MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - Jan. 26, 2012) -

THIS PRESS RELEASE, REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE CANADIAN LAWS, IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

AURVISTA GOLD CORP. ("Aurvista" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:AVA) is pleased to announce that it has commenced its winter drilling program at its wholly-owned Douay Project ("the Project"), located near Matagami Quebec in the northern Abitibi region. This phase will include a minimum 8,000 metres of diamond drilling. Drill holes planned for this phase will focus on extending the known gold resources in the bulk tonnage Porphyry Zone to the west, to the east and to depth (up to depths of 450 m).

"Our objective in the near term is to significantly expand the current 1.8 million ounce gold resource at the Project" stated Rick Adams, Aurvista's Chairman, President and CEO. "We believe that the Porphyry Zone represents an outstanding opportunity for us to achieve this objective, as this large zone is currently open to the west, east and at depth."

This drill program is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter of 2012, with results released as they are received by the Company.

Jean Lafleur, P. Geo., VP Exploration, is the Qualified Person responsible for technical content of this release.

About Aurvista

Aurvista Gold Corporation is a junior gold exploration and development company. Aurvista's principal asset is the 100% owned Douay Property, consisting of 218 contiguous claims totaling approximately 11,440 hectares located on the Casa Berardi Fault containing a NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resources of 42.6 million tonnes at 1.29 g/t gold (1,800,000 oz) in the Inferred category and 905,000 tonnes at 1.7 g/t gold (49,000 oz) in the Measured and Indicated categories, at a cut-off of 0.7 g/t gold. In addition to these Resources, Douay West hosts Measured and Indicated Resources of 313,000 tonnes at 7.75 g/t gold (77,992 oz) and Inferred Resources of 267,000 tonnes at 8.53 g/t gold (73,187 oz), at a cut-off of 4.0 g/t gold.