TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 12/28/12 -- Azul Ventures Inc. ("Azul", or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:AZL) announced that it had decided to drop the Findel option agreement (Hogar, Lolita, Santa Rosa and Santa Gertrudis mineral rights) and the Company did not make the US$165,000 option payment under the agreement which was due on December 15, 2012.

The Company regards the Findel Property as non-core and peripheral to the main mineralized zone on the La Higuera Property on which future exploration drilling and development will be planned. The focus of the Company's exploration at the La Higuera Property will be on the San Antonio, Mina Sol and La Sin Nombre mineral rights. Option payments on these properties, under renegotiated terms totaling US$114,000, were made earlier in December.

In addition, as recently announced, terms were renegotiated on the Andale and Benja mineral rights agreements allowing the Company to earn a 100% interest in all of the mining concession that are subject to those option agreements solely through the issuance of Azul common shares, eliminating any future cash payments.

As a result of dropping the Findel option agreement, the La Higuera Property now consists of five separate agreements over 1,119 hectares (down from six agreements over 1,230 hectares). A map of concessions at the La Higuera Property is attached below in Figure 1.

David O'Connor, President and CEO, said, "While we would have preferred to maintain the Findel property option, we were not willing to make the scheduled US$165,000 payment on a part of the La Higuera Property that has been assessed by the Company to be a non-core part of our future exploration plans. The mineral rights blocks within the remaining five agreements cover the core of the most prospective zone at La Higuera, on which two open pit mines are currently exploiting copper oxide ore and beneath which the Company believes there is substantial high grade copper sulphide mineralization."

Amended and Restated Loan Agreement with Directors and Officers

The Company has also entered into amended and restated loan agreements with Tony Wonnacott, a director of the Company and Brad Boland, the Company's Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary. Under these loan agreements, a total of $930,000 has now been made available and advanced to the Company. In addition, the Company entered into loan agreements with David O'Connor, President, CEO and a director of the Company and Francisco Schubert, the Company's Chilean Country Manager, under which US$120,000 has been made available and advanced to the Company. The loans accrue interest at a rate of 10% per annum and is payable at the end of the term of the loan on January 15, 2013. The loans are unsecured and there are no conversion provisions.

About Azul Ventures Inc.

Azul Ventures Inc. is a mineral exploration company with the rights, through its wholly owned subsidiary Minera Azul Ventures Limitada, to acquire a 100% interest in two prospective copper-iron properties in La Higuera, Chile: the La Higuera Property and the Caballo Blanco Property. The properties are located approximately 600 km north of Santiago in a prolific I.O.C.G. belt surrounded by excellent infrastructure in a mining friendly jurisdiction.

The La Higuera Property was assembled as a result of the first-time consolidation of mining rights and covers a historic copper mining district with mining activity dating back to at least the late 18th century; however, there had been no known modern exploration conducted on the property. Since the consolidation of the mining rights in June 2011, Azul completed a rock sampling program, completed geophysical work which generated intense magnetic and chargeability anomalies coincident with existing copper workings, finalized a 4,088 m drill program and an underground mapping and sampling program.

The Caballo Blanco Property, which begins approximately 1 km southwest of the La Higuera Property, has historical copper workings and a total of 15 broad spaced reconnaissance holes were completed at Caballo Blanco by previous option holders. The Company has received and logged the core from these historical drill holes.

Cautionary Statements

Information set forth in this news release may involve forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", statements that an action or event "may", "might", "could", "should", or "will" be taken or occur, or other similar expressions. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company's actual results, performance or achievements, or other future events, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among others, the following risks: the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with mineral exploration; market conditions; fluctuations in commodity prices; title matters; environmental liability claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain officers, directors or promoters with certain other projects; the absence of dividends; competition; dilution; the volatility of our common share price and volume and the additional risks identified in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's Filing Statement or other reports and filings with the TSX Venture Exchange and applicable Canadian securities regulations. Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and Azul undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable securities laws. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements.

To view "FIGURE 1: MAP OF CONCESSIONS AT LA HIGUERA," please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/AZL2812_figure1.pdf.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.