Vancouver, B.C. -Augusta Resource Corporation (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the closing of the offering of 23,210,000 Special Warrants (the “Special Warrants”) of the Company at a price of $1.90 per Special Warrant (the “Offering”) for aggregate gross proceeds to the Company of $44,099,000. The Offering was conducted by a syndicate of agents co-led by Salman Partners Inc. and BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., and including TD Securities Inc. and Wellington West Capital Markets Inc. (the “Agents”). The Offering included a 10% oversubscription option that was fully exercised by the Agents to sell an additional 2,110,000 Special Warrants. Each Special Warrant is exercisable, without payment of additional consideration, into a unit consisting of one common share and one-half transferable common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to acquire, at any time within two years from the closing of the Offering, one common share of the Company at a price of $3.10 during the first year from closing of the Offering and $4.10 during the second year from closing of the Offering.

In connection with the Offering the Agents were paid a cash commission of 6% ($2,645,940) of the gross proceeds of the Offering and agents’ warrants exercisable into a number of common shares equal to 6% (1,392,600) of the number of Special Warrants sold. Each agents’ warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one common share of the Company at a price of $3.10 during the first year from closing of the Offering and $4.10 during the second year from closing of the Offering.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to finance the purchase of 100% of the Rosemont property located in Pima County, Arizona, to complete a bankable feasibility study on the Rosemont property, to advance permitting at the Rosemont property, to retire the balance of $3,000,000 plus interest on the Company’s convertible debenture and for general working capital purposes including the acquisition costs and work expenditures related to the Company’s Mt. Hamilton, Shell and Lone Mountain properties.

The Company has agreed to use its reasonable best efforts to file and obtain a receipt for a short form prospectus to qualify the distribution of the common shares and warrants underlying the Special Warrants as soon as possible. The Special Warrants will automatically be exercised into the underlying common shares and warrants on the date that is the earlier of (a) one business day after the date the receipts for the prospectus have been issued by the applicable securities regulatory authorities and (b) the date that is four months and one day after the closing of the Offering.

The securities (and all underlying securities) issued in the Offering are subject to a four-month hold period under applicable law (unless the prospectus qualifying the common shares and warrants underlying the Special Warrants is filed prior to the expiry of the four-month hold period).

About the Company

Augusta is a mineral exploration and development company responsibly advancing copper and other base metal assets in the U.S. southwest. The Company’s Rosemont Property is located in Pima County, approximately 50 km southeast of Tucson, Arizona, and contains three known potentially open-pit copper/molybdenum (“Cu/Mo”) deposits. The Rosemont deposit contain 6.4 billion lbs of Cu equivalent (442,000,000 tons at 0.73% Cu equivalent) in measured and indicated resources and 1.9 billion lbs of Cu equivalent (145,000,000 tons at 0.67% Cu equivalent) in inferred resources. Please refer to the Company’s news release dated January 24, 2006 for further details. Augusta has additional exploration properties in Nevada and New Mexico. The Company is traded on the Canadian TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ARS.

For additional information please visit www.augustaresource.com or contact:

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

“Gil Clausen”

_________________________

Gil Clausen

President and CEO

* NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES * OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN

THE UNITED STATES

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

The statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to vary materially from targeted results. Such risks and uncertainties include those described from time to time in the Corporation's latest annual report and management discussion and analysis. The Corporation assumes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.