Including 5.14 Meters of 28.63 Grams Per Tonne Gold

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Jan. 19, 2011 (Marketwire) --

AQUILA RESOURCES INC. (TSX:AQA)(FRANKFURT:JM4A) ("Aquila" or the "Company"), is very pleased to announce the first drill results from the first 13 holes of a 20 hole drilling program at its 100% owned Michigan Gold Project targeting precious metal mineralization in the Marquette Greenstone Belt in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which comprises a number of properties in the Marquette Greenstone Belt. The overall exploration effort is designed to add gold resources to Aquila's asset base in the Upper Peninsula, which includes the Back Forty Project, a joint venture with HudBay Minerals Inc. ("HudBay") (TSX:HBM)(NYSE:HBM) which is in an advanced stage of exploring and developing an 18 million tonne VMS zinc/gold deposit.

Initial results are from the Peninsula Property, the first of several highly prospective properties comprising the Michigan Gold Project. Drilling results included the following near-surface intercepts from an extension of known mineralization at the property:

--  4.48 g/t gold over 3.08 meters in Pen 10-9 

--  3.72 g/t gold over 4.88 meters in Pen 10-10 

--  9.47 g/t gold over 16.67 meters in Pen 10-11 

--  8.62 g/t gold over 2.88 meters in Pen 10-13 

The drill results are from an initial program targeting shear zone hosted gold mineralization at the Peninsula Property where previous drilling by Callahan Mining Corp. in the 1980's partially defined gold mineralization along approximately 150 meters of strike length. Aquila's drilling was designed to confirm the structure in the area of previous drilling as well as to extend the mineralization beyond the limits of previous drilling in an area of mineralized outcrops discovered by Aquila last year.

The current drilling encountered significant near surface mineralization in a 150 meter extension (B Zone) of the previously defined Peninsula shear zone, with six of the holes reporting visible gold, including an interval of 0.5 meters of 225 g/t gold (6.56 ounces per ton) in Pen 10-11. Pending results include seven additional drill holes including two containing visible gold.

Results for holes available to date are presented in the table below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DDH                     From (m)      To (m)     Interval (m)(i)  Gold (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                   Drill Holes in Previously Drilled Area                   
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

PEN-10-1                              No significant values                 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-2                    24.5          26                 1.5        2.21
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-2                   51.86       53.72                1.86        1.28
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-3                   29.05       30.11                1.06        2.08
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-4                   49.22          51                1.78        1.03
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-5                   25.16          28                2.84        2.40
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       Drill Holes In B Zone Extension                      
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-6                    7.29       15.34                8.05        1.60
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Includes                   7.29       10.78                3.49        3.31
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-7                    12.5        18.0                 5.5        1.81
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Includes                   12.5        14.0                 1.5        4.32
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-8                    13.0       15.82                2.82        1.12
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-9                    35.0       38.08                3.08        4.48
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Includes                   35.0        36.5                 1.5        9.05
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-10                  12.84       24.48               11.64        1.76
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Includes                  12.84        19.5                6.66        2.94
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Includes                  14.62        19.5                4.88        3.72
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-11                  18.07       34.74               16.67        9.47
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Includes                  19.86        25.0                5.14       28.63
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Includes                  22.55        25.0                2.45       53.71
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Includes                  22.55       23.05                 0.5      225.78
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-12                  15.51       16.63                1.12        1.73
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                           18.08       18.58                 0.5        3.67
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
PEN-10-13                  26.84       29.72                2.88        8.62
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Includes                   28.0       29.72                1.72       13.93
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i)Drilled thickness, not true thickness                                    

The Peninsula shear zone consists of a 2 to 15 meter thick, steeply dipping zone of shearing, brecciation and quartz carbonate veining. Higher grade portions contain quartz veining and silicification, locally with visible gold. Silver values are low - generally in the single digit ppm range, and only trace amounts of pyrite and other sulfides are normally present. The zone has now been partially defined along approximately 300 meters of strike length and remains open along strike and down dip.

"This is an excellent start to Aquila's strategy to develop gold assets on the back of our joint venture interest in the Back Forty Project," stated Tom Quigley, Aquila's President. "We are excited to kick off our Michigan gold exploration program with such positive results, and are optimistic about continuing to expand this target with more drilling. Although our present focus is on developing gold resources in the area of the Back Forty development to capitalize on potential gold circuit infrastructure, we are also acquiring other properties and projects further removed from the Back Forty Project, with excellent potential to further add gold and silver resources to Aquila's asset base."

Assays Pending and Continuing Drilling

Assays are still pending for an additional seven holes from the Peninsula target, and following receipt of these, the mineralized B Zone extension will be modeled with previous drill information, and a subsequent program of follow-up drilling will be designed and implemented. In the meantime, drilling is continuing on additional gold targets in the Marquette Greenstone Belt, with drilling in progress at the Silver Creek gold target north of the Peninsula.

Silver Creek Property

Five holes have been completed at the Silver Creek Property targeting sheared and highly altered felsic intrusive rocks. One of these holes contains visible gold. The Silver Creek Property is located approximately eight miles north of the Peninsula Property.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Exploration core drilling was NQ size. The core was logged and mineralized intersections were marked for sampling and assaying by geologists and geo-technicians employed by Aquila Resources Inc. and the HudBay Aquila Joint Venture. The marked intersections or intervals were sawn in half by a diamond saw and one-half of the core was placed in sample bags and tagged with unique sample numbers, while the remaining half was returned to the core box for storage. Each bagged core sample was transported to Minerals Processing Corporation's sample prep lab in Carney, Michigan where it was dried, crushed and pulverized and a 250-gram sample was prepared and split, with one split for assaying at Inspectorate Labs in Sparks, Nevada. Strict sampling and QA/QC protocol are followed, including the insertion of standards and blanks in the sample stream on a regular basis. Sample intervals are typically 1.5 meters. Analytical method for gold is fire assay with atomic adsorption finish and gravimetric finish for samples greater than 3.0 g/t gold. All other elements are analyzed by ICP with silver over limits (greater than 200 g/t) analyzed by fire assay/gravimetric finish and base metal over limits analyzed by AAS.

Assaying integrity is monitored internally with a quality control program, which includes the use of assay sample standards, blanks, duplicates and repeats, and externally through national and international programs. This news release provides core lengths and estimates of vertical thickness only. True widths are not provided. Where metal assays are provided for intersections they are either a single assay of a sample of the entire intersection length or a composite of assays calculated from interval weighted assays over the intersection length.

Thomas O. Quigley is the Qualified Person for Aquila as described in National Instrument 43-101 responsible for contents of this release.

More information about Aquila and the Back Forty Project, including updated drilling information, can be found on the Company's website at www.aquilaresources.com.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, risks related to international operations; risks related to joint venture operations; actual results of current exploration activities; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future prices of resources; possible variations in reserves, grade or recovery rates, accidents, labour disputes and other risks of the mining industry; and delays in obtaining governmental approvals or financing or in the completion of development or construction activities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Shares Outstanding: 82,656,711

Aquila Resources Inc. (Toronto)
CFO
416-203-1404

[email protected]

Aquila Resources Inc. (U.S.)
President
906-753-9602

[email protected]