AURELIAN RESOURCES INC.

Trading Symbol TSX:ARU

NEWS RELEASE

July 17, 2008

For immediate release

Aurelian Reports Enhanced FDN Metallurgical Results and Progress on Conceptual Development Plan

TORONTO, ON – Aurelian Resources Inc. (TSX:ARU) today announced results of metallurgical testing for the Fruta del Norte (FDN) gold-silver deposit. The results are a significant improvement over earlier tests reported as part of the initial FDN resource estimate in October 2007 and provide more options to enhance the project development and operation.

“The recent metallurgical testing has provided even better results than anticipated,” says George Bee, Chief Operating Officer. “We received higher gravity recoveries, which were expected given the large amount of visible gold in FDN core. In addition, the new results offer greater flexibility in plant design, since more than 50% of the anticipated mill feed will not need any pre-oxidation treatment prior to leaching, whereas the initial studies assumed that 100% would require oxidation. This should result in reduced capital investment and lower process costs for FDN.”

Patrick Anderson, President and CEO comments, “Our engineering team has been making good progress with the Conceptual Development Plan for FDN. Once we have more clarity regarding the fiscal and regulatory landscape in Ecuador, we’ll be well-positioned to reinitiate work in the field focusing on the fast track development of the project. The draft mining law continues to navigate the required approvals in the Ecuadorian government and is currently with President Correa and his advisors.”

Metallurgical test work was initiated in April 2008 at G&T Metallurgical Services Ltd. of Kamloops, British Columbia, on 1,200 kg of whole core drill samples obtained from dedicated metallurgical test holes at FDN. The samples represent the four geologically distinct zones of the FDN deposit within the Phase 1 development area slated for initial production. As anticipated, the larger, more representative samples revealed a weighted average gravity recovery of 34%, an improvement of 25% from the earlier test program results on smaller samples.

Test work shows that crushing, grinding and gravity recovery with Carbon in Leach (CIL or leaching), “were quite favourable, especially for Zone 3 and 4.” A gravity concentration plus flotation, followed by leaching of flotation tailings “indicate that for Zones 1, 2 & 4, a combined gold recovery of 91, 88 and 95 percent was possible.” It is important to note that gold recovered to the gravity and flotation concentrates will require further processing to yield final doré. Some gold losses are expected through these processes and the magnitude of these losses will be determined in the ongoing test program. While it is early days and further test work and plant design needs to be completed, these results, coupled with the ability to selectively mine FDN, offer the opportunity to optimize the project. A summary report of the metallurgical results entitled “Technical Brief on Phase 1 Metallurgical Testing” is available on the company’s web site at www.aurelian.ca. All quotes in this paragraph are from the summary report.

While exploration and development activities in Ecuador have been suspended for six months by the previously announced Mining Mandate of April 18, 2008, the Company is forging ahead with its Conceptual Development Plan for FDN. The various elements of the Plan, including mine planning, process design and assessment, and capital cost estimation are almost complete. Release of the Plan will await finalization of the new mining law since inputs from the law are required for economic calculations.

The Conceptual Development Plan purposely goes beyond a typical conceptual development level, with the intent of fast-tracking development of the Phase 1A portion of the FDN project. Phase 1A refers to around 300 metres of strike length of the FDN deposit which contains approximately half of the previously announced resource of 13.7 million ounces of gold (58.9 million tonnes grading 7.23 g/t gold) in approximately 11 million tons. Targeting the high-grade portion of the FDN ore body at the beginning of the mine life is particularly appropriate given that it is the most accessible and starts only 150 metres below surface.

John Wells (Fellow, South African Institute of Mining & Metallurgy) of JawMetc, a consultant to Aurelian, is acting as the in-house Qualified Person (QP) in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 with respect to QA-QC issues in this release. John Folinsbee (P.Eng.) of G&T Metallurgical Services is the independent QP responsible for the metallurgy. They have reviewed the contents of this release for accuracy.