Atocha Announces Private Placements

December 15, 2009 - Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA – Atocha Resources (TSX.V-ATT), (the Company) is pleased to announce that it is undertaking a non-brokered private placement of up to $400,000 through the sale of 2,500,000 units at a unit price of $0.16 subject to TSX approval.  Each unit will consist of one flow-through share and one non flow-through warrant exercisable at $0.20 in the first year and $0.25 in the second year. The proceeds of the placement will be used for exploration work on Atocha’s Atkinson (Detour Lake) project in Ontario.  A finder’s fee of 5% in cash is payable to Limited Market Dealer Inc. in connection with this placement, together with a non-transferable broker warrant entitling the holder to acquire units equivalent to 10% of the number of units sold in the offering at a price of $0.16 per unit.  The units issuable upon the exercise of the broker warrant have the same terms as the units sold in the offering.

 “We are very pleased to be commencing a relationship with MineralFields Group”, said A. Salman Jamal, Chief Executive Officer of Atocha.  “This is an important milestone in the growth of Atocha and we look forward to working with MineralFields Group as we explore Atocha’s Atkinson (Detour Lake) project.”

The Company also announces a non-brokered private placement of up to $50,000 through the sale of 333,333 units at a unit price of $0.15. Each unit will consist of one share and one warrant exercisable of one common share at an exercise price of $0.20 in the first year and $0.25 in the second year. The proceeds of this placement will be used for general working capital.  A finder’s fee of 10% in cash is payable to a finder in connection with this placement, together with a non-transferable broker warrant entitling the holder to acquire units equivalent to 10% of the number of units sold in the offering at a price of $0.15 per unit.  The units issuable upon the exercise of the broker warrant have the same terms as the units sold in the placement.
 Both of the above placements are subject to receipt of TSX Venture approval.

About MineralFields, Pathway and First Canadian Securities ®

MineralFields Group (a division of Pathway Asset Management), based in Toronto,  Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary, is a mining fund with significant assets under administration that offers its tax-advantaged super flow-through limited partnerships to investors throughout Canada as well as hard-dollar resource limited partnerships to investors throughout the world. Pathway Asset Management also specializes in the manufacturing and distribution of structured products and mutual funds (including the Pathway Multi Series Funds Inc. corporate-class mutual fund series). Information about MineralFields Group is available at www.mineralfields.com.  First Canadian Securities ® (a division of Limited Market Dealer Inc.) is active in leading resource financings (both flow-through and hard dollar PIPE financings) on competitive, effective and service-friendly terms, and offers investment banking, mergers and acquisitions, and mining industry consulting, services to resource companies.  MineralFields and Pathway have financed several hundred mining and oil and gas exploration companies to date through First Canadian Securities ®.

Atkinson (Detour Lake) Project

To date, drilling by previous operators has identified two zones with anomalous gold concentrations on the Atkinson claims. The highest Au values have been intersected at the contact between the chemical sediments and the felsic tuffs.

The zone (Contact Zone) appears to be structurally controlled, dipping to the north and west at approximately 20° (sub parallel to the geology).   The Contact Zone ranges from 1.0 to approximately 10.0 m in thickness and has been intersected in 24 drill holes with assay results ranging from 0.25 g/t Au (over a core length of 1.0m) to 14.27 g/t Au (over a core length of 7.7m). The contact zone has been traced for approximately 330 metres to the north west from the area drilled by Better Resources and is approximately 150 metres wide on Line 900 N. Between 850N and 1000N the zone has been intersected in seven drill holes and shows continuity in a northwesterly direction and in an east west direction.

Intersections from four of the drill holes have length weighted composite averages of greater than 3.0 grams per tonne Au over core lengths that range from 1.5 to 7.7 metres. The mineralization in this portion of the contact zone is significant from an exploration perspective because of the continuity shown and the grades of mineralization intersected and requires follow up drilling to evaluate its potential. The zone is open to the north and north west and the eastern and western limits have not been completely defined.

Approximately 60 metres above the Contact Zone a second zone of anomalous Au mineralization has been intersected in the mafic volcanic rocks (designated M1). The M1 zone has been intersected in twelve holes and appears to parallel the Contact Zone. The M1 zone ranges in thickness from 1.0 metre to approximately 9.0 metres and Au concentrations range from 0.197 g/t to 61.2 g/t (over a core length of 1.0m) with many of the intersections being less than 2.0 g/t Au. The M1 zone has been traced for approximately 300 metres in a north south direction is open to the north, east, and west. Whole rock geochemical results show a significant enrichment in K2O, significant Na2O depletion and enrichment of Ba and Sr in the area of the mineralization. The K2O enrichment and Na2O depletion is indicative of hydrothermal alteration.

The Atkinson Claims are being explored for Archean gold and volcanogenic base metal (Cu, Zn) deposits. Gold deposits in this area (Detour Lake Mine, and Casa Beradi) are associated with or are in part hosted by sulphide bearing chemical sedimentary units which can be traced by electromagnetic, magnetic, and Induced Polarization geophysical surveys. Exploration on the property is in an early stage where mineralization has been located but the limits of the mineralization have not been defined. The drilling by previous operators is still at a wide spacing in the area of mineralization and several targets based on electromagnetic and magnetic surveys and structural analysis, remain to be tested.

In order to further evaluate the Atkinson Project a program of diamond drilling (approximately 3210 metres in 18 holes) is required to follow up on the encouraging results returned in previous drilling by previous operators and to test more regional geophysical targets.  In this regard, Atocha plans to commence a work program in early 2010.
J. T. Shearer, M.Sc., P.Geo, is the Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101 who supervised the preparation of the technical material of this release.

About Atocha

Atocha is a natural resources company engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mining properties.  The Company’s main focus is on exploration for copper and precious metals. The Company has an option to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the McGillivray Property, located in the Kamloops Mining Division of British Columbia.  Atocha also has a 100% option on the Besshi gold project in B.C. and the Atkinson (Detour Lake) gold project in Ontario.

For further information on Atocha, please refer to SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

For further information, please contact

A. Salman Jamal, Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: 604 696-1111
Facsimile: 888 266.3983
E-mail: asj@atocharesources.com
Website: www.atocharesources.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This document may contain or refer to forward-looking information based on current expectations, including, but not limited to timing of mineral resource estimates, future exploration or project development programs and the impact on the Company of these events. Forward-looking information is subject to significant risks and uncertainties, as actual results may differ materially from forecasted results. Forward-looking information is provided as of the date hereof and we assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. For a detailed list of risks and uncertainties, as it relates to Atocha Resources Inc., please refer to the Company's Prospectus filed with SEDAR.

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