Calvista Announces Board and Management Changes and Stock Option Grant

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 29, 2012) - Calvista Gold Corporation ("Calvista" or the "Company") CVZ announces that effective February 29, 2012, Mark Haywood will replace Michael Johnson as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of the Company. The Company would like to thank Mr. Johnson for his outstanding services.

Mr. Haywood is a degree qualified mining engineer and lawyer with over 20 years of mining operations and exploration experience gained internationally with various companies including BHP Billiton Limited, Gold Fields Limited, Ashanti Goldfields Company Ltd. and Placer Pacific Limited. Mr. Haywood was recently President and Chief Executive Officer of XDM Resources Inc., a private Toronto-based international gold and copper exploration company which he was instrumental in growing from startup to a value of over $75m before his departure in 2011. Mr. Haywood is also a member of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) 2010.

Dr. Ruben Shiffman; who has also been appointed to the position of executive Chairman of the Company, stated: "We are very excited about the appointment of Mark Haywood. As the Company transitions into a more technical phase of operations, a mining engineer of his caliber will make a significant positive contribution to our Company and its share value."

Including the recent appointments, Calvista announces the grant of stock options under its stock option plan to Mr. Haywood to purchase up to 200,000 common shares in Calvista at a price of $0.60 per common share for a term of five years, expiring March 1, 2017.

About Calvista

Calvista is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of properties for the mining of gold and other minerals. Calvista's California Project is comprised of eleven mining titles grouped into six non-contiguous blocks located in the California mining district, Department of Santander, in Colombia. All properties are located below 3,200 meters and are not affected by the Paramo ecosystem law. Calvista is well funded and led by a management team with over 45 years of exploration and mining experience, principally in South and Central America. Calvista's head office is located in Toronto with its Colombian headquarters located in Bucaramanga. For further details on Calvista, its management team and its project, please refer to Calvista's web site (www.calvistagold.com). Calvista's Canadian regulatory filings can be found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT: This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in this news release includes, but is not limited to, Calvista's objectives, goals or future plans, statements regarding exploration results, exploration plans and the timing of a potential resource estimate. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, uncertainties inherent to preparing a resource estimate within expected timeline, capital and operating costs varying significantly from estimates, the preliminary nature of metallurgical test results, delays in obtaining or failures to obtain required governmental, environmental or other project approvals, political risks, uncertainties relating to the availability and costs of financing needed in the future, changes in equity markets, inflation, changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in the development of projects and the other risks involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, enhanced risks inherent to conducting business in a jurisdiction such as Colombia, and those risks set out in Calvista's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although Calvista believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Calvista disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.