December 12, 2008 -- Vancouver, British Columbia: Riverside Resources Inc. (TSX-V: RRI) is pleased to report new results from three targets on the 350 square km Penoles concession located in Penoles Mining District, Durango, Mexico. The concession has a diversity of deposit types, including the Jes�s Mar�a Pb-Zn-Cu vein system, San Rafael Ag vein system and the El Capitan disseminated epithermal gold system. Riverside completed core drilling at the El Capitan area (News Release October 20, 2008) and since that time has completed mapping, sampling, and targeting on three vein targets that extend over eight kilometers of strike length and have numerous historic mines, workings, and open cuts indicating there could be a number of potential drill targets on Riverside's property.

"Our Exploration Team has identified three priority targets that expand upon the already drilled shallow, consistent gold-rich horizon that Riverside announced in October," said Dr. John-Mark Staude, President and CEO, Riverside Resources. "With the confirmation of three new targets on our Penoles Property and our El Capitan gold area, we have assembled a cluster of high quality, relatively low risk, mineralized targets at a relatively low cost as we build upon extensive early expenditure in the district. We are very pleased with our progress on the Penoles Project which was added to our portfolio of properties earlier this year."

The Penoles Mining District is where the mining company Compania Minera Industrias Penoles was founded 120 years ago and is located near the recent discoveries at San Augustin (Geologix), Penasquito (Goldcorp), Juanicipio (MAG Silver) and Camino Rojo (Canplats) which are in the same Durango-Zacatecas metalliferous region.

Compania Minera Industrias Penoles mined the Jes�s Mar�a vein system from 1887 to 1908 and produced grades from 300 to 2000 g/t Ag, 3-12% Pb, and 4-10% Zn to a depth of 200 meters. Riverside's recent exploration on and around this former Penoles mine has identified quartz-calcite-pyrite veins with barite and chlorite selvages and silver minerals, galena, sphalerite, and minor chalcopyrite of up to 3 meters in width which have been mined along more than 600 meters of strike length. A moderately strong IP conductor has been identified along the vein which is interpreted as a fault structure with multiple episodes of shearing and is a potential drill target. Vein jogs and bends may be the nucleus of a possible high grade ore body with potential mineralized shoots hosting silver mineralization. Assay results from dump and surface vein exposures samples on the Jes�s Mar�a target exceeded 255 g/t Ag.

The San Rafael vein system strikes east to west and contains several historical mining sites. It includes a major shaft exceeding 100 meters depth and an abandoned mill site at the centre of the vein system. The San Rafael vein was also historically mined by Compania Minera Industrias Penoles producing grades ranging from 300 to 1000 g/t Ag. Recent chip sampling by Riverside returned over 180 g/t Ag in various samples and has identified potential drill targets along the vein, particularly in structural flexures and wider quartz-sulfide shoots. The vein structures appear to have no known drilling although there are open stopes indicative of historical production.

The El Tubo is a gold-bearing vein system one kilometer to the east of the village of Penoles where values of 0.5 g/t Au are common in surface samples and a 30 meter wide alteration body has been mapped and could be drill tested. Recent assays show relatively high Au:Ag ratios compared to the Ag-base metal dominant veins at Jesus Maria and San Rafael, a possible indicator of a two stage mineralization history in the Penoles Mining District. Surface samples have identified potential targets along the down dip continuation of strong silicification, quartz stockwork, and hematized brecciation. The recent drilling by Riverside at El Capitan intersected extensive hematite and silica in some of the gold rich zones and the El Tubo zone may be a feeder zone into a different but similar mineralized stratigraphic contact.

Recent exploration on Riverside's 350 square km concession in the Penoles Mining District has resulted in a new possible open pit gold discovery at El Capitan and a minimum of three targets with significant potential: the Jes�s Mar�a, San Rafael and El Tubo. Maps, cross sections and details about the Penoles project along with a 3-D model showing the drill-hole locations and intercepts from the El Capitan drill program are available on www.rivres.com.

Riverside Resources is focused on capitalizing on its technical team's extensive experience and on the ground local approach of mineral exploration through active joint ventures and cost effective exploration work. By partnering with other companies on the majority of the projects Riverside minimizes exploration risk and ensures that various projects are taken forward each year. The generative program is based on the team's more than 60 years of collective exploration experience and participation in over a half dozen ore body discoveries. At the end of November 2008 Riverside had approximately C$3.4 million in cash on hand and 17,828,500 shares issued and outstanding.

The scientific and technical data contained in this news release were prepared under the supervision of Locke Goldsmith, P. Eng., P. Geo., an independent qualified person to Riverside Resources, who is responsible for ensuring that the geologic information provided in this news release is accurate and acts as a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Samples for the Penoles project were prepared by Inspectorate Labs of Durango City, Durango State, Mexico and then analyzed by Inspectorate Labs of Reno, Nevada, USA using aqua regia digestion on a 15-gram sample followed by ICP-MS analysis. All labs are ISO certified.

ON BEHALF OF RIVERSIDE RESOURCES INC.
"John Mark Staude"
Dr. John-Mark Staude, President & CEO

Certain statements in this press release may be considered forward-looking information, which statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology (e.g., "expect" or "plans"). Such information involves known and unknown risks -- including the availability of funds, the results of financing and exploration activities, the interpretation of exploration results and other geological data, or unanticipated costs and expenses and other risks identified by Riverside in its public securities filings -- that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Riverside disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For additional information contact:

John-Mark Staude
President & CEO, Director
Riverside Resources Inc.
info@rivres.com
Phone: (778) 327-6671
Fax: (778) 327-6675
Web: www.rivres.com

Alex Mason
Corporate Communications Manager
Riverside Resources Inc.
info@rivres.com
Phone: (778) 327-6671
Fax: (778) 327-6675
Web: www.rivres.com

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

You can also view this News Release on our website at:
http://www.rivres.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=331677