Lumina Copper Corp. (TSX Venture: LCC) (the "Company" or "Lumina") is pleased to announce that it has received an updated, interim mineral resource estimate on its 100% owned Taca Taca copper/gold/molybdenum project located in Salta province, Argentina. The estimate significantly increases the known sulphide copper, gold, molybdenum and oxide gold mineral resources over the previous mineral resource estimate released in November 2011.

At a 0.4% copper equivalent cut-off⁽¹⁾, total contained sulphide copper in the Indicated resource category has increased by 62% to 10.7 billion pounds of copper, while total contained sulphide copper in the Inferred resource category increased by 19% to 9.8 billion pounds of copper. Copper grades in the sulphide resource estimate have also improved by 1.7% in the Indicated category to 0.59% copper (from 0.58% copper) and 11.6% in the Inferred category to 0.48% copper (from 0.43% copper).

The updated mineral resource estimate was based upon drill results received up to April 11, 2012, through core hole TT-90 (including partial assay results from some holes). The Company is currently drilling core hole TT-113 and 21,886 meters of additional core and RC drilling has been completed through May 3, 2012 and is awaiting assay.

The updated resource estimate shows that the sulphide mineral resource remains open to the northwest, north, northeast, southeast, south and to depth while the oxide gold mineral resource remains open to the east.

The salient details of the updated National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") mineral resource estimate are as follows:

Sulphide Resources (0.4% copper equivalent cut-off)

• 824 million tonnes grading 0.59% copper, 0.12g/t gold and 0.018% molybdenum (0.75% copper equivalent) in the Indicated category containing 10.7 billion pounds of copper, 3.1 million ounces of gold and 320 million pounds of molybdenum. The previous NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate contained 516 million tonnes grading 0.58% copper, 0.12g/t gold and 0.018% molybdenum.
• 938 million tonnes grading 0.48% copper, 0.08g/t gold and 0.014% molybdenum (0.60% copper equivalent) in the Inferred category containing 9.8 billion pounds of copper, 2.4 million ounces of gold and 283 million pounds of molybdenum. The previous NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate contained 880 million tonnes grading 0.43% copper, 0.08g/t gold and 0.015% molybdenum.

Oxide Resources (0.2g/t gold cut-off)

• 198 million tonnes grading 0.27g/t gold in the Indicated category containing 1.7 million ounces of gold. The previous resource estimate did not contain any mineralization in the Indicated category.
• 81 million tonnes grading 0.26g/t gold in the Inferred category containing 0.7 million ounces of gold. The previous NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate contained 190 million tonnes grading 0.25g/t gold.

The sulphide mineral resource estimate is comprised of both primary and supergene mineralization. The supergene zone contains higher average grades as highlighted below:

Supergene Resources (0.4% copper equivalent cut-off)

• 245 million tonnes grading 0.89% copper, 0.13g/t gold and 0.016% molybdenum (1.04% copper equivalent) in the Indicated category.
• 134 million tonnes grading 0.81% copper, 0.08g/t gold and 0.012% molybdenum (0.90% copper equivalent) in the Inferred category.

In the November 2011 mineral resource estimate, a zone of shallower, high grade, supergene mineralization was defined in the northern part of the deposit. The Company is investigating whether this zone may form the basis of a "starter pit" for the project. The updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for this zone, which remains open to the west, north and east is defined as follows:

• 200 million tonnes grading 0.95% copper, 0.14g/t gold and 0.017% molybdenum (1.11% copper equivalent) in the Indicated category (0.5% copper equivalent cut-off). The previous NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate contained 159 million tonnes grading 0.82% copper, 0.14g/t gold and 0.017% molybdenum (1.00% copper equivalent) in the Indicated category.

The Company is conducting a planned 163,500 meter drill program (85,932 meters completed through May 3, 2012) and has 9 drill rigs (7 core and 2 reverse circulation ("RC") rigs) operating. The drill program outlined above is expected to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2012 but may be expanded further should additional mineralization outside the scope of the current exploration program be identified.

The updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimates at various copper equivalent and oxide gold cut-off grades are presented in the tables below. Maps showing the boundaries of the mineral resource estimates are attached to this news release.

 

CuEq(1) Cut-off	Size	Grade				Contained Metal
	Tonnes (Million)	CuEq(1)	Cu	Au	Mo	Cu	Au	Mo
		(%)	(%)	(g/t)	(%)	(B lb)	(M oz)	(M lb)
0.2	1,120	0.64	0.49	0.10	0.016	12.12	3.53	390.1
0.3	995	0.68	0.53	0.11	0.017	11.63	3.38	364.2
0.4(2)	824	0.75	0.59	0.12	0.018	10.67	3.11	319.8
0.5	638	0.84	0.66	0.13	0.019	9.30	2.72	265.8
0.6	479	0.94	0.75	0.15	0.020	7.88	2.29	210.2
0.7	358	1.04	0.84	0.16	0.020	6.60	1.87	160.9

 

CuEq(1) Cut-off	Size	Grade				Contained Metal
	Tonnes (Million)	CuEq(1)	Cu	Au	Mo	Cu	Au	Mo
		(%)	(%)	(g/t)	(%)	(B lb)	(M oz)	(M lb)
0.2	2,177	0.43	0.33	0.06	0.011	15.59	3.98	508.7
0.3	1,479	0.51	0.40	0.07	0.012	12.97	3.24	401.0
0.4(2)	938	0.60	0.48	0.08	0.014	9.83	2.43	283.4
0.5	538	0.71	0.58	0.09	0.015	6.85	1.61	175.4
0.6	314	0.84	0.69	0.10	0.016	4.80	1.03	107.2
0.7	189	0.96	0.82	0.11	0.016	3.42	0.67	67.1

1. Copper equivalent calculated using US$2.00/lb Cu, US$800/oz Au and US$12.00/lb Mo and is not adjusted for mining and metallurgical recoveries as these remain uncertain. The formula used is as follows: CuEQ = Cu% + (Au g/t x 0.583) + (Mo% x 6).
2. Sulphide resource base case cut-off grade of 0.4%CuEq is highlighted in the tables.

 

Au Cut-off	Tonnes (Million)	Au (g/t)	Au (M oz)
0.1	492	0.20	3.12
0.15	327	0.23	2.46
0.2	198	0.27	1.74
0.25	112	0.31	1.12

 

Au Cut-off	Tonnes (Million)	Au (g/t)	Au (M oz)
0.1	336	0.17	1.79
0.15	157	0.22	1.09
0.2	81	0.26	0.67
0.25	34	0.31	0.33

1. The oxide gold resource base case cut-off grade of 0.2g/t gold is highlighted in the table.

The updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate was based on a total of 81,856 meters of drilling in 162 holes, including previous drilling completed by BHP Billiton (26 holes, 9,307 meters), Corriente (5 holes, 661 meters), Rio Tinto (15 holes, 7,608 meters) and 117 holes drilled by the Company, 64,280 meters (87 core holes, 58,159 meters; 25 RC holes, including 8 RC pre-collar holes, 5,160 meters; and 4 miscellaneous holes, 961 meters).

The mineral resource estimate has been generated from drill hole sample assay results and the interpretation of a geologic model which relates to the spatial distribution of copper, molybdenum and gold in the deposit. Grade estimates are made using ordinary kriging with nominal block size measuring 25 meters long, 25 meters wide and 15 meters in height. Resources have been classified by their proximity to sample locations and are reported according to CIM standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves.

An updated NI 43-101 technical report detailing the mineral resource estimate will be completed and filed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and Lumina's website (www.luminacopper.com) within 45 days.

The Taca Taca copper/gold/molybdenum project is located in the Puna region of north western Argentina in Salta province, approximately 230 kilometres west of the provincial capital of Salta and 120 kilometers east of the world's largest copper mine, Escondida.

Robert Sim, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, is responsible for the mineral resource estimate included in this news release and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release as they relate to the mineral resource estimate.

Since Lumina began drilling at the Taca Taca project in August 2010, the sample assay results have been independently monitored through a quality control / quality assurance ("QA/QC") program including the insertion of blind standards, blanks and the reanalysis of duplicate samples at a second umpire laboratory. The results of the QA/QC program indicate that the sample database is of sufficient accuracy and precision to be used for the generation of mineral resource estimates.

Andrew Carstensen, CPG, Vice President, Exploration and the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 for the Taca Taca project has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release as they relate to the ongoing exploration and development program at the Taca Taca project.


LUMINA COPPER CORP

Signed: "David Strang"

David Strang, President & CEO

For further information contact:

David Strang, President & CEO
dstrang@luminacopper.com
tel: + 604 646 1880
fax: + 604 687 7041