010 were weak. Gold and silver values from step out holes E-D10-027 and E-D10-033 suggest mineralization is open toward the south-east where extended geophysics has identified highly encouraging drill targets spanning over 900 meters. 

Additional information on Escondido, including plans and drill sections as well as the extended geophysical images, can be found on the Minera IRL website www.minera-irl.com.

In addition, Minera IRL continues to advance the Don Nicolas feasibility study and is actively exploring a number of highly promising grass roots precious metal prospects that are also located within the 2,700 square kilometre lease holding in Patagonia.

Competent Persons Statement

The preparation of the technical information contained herein was supervised by Donald McIver, VP Exploration of the Company, MSc Exploration and Economic Geology, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AUSIMM), 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 and 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 in operating in South America. The Group operates the Corihuarmi Gold Mine and the emerging Ollachea Gold Project in Peru as well as the advanced Don Nicolas Project 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 on its projects to ensure best industry practice in sampling and analysis of exploration and resource definition 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.