TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - May 16, 2012) - Avion Gold Corporation (TSX:AVR)(OTCQX:AVGCF) ("Avion" or the "Company") announces that the annual meeting (the "Meeting") of holders of common shares (the "Shareholders") of the Company scheduled to be held at 10:00 a.m. (Toronto time) on Thursday, May 17, 2012 has been cancelled and will be re-scheduled.

The Company is going to re-schedule the annual shareholders' meeting in an effort to increase the number of shareholders represented and voting at the meeting. The Company has received an unusually high number of proxies indicating votes are to be withheld with respect to the election of its proposed slate of board nominees. In light of the over-all low level of representation of its shareholders at the Meeting, the board of directors of the Company has decided it was in the best interest of the Company and its shareholders to cancel the Meeting and hold an annual meeting at a later date to give time for the board to understand what its shareholders' concerns are and generate a broader level of participation by its shareholders in general at the annual meeting.

It is expected the annual meeting will be re-scheduled for June 26, 2012 and the new record date will be May 25, 2012. New meeting materials, including a management information circular, will be mailed to the Company's shareholders and filed on SEDAR.

The Company has engaged Kingsdale Shareholders Services Inc. to provide proxy solicitation and corporate governance services.

About Avion

Avion is a Canadian-based gold mining company focused in West Africa that holds 80% of the Tabakoto and Ségala gold projects in Mali. The Company has developed an underground mine at the Tabakoto deposit, and is developing another underground mine at the Ségala deposit. The Tabakoto project property also contains several producing open pit mines. Production sustainability will continue to be supported by exploration programs over an approximately 600 km² exploration package that both surrounds and is near to the Company's existing mine infrastructure, and contains mineral resources on the Kofi property. Additionally, mineral resources have grown considerably at Avion's 1,600 km² Houndé exploration property in Burkina Faso.

Cautionary Notes

Certain information set forth in this press release contains "forward-looking statements", and "forward-looking information" under applicable securities laws. Except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements. Some of the forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as "expects" "anticipates", "believes", "projects", "plans", and similar expressions. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause Avion's actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those risks described in the annual information form of the Company. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Avion undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.