Avrupa Formally Acquires 2 New Exploration Licenses in Portugal

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire - April 12, 2012) - Avrupa Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:AVU) is pleased to report that the Portuguese government officially issued two new exploration licenses to the Company via a signing ceremony in the office of the Minister of the Economy on March 23, 2012. The two licenses, Arga and Alvito, were previously described as applications in an earlier Company news release, dated October 27, 2011.


The Arga Property - Gold and silver targets.

The 28.4 km2 Arga license is located immediately south and adjacent to the Covas exploration license, which was extended for one year at the same signing ceremony, and previously announced in a news release dated March 27, 2012. The Arga area has seen previous mapping and sampling by various entities, but no drilling. The property covers gold-silver-arsenic-bearing quartz vein swarms spatially related to a granitic intrusion complex. The regional structure that controls the location of the Covas tungsten deposit also localizes the Arga vein systems.


The Alvito Property - Porphyry copper and gold targets.

The Alvito exploration license covers 988 square kilometers of prospectable land straddling the northeastern margin of the Pyrite Belt and the Ossa Morena zone of southern Portugal. There has been some scattered exploration in the lands covered by the application, but Avrupa plans to undertake the initial systematic grassroots program in the region for possible porphyry copper and gold mineralization. The new Alvito license also covers extensions of several untested target areas on the Company's Marateca license, lying immediately to the west of Alvito.

Paul W. Kuhn, CEO of Avrupa Minerals, explained that the addition of the two new exploration licenses to the Company portfolio is important as it makes Avrupa one of the leading explorers in Portugal with high-potential projects in both the north and south of the country. At Arga, there is known surface mineralization that has never been drill-tested, and could possibly be drilled later this year. At Alvito, the Company will attempt to open up a new potential mineral exploration area, with the intent of attracting larger mining companies into the area, as potential JV partners, at an early stage of regional exploration.

Avrupa Minerals Ltd. is a growth-oriented junior exploration and development company focused on aggressive exploration, using a prospect generator model, for valuable mineral deposits in politically stable and prospective regions of Europe, including Portugal, Kosovo, and Germany.


The Company has an exciting portfolio of exploration projects consisting of:

- Copper and Zinc in southern Portugal at Marateca and in the Alvalade JV project area located in the Iberian Pyrite Belt, where Europe's richest active copper mine operates;

- Tungsten and Gold in northern Portugal at the Covas JV project area;

- Gold, Bismuth, and Tellurium on the newly issued Arga license, located in northern Portugal, adjacent to the Covas JV;

- Precious metal and REE potential in the Aljezur project area, south Portugal;

- Copper and Gold porphyry potential in southern Portugal in the newly issued Alvito project area;

- Silver, Lead and Zinc in Kosovo at the Glavej, Kamenica, Selac, and Bajgora properties in the Trepça Mineral Belt of the Vardar Zone, historically, Europe's most productive district for lead and zinc;

- Copper and Gold in southern Kosovo within the Koritnik exploration license area in the Sharr-Dragash intrusive complex;

- Gold in eastern Germany in the 307 km2 Oelsnitz exploration license in the historic Erzgebirge Mining District, a 1000-year producer of tin, tungsten, silver, base metals, and uranium.

For additional information, contact Avrupa Minerals Ltd. at 1-604-687-3520 or visit our website at www.avrupaminerals.com.


On behalf of the Board,

Paul W. Kuhn
President & Director



This news release was prepared by Company management, who take full responsibility for its content. Paul W. Kuhn, President and CEO of Avrupa Minerals, a Licensed Professional Geologist and a Registered Member of the Society of Mining Engineers, is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian Securities Administrators. He has reviewed the technical disclosure in this release.

Neither 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.



Contact Information

Avrupa Minerals Ltd.
Paul W. Kuhn
President & Director
(604) 687-3520
(604) 688-3392 (FAX)
www.avrupaminerals.com