There are lots of mining companies out there and investors can sometimes become so overwhelmed with quantity that it's hard to find quality. Orvana, though, is a clear winner among the crowd – they are a smart mining company doing the right things and it shows in their track record of success and growth.

Dr. Bill Williams Vice President, Corporate Development

Orvana Minerals is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario and has projects in Bolivia, Spain, and the US. We spoke to Dr. Bill Williams, Vice President of Orvana Minerals, recently. Dr. Williams has been with Orvana since 2008. He tells us a bit about his history leading up to his tenure at Orvana: "I started out early in the 1980's in the oil industry then changed gears in the 1990's and got into the mining industry. I've done most of my work in the Americas. I have a pretty strong copper background but I've done some gold work over the years."

Orvana is a gold producer which ran one project for several years then made some significant advances in recent years to enjoy dynamic and compelling growth. "The 'old' Orvana was a one-mine wonder," says Dr. Williams. "Between 2003 and 2009 we produced about 420,000 ounces of gold at a very low cash cost. Within the last 12 months, we have transformed into a company with three projects in multi-metals. We are growing very quickly and within time we want more organic growth and acquisition."

They know what they are good at and they focus on becoming better: Leveraging their strengths, reducing costs, and relying on strong leadership. "Our forte is underground mining; that is where our expertise is."

Carlos Mirabal CEO and President    

 Malcolm King CFO

El Valle Mill and Offices

Their three projects are based in Spain, Bolivia, and the US:

A smart acquisition marks their Spanish mine: "Our flagship project is the El Valle-Boinás/Carlés Project in Northern Spain. It's a gold, copper, and silver project." This project was acquired when Orvana acquired the Kinbauri Gold Company. According to their website, "a feasibility study is planned during fiscal [year] 2010. The project has a plant and a mill with 750,000 tonnes per year capacity as well as extensive infrastructure." Dr. Williams says, "We plan to reactivate the mine in January 2011 and development is currently ongoing."

The Don Mario District in Eastern Bolivia is their oldest project and has produced over 400,000 ounces of gold between 2003 and 2009 and has earned more than $137.6 million in cash flow. They are now planning to extend the opportunities that exist in the mine. "Recently, the underground deposit was depleted," reports Dr. Williams. "We are now mining a lower grade surface deposit. While we're doing that, we're also constructing and expanding our plant to have a flotation circuit as we plan to start producing the Upper Mineralized Zone – a copper, gold, and silver project – near our infrastructure."

The Copperwood Project in Upper Peninsula, Michigan was added in September 2008. This mine is very close to the White Pine Mine, which is now inactive but which produced nearly 2 million tonnes of copper between 1953 and 1996."This summer we just completed an 82 hole

drill program which delineated the deposit and we're in the process of bringing the data together for a resource estimate."

With three big projects on the go, they are realistic about the challenges they face. "Every mine has its challenges… We want to meet these production schedules. And, everybody needs to be a 'Renaissance Man' to deal with social issues, political issues, environmental issues, geological issues, and the engineering issues all at once. We can meet this challenge. The biggest thing for us is to prove to people that we can do this."

The issues are well in hand; the challenges exist but they are under control. Dr. Williams explains: "If you look at the social issues, we are in mining-friendly jurisdictions. The communities want these projects so we're getting really good support and very little push-back. From a political point of view, there is some political instability in Bolivia but we've never faced any significant disruptions in production."

What's next for Orvana? While focusing on their strengths, they are diversifying their portfolio in advanced-stage projects in stable geopolitical regions, all while making sure that they enhance shareholder value.

"We're a serious mining company. We want to make mines… we have some cash flow and when we have established a serious cash flow, we'll be looking at more projects to grow," says Dr. Williams.

Indeed, they not only want to grow through acquisition but they want to extend wisely every investment they currently have: "If you look at the El Valle-Boinás/Carlés Project [in Spain], it will produce about 100,000 ounces of gold per year, and about 4000 tonnes of copper, and 150,000 to 200,000 ounces of silver per year. We're now drilling and revising our resource estimate to see how we can extend the life of the mine. The current total resource is about 2 million ounces and we still think there's upside. So that could very well go beyond ten years. With our development plans in Bolivia, the start of commercial production in the Upper Mineralized Zone would extend the mine life another 9 years."

It's exciting to see a company in the midst of growth with its key leadership team making smart decisions to move the company forward.

References

Orvana Minerals Corp.

320 Bay Street, Suite 1530

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

M5H 4A6

Tel: 416 369 1629

Fax: 416 369 1402

Investor Relations

Jane Watson

(1) 647-221-9505