AZG Azteca Gold Corp.

Matthew Russell, President of Azteca Gold Corp. (the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: AZG) announces that diamond drill hole DDH-005B, on the Company's 50%-owned Two Mile Project, was successfully wedged-off of the parent hole DDH-005A at approximately 3960 FT and is now at a depth of 4446 FT. The separation of the two drill holes as measured in plan-view is increasing as planned with the purpose of developing a mineral resource. The target total depth ("TD") of hole DDH-005B is 9500 FT with the purpose of investigating further the extent of down dip mineralization in which hole DDH-005A was terminated at a TD of 8784 FT.

Approximately 1 mile West of hole DDH-005A and DDH-005B, vertical hole DDH-006 has been progressed to a depth of 1284 FT with HQ-size core. The core hole will be HQ-size down to at least 4,000 FT to facilitate a potential future wedge-off drilling point that could be used to develop a mineral resource. Below the wedge-off point, the core hole will be narrowed down to NQ-oversize to reduce the drilling friction and increase the depth capability of the high-strength NRQ drill rods. Target TD has not been decided at this time. The purpose of Hole DDH-006 is to further investigate a geophysical anomaly along strike of the Two Mile Fault.

Timing of Assays

It is expected that first preliminary assays on the mineralization of hole DDH-005A will be ready for release by late December 2008 to early January 2009. Assaying and subsequent assay releases will be ongoing for holes DDH-005A, DDH-005B, and DDH-006 during 2009.

New Director Elected

At the Company's annual general meeting held in Calgary, Alberta December 16, 2008, Jan Alston of Calgary Alberta was, subject to regulatory approval, elected to the board of directors. Jan brings to the board expertise in securities law and has been active in the Canadian junior venture market for minerals as well as oil and gas in the capacity of executive management and directorships for over 20 years. The Company granted, on December 16, 2008, 5 year incentive options to the independent members of the board consisting of 300,000 options exercisable at $0.50 per share and 600,000 options exercisable at $0.25 per share.

The information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Matthew Russell, President and CEO and the Company's Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101.

WARNING: the Company relies upon litigation protection for "forward looking" statements. The information in this release may contain forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. This forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by the forward-looking information. Factors that may cause actual results to vary material include, but are not limited to, inaccurate assumptions concerning the exploration for and development of mineral deposits, currency fluctuations, unanticipated operational or technical difficulties, changes in laws or regulations, the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits, changes in general economic conditions or conditions in the financial markets and the inability to raise additional financing. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. The Company does not assume the obligation to revise or update this forward-looking information after the date of this release or to revise such information to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws.

Shares issued: 134,441,996

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Contacts: Azteca Gold Corp. Jon Slizza VP of Finance Cell: (509) 981-2020 Email: info@azteca-au.com