Luna Gold increases resources by 48% at the Aurizona Gold Project, in Brazil

VANCOUVER, May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -Luna Gold Corp. (TSXV-LGC)
("Luna" or the "Company") is pleased to release a NI 43-101 compliant resource
for its wholly owned Aurizona gold project, in Maranhao State, Brazil. Luna
has increased both the indicated and inferred resource, from their historic
levels, by 48%. Aurizona now has a measured and indicated resource of 763,000
ounces gold and an inferred resource of 525,000 ounces gold.
Table 1. - Aurizona 43-101 Resource Estimate (May 2008)

Measured Indicated M&I
------------------------- ------------------------- ---------
tonnes Au oz tonnes Au oz oz
(Kt) (g/t) (Kt) (g/t)
------------------------- ------------------------- ---------
Piaba 1,400 1.39 63,000 15,361 1.29 635,000 698,000
Tatajuba 1,554 1.30 65,000 65,000
------------------------- ------------------------- ---------
total 1,400 1.39 63,000 16,915 1.29 700,000 763,000

Inferred
-------------------------
tonnes Au oz
(Kt) (g/t)
-------------------------
Piaba 10,760 1.36 469,000
Tatajuba 1,859 0.94 56,000
-------------------------
total 12,619 1.29 525,000

1) 0.3 g/t cut-off
2) 20g/t cap at Piaba and a 10g/t cap at Tatajuba
3) block dimensions are 10m x 10m in the xy plane and 3m on
the z axiz
4) Piaba database consists of 150 diamond drill holes and
62 RC holes
5) Tatajuba database consists of 45 diamond drill holes
6) Piaba drill results released after 28 January 2008 have
not been included in this resource estimate
7) Tatajuba drill results released after 19 March 2008 have
not been included in this resource estimate
8) Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not
have a demonstrated economic viability
9) the independent QP responsible for the mineral resource
estimate is Leah Mach, CPG, of SRK Consulting, Denver

Luna's CEO, Tim Searcy, comments, "The Company has had great success in
upgrading and expanding the historic resource. 4,500m of drilling at Piaba and
1,800m at Tatajuba has increased the resources by nearly fifty percent. I am
confident that the deposit will continue to grow, because: 1) drilling has not
yet identified a bottom to the deposit, 2) Orogenic gold deposits, like the
deposits at Aurizona, typically have good vertical continuity, and 3) the last
five holes reported from Piaba (please see the press release dated 28 February
2008 & 22 April 2008) were not included in this estimate, but they have all
intersected similarly styled mineralization at depths amenable to open-pit
mining. The Company continues to drill at Aurizona, with the focus still on
Piaba and Tatajuba."
SRK Consulting has been commissioned to undertake a 43-101 reserve
statement for Luna Gold on the Aurizona project. This resource estimate
constitutes part of that work. Luna intends to file a NI 43-101 compliant
technical report within 45 days of this release.
Exploration Targets
A number of parallel to sub-parallel trends exist to the northwest and
southeast of the main Piaba-Tatajuba structure; please visit
www.lunagold.com/i/maps/Aurizona_Targets.jpg to see the locations of the
various trends. Some of these trends have been drill tested by past operators
along various sections. Selected results from the historic drilling are listed
in Table 2.
Table 2. - Significant Intercepts from Satellite Targets (Historic
Drilling from previous operators)

True
Target Hole # From To Length Width Grade Comments
(m) (m) (m) (m) (g/t)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Micote BRAZD-013 89.00 101.27 12.27 6.1 3.16 - includes
0.95m of
31.76 g/t
117.00 124.15 7.15 3.6 2.65 - includes 0.7m
of 12.7 g/t
BRAZD-014 0.00 29.43 29.43 14.7 1.34
BRAZD-035 90.72 96.00 5.28 2.6 12.18 - includes
0.78m of
75.0 g/t
Boa
Esperanca BRAZD-160 47.88 57.50 9.62 6.2 1.01
BRAZD-163 1.20 9.00 7.80 5.0 1.14
BRAZP-08 22.00 33.00 11.00 3.8 1.24
Pe Grande BRAZD-153 8.80 18.20 9.40 6.2 1.47
Ferradura BRAZD-172 14.00 26.00 12.00 7.7 1.39
BRAZD-178 32.00 39.00 7.00 4.5 2.88
Sao
Lourenco BRAZD-127 44.00 48.00 4.00 2.8 4.60
54.00 58.78 4.78 3.4 5.77 - includes
0.55m of
20.68 g/t
BRAZD-149 4.00 7.15 3.15 2.0 10.73 - includes 1.3m
of 32.63 g/t
Rio Bonito BRAZD-046 30.00 32.23 2.23 1.3 2.50
Pirocaua BRAZD-182 67.00 106.46 39.46 25.4 1.67
BRAZP-05 0.00 5.00 5.00 5.0 2.11

- the complete drill database for the Aurizona project can be found at
www.lunagold.com

Luna's Exploration Manager, Titus Haggan states "Limited drilling and
deposit reinterpretation has provided very positive results to date. Drilling
at Aurizona is ongoing, focusing on depth expansion at Piaba and strike and
depth expansion at Tatajuba. In addition, Luna has yet to test a number of the
other satellite deposits that occur in the immediate vicinity of Piaba and
Tatajuba within the area defined as Aurizona Main. In the coming months, a
second drill rig will be added to the project to begin the testing of these
targets."
Methodology of the Resource Estimate
Mineralized envelopes were defined at 0.3g/t for both Piaba and Tatajuba.
At Piaba, an indicator was used to define waste and mineralized zones within
the mineralized envelope. Grade estimation for both deposits utilized inverse
distance squared using only composites within the mineralized envelope.
Estimation parameters for measured and indicated required a minimum of 2
drillholes, minimum of 4 composites and maximum of 15. Grades were estimated
in 2 passes, with all composites within 15m of the block centroid for the
first and within 60m for the second. A third pass which required only 1
drillhole and a minimum of 3 composites and that all composites be within 120m
of the block centroid was used to estimate the inferred blocks. The resources
were classified as Measured, Indicated, or Inferred based on the pass in which
the block was estimated. The resource model was verified by visual inspection
of the blocks and drillholes on cross-sections and horizontal sections, by
comparison of the statistics of the blocks and composites, and by swath plots
through the deposit.
Geology & Mineralization
The Piaba and Tatajuba deposits are classified as Orogenic Gold Deposits
and represent ENE trending near vertical mineralized envelopes of gold
mineralization within a major ENE-trending fault zone in the Aurizona Group.
The Piaba deposit is hosted in a northern hanging wall volcanic sequence. The
deposit footwall is formed by a distinctive graphitic volcano-sedimentary
sequence which delimits the deposit to the south. The volcanic sequence is
andesitic to basaltic in composition. Primary gold mineralization shows a
close spatial association with graphitized andesites and diorites and strong
quartz veining with an associated chlorite-carbonate overprint. Piaba is a
bulk tonnage, low-grade gold deposit amenable to open pit mining methods
situated in a tropical environment similar to other gold deposits in this part
of South America including the Las Cristinas and El Callao gold deposits in
Venezuela, the Omai Gold Mine in Guyana, and the Gross Rosebel gold deposit in
Suriname. Mineralization at Tatajuba is similar in nature to Piaba.
About Luna Gold Corp
Luna is a mining exploration company focused on the acquisition,
exploration, and development of gold resources and advanced stage gold
exploration projects in northeastern Brazil.
On behalf of the Board of Directors

LUNA GOLD CORP.

Tim Searcy, P. Geo. - President and CEO

Website: www.lunagold.com

The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy
or accuracy of this press release.

Regulatory Footnotes

Exploration on the Aurizona Project was initiated in 1978 by Brascan
Recursos Naturais S.A. (Brascan) and continued through the 1990's with work by
Brascan, Unamgen Mineracao e Metalurgia S.A (Unamgen) an exploration
subsidiary of Gencor Ltd and Eldorado Gold Corp (Eldorado). Luna acquired the
property in 2007 and commenced exploration soon after. Historic drill core (HQ
(63.5mm) diameter) analyses by previous operators Uamgem and Eldorado were
conducted at Nomos Laboratory in Rio de Janeiro and Bondar Clegg Laboratory in
Luziania, Goias respectively. Unamgen and Eldorado conducted laboratory QA/QC
programs and retained all original assay certificates. Luna used Acme
Laboratories Ltda in Maraba, Brazil and Vancouver, Canada. Luna's QA/QC
program consists of blanks, Certified Reference Materials (CRM), pulp check
assays at ALS Chemex in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais and coarse reject check
assays at Acme and at ALS Chemex. The Piaba resource estimate contains drill
data produced up to 01/12/2007 and Tatajuba contains drill data produced
through 01/02/2008.
Leah Mach, CPG, of SRK Consulting is a Qualified Person as defined under
National Instrument 43-101. Ms Mach is responsible for the resource estimate
on the Aurizona Project.
Tim Searcy, PGeo, APEGBC, Luna's President and CEO, is a Qualified Person
as defined under National Instrument 43-101 has reviewed and approved of all
the disclosure in this document.
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
Statements in this release that are 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.
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. Luna Gold does not
assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement.
CONTACT: contact Investor Relations at (604) 689-7317 or toll free at
1-866-689-7317
SOURCE Luna Gold Corp.

contact Investor Relations at (604) 689-7317 or toll free at 1-866-689-7317