Resource Estimates at Copperwood Higher Than Originally Predicted

TORONTO, ONTARIO - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - Orvana Minerals Corp. (TSX:ORV) announced Monday a National Instrument ("NI") 43-101-compliant mineral resource estimate from the Copperwood stratiform copper deposit located in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA. Measured and Indicated resources are 19.5 million tons of 1.86% copper for 798 million pounds of copper, and Inferred resources are 3.3 million tons of 1.49% copper for 107 million pounds copper. The Technical Report will be filed with SEDAR within 45 days.

"The total copper inventory at Copperwood has been increased by 12% from the historic estimates. These data will be used to evaluate the trade-off studies and refine our conceptual mine plan, and will be incorporated into a Preliminary Economic Assessment which will be released before the end of June, 2010." said Bill Williams, Vice President, Corporate Development.

Copperwood is located along the southern flank of the WNW-plunging Western Syncline. The main mineralization occurs as very fine-grained chalcocite in the Domino (dark-gray siltstone and black laminated shale) and Upper Layer (red massive, gray laminated and occasionally red laminated siltstones) Units, respectively, together called the "copper-bearing sequence" ("CBS"), at the base of the Proterozoic Nonesuch Formation, which dips from 7' to 12' north. The CBS lies about 30 metres below an unconsolidated clay in the south and is as deep as 289 metres approximately 1.75 kilometres to the north.

The Company has option agreements on three other mineralized areas located within the Western Syncline. Historical estimates, which are not NI 43-101 compliant, of 45.5 million tons at 1.23% copper for about 1.25 billion pounds of copper were delineated in these areas during the 1950s.

The Company has conducted various trade-off studies over the last 12 moriths. These studies included the evaluation of mine and tailings impoundment designs as well as the assessment of a water source, waste management, and transportation alternatives. Currently, the conceptual plan uses room-and-pillar methods and a variation of a continuous miner; pillars are planned to be removed at an opportune time.