Grant of Options

September 1, 2011

Aureus Mining Inc.

TSX : AUE

AIM : AUE

NEWS RELEASE

Grant of Options

The board of Aureus Mining Inc. ("Aureus" or the "Company")announces that, pursuant to the terms of the Company's Stock Option Plan, the Company has granted 315,000 incentive stock options ("Options") at an exercise price of C$1.42 per share, being equal to the closing price of the Common Shares on 31 August 2011 on the TSX. 300,000 options are exercisable immediately and for a period of 5 years from 1 September 2011, 15,000 are exercisable immediately and expire on 1 March 2013. No consideration was paid for the Options.

About Aureus Mining Inc.

The company's assets include the New Liberty gold deposit in Liberia (the "New Liberty Gold Project"), which has an estimated Indicated Mineral Resource of 751,000 ounces of gold grading 4.17 g/t (contained in 5,599,000 tonnes) and an estimated Inferred Mineral Resource of 762,000 ounces of gold grading 3.40 g/t (contained in 7,040,000 tonnes). A preliminary economic assessment ("PEA") of the New Liberty Gold Project filed in December 2010 outlined a robust open pit gold mine with a pre-tax NPV of US$234 million based on an $1100/oz. gold price and a 10% discount rate. The PEA outlined an 8.5 year mine life with approximate production of 100 000 ounces per year in the first five years. The New Liberty Gold Project is being advanced through to a definitive feasibility study.

The New Liberty Gold Project locates within the Bea Mountain mining license which covers 457 km2 and has a 25 year, renewable, mineral development agreement. The Bea Mountain mining license also hosts the proximal gold targets of Ndablama, Weaju, Silver Hills and Gondoja which are the focus of exploration programs during 2011.

The company also has gold assets within exploration properties in Sierra Leone and Cameroon.

Qualified Person

The Company's Qualified Person responsible for preparing this release is David Reading, who holds a MSc in Economic Geology from University of Waterloo, Canada and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. David Reading is the President and CEO of Aureus Mining Inc. and consents to the inclusion in the announcement of the matters based on their information in the form and context in which it appears and confirms that this information is accurate and not false or misleading.