It's always surprising to find a gold project that's grown to an exciting size while evading the broader re-rating of its values by the markets. Verena's large Volta Grande Gold Project in northern Brazil presents just such a striking found opportunity. To our knowledge, this report is the first to bring this company and its large gold resource to the recognition of North American gold stock investors.

With the investment community searching high and low for inexpensive, undervalued gold ounces, here's a great discovery: Verena's in-situ gold resources are still valued at approx. US$5/ounce (market cap/resource), when the industry average among advanced exploration gold companies is now above $30/ounce, according to Canaccord-Adams Research in their latest industry report, averaging the value of 40 advanced-exploration and early development-stage companies.

Importantly, we are issuing this Investor Alert now, just as Verena is expected to announce the results of an independent Preliminary Economic Assessment (aka PEA or scoping study), in preparation by Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle Associates, for release within a month. The PEA is very likely to open analysts' eyes to the value accruing unnoticed with Verena and its Volta Grande Gold Project.

The exploration potential at Volta Grande is clearly large. Most mineralized zones have only been drilled to 150-meters depth, with strong indications of continuity to depth. Three areas with just a few drill holes each indicate new zones of mineralization. Extensions to the west must also be drilled. The resource growth potential here is superb.

In addition, Brazil is one of the best mining jurisdictions in the world. The country is a stable democracy with a world-class mining industry. The Fraser Institute Annual Survey ranks Brazil as the #3-favored country, after only Chile and Mexico, based on combined Policy and Mineral Potential rankings.

Verena looks like a sweet and timely opportunity for speculative investors seeking more exposure to gold.

First, we want to report that it's not just that management at Verena is qualified – it's actually very exciting to see just how qualified management is.

Stephen G. Roman, Verena's chairman, president and CEO, was the founder and most recently served as the co-chairman of Gold Eagle Mines Ltd. Gold Eagle, as you may know, was purchased in September 2008 by Goldcorp Inc. for C$1.5 billion, or C$13.50/share. As the co-chairman of Gold Eagle, Mr. Roman oversaw the securing, discovery and expansion of the world-class Bruce Channel gold deposit at Red Lake in northern Ontario.

George Flach, VP – Exploration, has several gold discoveries to his credit over the past 20 years. In Ghana, Mr. Flach, as a consultant to Gold Fields of South Africa, set up the acquisition and preliminary exploration of the Tarkwa project. Today, Tarkwa is one of Gold Fields' – and one of the world's – most significant mines with a resource of more than 20 million ounces of gold and annual production above 500,000 ounces/year. Among other discoveries, he also was chief geologist for the discovery and development of the Bogosu Mine in Ghana, now controlled by Golden Star.

Would these professionals waste their valuable time with an unlikely project? More information about the management of Verena is in the Management section of this report.

Volta Grande Gold Project

Verena has 100%-control of the approx. 50,000-hectare Volta Grande Gold Project located in Para State in Brazil. The project is located approx. 50 km. southeast of the town of Altamira, along the Xingu River in northern Brazil. The project is accessible year-round by improved dirt road from Altamira. Altamira is accessed by daily scheduled flights from Belem or via the Trans-Amazonas Highway.

Volta Grande is the company's flagship project and is well into the development phase. A Preliminary Economic Assessment (scoping study) is in progress by Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle Associates (SWRPA) and results are anticipated within 30 days. Once the economics of the project are reviewed and made public, management's plan is to proceed with a Feasibility Study to build a mine.

Volta Grande has received more than 35,000 meters of core and RC drilling. Metallurgical studies have confirmed that a significant portion of the resource is gravity-recoverable, with high overall recoveries above 90%.

The current resource at the project, as calculated by SWRPA and released in March this year, at a cutoff grade of 0.4 grams/tonne, is the following:

A preliminary Whittle pit shell was designed by SWRPA in March this year, which demonstrates that approx. 2 million ounces. of the gold would be contained within the pits with a favorable approx. stripping ratio of 2.77:1.

To view a map of the Volta Grande Gold Project and the three-dimensional pit shell plan, please click on the images below:

Geological Map 3D Pit Shell

The project area has several higher-grade zones that make ideal places to start mining in terms of rapidly paying down capital expenditures. The Ouro Verde Zone, the most northwestern area, is expected to be the place to start.

Highlights from drilling include the following strong results:

Exploration Potential

Here is one of the keys to understanding Verena. The company has really just started to realize the exploration potential at Volta Grande.

• Drilling has mostly been limited to just 150 meters depth. From the above drilling results, it's clear that some of the strongest mineralization has come from the holes that have been drilled deeper than 150 meters. These zones must be drilled to at least 300 meters depth, the typical limit to open-pit mining. Would this double the resource? Management believes so, but it's too early to know for sure.

• Pequi in the South Block – Based on strong surface samples with anomalous gold values, the company has initiated drilling in the South Block, an area with significant historic artisanal workings and some underground tunnels (see map linked to above).

Thus far, the company has confirmed the discovery of a mineralized zone at the Pequi Target, with the following promising assay results:

Much more exploration work is needed on the South Block, and more drilling is needed at Pequi, a zone that appears to have a near-vertical dip.

• Western extensions of both Ouro Verde and Grota Seca West – Here faulting structures appear to have displaced the extensions of these mineralized zones to the west and additional exploration is targeted for discovery of new mineralized zones.

Of course, in-fill drilling is planned for upgrading the large Inferred Resource into the Indicated and Measured Resource categories – key additional actions that are expected to greatly increase the value of the company.

Geological and Drilling Background

The Volta Grande project area is located on the Tres Palmeiras greenstone belt. The property covers two elongated diorite intrusions, known as the North and South Blocks, which are approx. 5 km. apart. Both the volcanic and sedimentary rocks of the greenstone belt and the intrusions trend northwest. The intrusions are about the same size, each approx. 8 km. long by 1 km. wide.

Widespread gold mineralization was identified at Volta Grande in the 1990s by past operators TVX Gold (now Kinross) and Battle Mountain Exploration (now Newmont). Combined, the two previous operators completed over 21,000 meters of diamond core and 1,500 meters of RC drilling. The shear-hosted resource is contained in eight targets, six of which have been developed by artisanal workings. Within these areas, there are many narrow zones of higher-grade gold mineralization, open along strike and at depth, with excellent potential for expansion.

Property payments to maintain control of Volta Grande consist of approx. C$200,000 in each of 2009 and 2010. These funds are held in interest-earning deposit accounts for payment when due.

Additional Exploration Projects

Verena also controls additional prospective projects in Brazil: gold, diamond and gemstone targets. Of these, one is of particular interest: the Patrocinio Gold Project.

Verena holds the right to acquire a 100-percent interest in the 18,697-hectare Patrocinio project in the Tapajos district, subject to final Mining Ministry approval.

During 2007, under a joint venture agreement, Kinross completed an airborne magnetic survey, a structural and geological interpretation of remote sensing images and had soil samples collected from the entire property on 800-meter spaced lines with samples collected every 80 meters, plus additional in-fill soil sampling and mapping.

Kinross recognized two gold anomalies for further study. The first, known as Pista Velha, is a broad 2.4 x 1-kilometer area that appears to be controlled by a sheeted vein set striking northeast. The second appears to be associated with a northwest-striking fault zone. Detailed mapping of six historic gold mines on the property, earlier mined by local garimpeiros, was completed. Each of these prospects is characterized by gold-bearing quartz veins hosted in altered granitic intrusions. One zone, at Doutor Marcos, is at least 100-meters wide.

During 2008, Kinross completed additional surface mapping, geochemical sampling and performed an induced polarization (“IP”) geophysical survey to define subsurface anomalies for drill testing. In-fill soil sampling on the Pista Velha on 100 x 40-meter spacing enhanced the definition of the anomaly. Nineteen surface rock chip samples reported from within the soil anomaly averaged 4.98 g/t gold while two other data points returned results of 66.17 g/t and 88.24 g/t gold. Kinross commenced a 1,900-meter first-pass drill program on the property in Q4, 2008.

While the final report has not yet been received from Kinross, it is clear that the property will be returned to Verena. Company geologists believe that the best targets were not drilled by Kinross and plan further exploration on the property.

Verena's Management Team

Stephen G. Roman, Executive Chairman, President, CEO & Director – Mr. Roman is an entrepreneur/financier who has been involved in the resource industry over the past 30 years and who has successfully identified, financed, developed, and brought into commercial production a number of mining and oil and gas projects. His recent past experience includes serving as co-chairman and director of Gold Eagle Mines Ltd., director and senior officer of Denison Mines Ltd., Lawson Mardon Group, and Zemex Corporation. He also worked to modernize Canada's Armed Forces in 1984/85 as Policy Adviser to the Minister of National Defense. In addition, Mr. Roman spearheaded the privatization of two major petrochemical companies in Central Europe and was appointed chairman of Novácke Chemické Závody, a.s., in 2002.

In recent years, Mr. Roman's focus has been to finance and develop emerging junior, publicly listed companies, which include: Gold Eagle Mines Ltd., Exall Energy Corporation, Polar Star Mining Corporation, Silvermet Inc., Verena Minerals Corporation and Global Uranium Corp. (a private Ontario corporation). Mr. Roman is currently Executive Chairman of Exall Energy and Verena, Chairman & CEO of Silvermet, and President & CEO of Global Uranium. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Guelph, Ontario, in the field of Geology and Geography. He's also a member of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum.

George A. Flach, Vice-President, Exploration – During the past 20 years Mr. Flach has been involved with a number of significant gold discoveries, principally in Ghana, West Africa. He served as the consultant for Gold Fields of South Africa on the acquisition and preliminary exploration of the Tarkwa project in Ghana. Tarkwa had been a state-run underground mine producing fewer than 50,000 ounces a year. Presently, it is one of Gold Fields' most significant assets with a resource of greater than 20 million ounces and annual production of more than 500,000 ounces of gold.

Among Mr. Flach's other discoveries were the 3-million-ounce Bogosu Gold Mine for Billiton and a 2-million-ounce gold mine for St. Jude Resources. Both of these mines are now being operated by Golden Star Resources.

Elmer Prata Salomão, Director – Mr. Salomão is a geologist who served as General Director of Brazil's National Department of Mineral Production ("DNPM") from 1990 to 1995. DNPM is the Brazilian federal agency in charge of the administration of mineral concessions and the implementation of mining policy. He was also the founder and managing director of GEOS-Mining Services Ltda. and managing director of EPS Consulting Ltda., two well-known Brazilian mining consulting companies.

Jad Salomão Neto, Director – Mr. Neto is a geologist who has worked internationally, and is a founding partner and managing director of Verena Mineracão Ltda. He has extensive experience with Brazilian gold exploration and mining companies, and was a director of GEOS-Mining Services Ltda.

Outlook

Verena's Volta Grande Gold Project is a large and growing gold deposit that will soon have its economic evaluation completed and available to the public. The project is well worth investors' attention, and this report will help to draw recognition. When a project area has a gold resource with grades as low as in the range of 1 gram/tonne, analysts and institutional players frequently wait to see the economics of the project before they get involved.

With gold firmly above $900/ounce, many bulk-tonnage, low-grade projects can be highly economical, and early indications are that the economics at Volta Grande could be very robust. The upcoming Preliminary Economic Assessment should go a long way towards opening the floodgates of the broader recognition and following justified by the company's large and growing resource and initial economic indications.

Verena should be tracked closely now with the results from the scoping study expected to be announced within a month. For more information, call Steve Roman, chairman, at 416-368-2998, email info@verena.com and visit www.verena.com to register for immediate notification of news, and to gain more information about the company.

Thank you,

The Editors
Gold Stock Investor