Dia Bras Advances Development at El Gallo and La Narizona Copper-Zinc-Silver Deposits to Feed Its New Mill and Leads to New Discoveries, Bolivar Property

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 05/18/11 -- Dia Bras Exploration Inc. (TSX VENTURE: DIB) ('Dia Bras' or the 'Company') is pleased to report that development of El Gallo and La Narizona deposits at its 100% owned Bolivar Property in Chihuahua, Mexico, continues to advance and that the deposits will begin shipping mineralized rock to the new Piedras Verdes Mill in June. Rock from these deposits has been shipped to the Company's Malpaso Mill since January as development of the deposits advances.

During January through April, development rock from La Narizona and El Gallo has been shipped to the Company's Malpaso Mill for metallurgical testing together with rock from the Alta Ley area of the Bolivar mine. La Narizona has shipped 9,755 tonnes of rock averaging 1.02% Cu, 13.0% Zn and 35.8 g/t Ag. El Gallo has shipped 10,078 tonnes averaging 1.49% Cu, 2.89% Zn and 51.4 g/t Ag. During operation of the new mill, rock from La Narizona, El Gallo, Increible and Alta Ley mines will be blended to provide the mill feed.

Moreover, development work at El Gallo has exposed high grades of copper mineralization in areas that had not been known to be mineralized, due to the spacing of the drill holes in the deposit, thereby expanding the potentially-mineable portions of the deposit.

'Development of these deposits, as well as the Increible deposit, is on schedule to send rock to our new Piedras Verdes Mill,' stated Daniel Tellechea, President and CEO. 'Operation of our new mill will dramatically reduce our transportation costs, by about 95%, and also reduce our production costs because our mill capacity will increase from 300 tpd at Malpaso to 1,000 tpd at Piedras Verdes by the end of 2011. These factors will result in a significant improvement in the Company's cash flow.'

El Gallo

Development of the El Gallo deposit continues on schedule. The negative and positive ramps that provide access to the El Gallo deposit are progressing as planned. The current status of development is shown in Figure 1 (http://www.diabras.com/files/media/99e9e_NR%20No%2018%20El%20Gallo%20Development%20Plan%20Figure%201%20compressed%20440kb.JPG).

Development of crosscuts under the deposit, in preparation for block mining of the body, has exposed areas of mineralization not intersected by diamond drilling. Cross cuts along the 124 drift and the 142 drift exposed several metres of high-grade copper mineralization. The right panel of the 124 drift averages 1.21% Cu and 0.17% Zn over a distance of about 32 metres, while the left panel averages 1.46% Cu and 0.08% Zn over about 30 m. The first 12 metres of the 142 drift from both panels average 1.5% Cu and 0.0% Zn, as shown in Figure 2 (http://www.diabras.com/files/media/6f862_NR%20No%2018%20El%20Gallo%20Sampling%20Plan%20Figure%202%20compressed%20559%20kb.JPG).

These copper-mineralized zones below the mineralized block are apparently related to near-vertical fractures that may be part of the feeder systems that created the El Gallo deposit. This conceptual relationship is shown in Figure 3 (http://www.diabras.com/files/media/7e1aa_NR%20No%2018%20El%20Gallo%20N30W%209887.5%20(7.5%20S)%20Section%20Figure%203%20compressed%20to%20567%20KB.JPG).

Development of the ramps has also exposed disseminated copper and zinc mineralization, which indicates additional increases in the amount of mineralized rock. The extent of the mineralization in the ramps will become clearer as development progresses.

La Narizona

Development of this deposit has advanced and rock from the deposit continues to be shipped to the Malpaso Mill for processing. Development has exposed high-grade zinc mineralization along drifts, and the average grades of sampling along the ramp and workings are 0.71% Cu and 10.51% Zn. The current state of development is shown in the map Figure 4 (http://www.diabras.com/files/media/4ff4c_NR%20No%2018%20La%20Narizona%20Sampling%20Plan%20Figure%204%20compressed%20559kb.JPG).

Method of Analysis

Samples were prepared at the ALS Chemex lab facility in Chihuahua, Mexico, and analyzed by ICP and AA methods at their facilities in Vancouver, Canada. Diamond drill samples sent for analysis consisted of half NQ-size and BQ-size diamond core split on site, prepared by the ALS Chemex sample preparation laboratory in Chihuahua, Mexico, and assayed for Au by 50 g fire assay with AA finish, and for Ag by AA on 50 g split sample at the ALS Chemex North Vancouver Laboratory. Assays for Pb, Zn and Cu are analyzed by Induction Coupled Plasma (ICP) at ALS Chemex.

Quality Control

The quality assurance-quality control (QA-QC) of Dia Bras has been described in detail in both RPA's NI 43-101 reports of December 2006 for Cusi and October 2005 for Bolivar.

The technical content of this news release has been approved by Thomas L. Robyn, Ph.D., CPG, RPG, a Director of Dia Bras, a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.

About Dia Bras

Dia Bras is a Canadian exploration mining company focused on precious and base metals in Chihuahua State and other areas of northern Mexico. The Company is pursuing the development and exploration of its most advanced assets - the Bolivar Property (copper-zinc-silver) and the Cusi Property (silver). Dia Bras is also exploring several precious metal targets such as La Cascada project at the Bolivar Property, the Las Coloradas project at Melchor Ocampo (Zacatecas State), the Bacerac Property (Sonora State) and the Corralitos, Satevo and La Verde projects at the Batopilas Property (Chihuahua State).

The Company's shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol 'DIB'.

Forward-looking Statements

Except for statements of historical fact, all statements in this news release without limitation regarding new projects, acquisitions, future plans and objectives are forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

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 news release.

Contacts:

Dia Bras Exploration Inc.

Daniel Tellechea

President & CEO

1 (866) 493-9646


Dia Bras Exploration Inc.

Karl J. Boltz

Vice President, Corporate Development

1 (866) 493-9646
www.diabras.com