Lara Signs Option To Acquire The Isy Gold Property In Peru

January 16, 2012 (TSX Venture: LRA) - Lara Exploration Ltd. (“Lara” or the “Company”), is pleased to report that it has signed an Option Agreement with Estrella Gold Corp. (TSX Venture: EST, “Estrella”) to acquire the Isy Gold Property in southern Peru. The property lies adjacent to and contiguous with the Company’s Sami project and the Company believes that it covers extensions of its Pitusaja high-sulphidation epithermal gold target (see Company news release of November 30, 2010).

Mr. Andre Gauthier, President of Lara Exploration commented: “Results of our 2011 field season at Sami look very encouraging and we are very happy to have been able to work with Estrella to consolidate additional ground.”

The Isy property covers 3,100 hectares of predominantly Tertiary-age volcanics, where Estrella has completed reconnaissance mapping and sampling that outlined epithermal-style alteration with anomalous gold, silver and arsenic values. Under the terms of the agreement the Company will pay Estrella US$255,000 in cash and/or Lara shares (US$30,000 paid) over three years, 50,000 Lara shares on the third anniversary and a 1.5% Net Smelter return Royalty. Lara can elect to buy 50% of the royalty for US$3 million within one year of commencement of commercial production.

Quality Control
Andre Gauthier, Lara’s President, a member of the Quebec Order of Engineers, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and is responsible for the preparation and verification of the technical information in this release.

About Lara
Lara is an exploration company following the Prospect Generator business model, which aims to minimize shareholder dilution and financial risk by generating prospects and then exploring them in joint ventures funded by partners. The Company currently holds a diverse portfolio of prospects and deposits primarily in Brazil and Peru where it has signed agreements for fifteen joint ventures. Lara’s common shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "LRA".

For further information on Lara Exploration Ltd. please consult our website www.laraexploration.com, or contact Chris MacIntyre, VP Corporate Development, at +1 416 703 0010.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.