MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwire) -- 02/01/13 -- Maya Gold & Silver Inc. ("Maya" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE:MYA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Alain Levesque as Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation. He replaces Mr. Alain Krushnisky who was serving as interim Chief Financial Officer of the Corporation since November 2011. The Corporation thanks Mr. Krushnisky for his role as interim Chief Financial Officer.

Alain Levesque has over 16 years of business experience, including with the accounting firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton and Deloitte where he worked as an auditor. He later worked for several years as a consultant for various companies and occupied the position of Chief Financial Officer at Ranaz Corporation. Through his various jobs and mandates, he has acquired extensive experience in financial reporting and management in several sectors including mining. Mr. Levesque CPA, CA, has been a member of l'Ordre des Comptables Professionnels Agrees du Quebec since 1995 and holds a BA in Business Administration from Universite Laval.

Mr. Guy Goulet, Chief Executive Officer of Maya, stated: "It gives me great pleasure to welcome Mr. Levesque within our team. His experience and expertise make him an excellent addition and will contribute to sound financial management of our mining projects."

The appointment of Mr. Levesque to the position of Chief Financial Officer is subject to the review of the TSX Venture Exchange.

Stock Option Plan

The Corporation announced that the board of directors has approved, subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, an increase in the number of common shares reserved for issuance under the Corporation's fixed number stock option plan (the "Plan") from 7,000,000 to 10,000,000. The number of common shares reserved under the amended Plan represents 9.79% of the total number of the Corporation's common shares currently issued and outstanding.

The Corporation further announced that on January 18, 2013, the board of directors granted a total of 3,675,000 options to purchase common shares of the Corporation to officers, directors, employees and consultants pursuant to the Plan. All options have an exercise price of CAD 0.35 per common share and an exercise period of five years, with the exception of 200,000 options that will expire on January 18, 2014.

ABOUT MAYA

Maya Gold & Silver Inc. is a Canadian listed mining corporation focused on the exploration and development of gold and silver deposits in Morocco. The Corporation's shares trade on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "MYA".

For further information on Maya visit www.mayagoldsilver.com

Forward-looking statements

This release may contain forward-looking statements including management's assessments of future plans and operations, and expectations of future production. These statements are based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, the risks associated with the mining and exploration industry (e.g. operational risks in development, exploration and production; delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or development projects or capital expenditures; the uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and projections relating to production and the uncertainty of the availability of capital). The assumptions used in the preparation of such statements, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements.

Neither the 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.