VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 02/16/12 -- SilverCrest Mines Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SVL)(OTCQX:STVZF)(PINKSHEETS:STVZF)(FRANKFURT:CW5) (the "Company") is pleased to announce that it continues to validate the results of 56 historic core holes drilled on its La Joya Property between 1979 and 2003 by previous operators. The historic holes included 37 holes on the Main Mineralized Trend, 6 holes on the adjacent Coloradito target and 4 and 1 on each of the Santo Nino and Esperanza targets respectively, and 8 holes outside of target areas. Archived core is available and being split for geochemical analysis for the entire length of the drill holes at Coloradito. Due to low metals prices at the time of the historical drilling, only sections of potentially high grade mineralization were of interest and assayed while large lower grade intercepts were ignored and not assayed. As announced on January 5, 2012, SilverCrest's drilling on the Main Mineralized Trend to date has demonstrated intercepts of potentially economic mineralization over widths up to 230 metres. Please reference our website at www.silvercrestmines.com for more information, photos and figures on La Joya.

N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng. and COO of the Company stated, "Coloradito could possibly be the next discovery at La Joya and serves to re-emphasize the growing potential of the La Joya property with a current initial Inferred Resource of over 100 million ounces silver equivalent in the Main Mineralized Trend discovered to date. The Coloradito area shows potential for a large bulk tonnage Molybdenum (Mo), Tungsten (W), Silver (Ag) and Gold (Au) system with Cu-Pb-Zn credits. Planned Phase II drilling during 2012 will further test the extent of mineralization in the Coloradito area."

Assay validation and complete sampling of core from the four historic holes has been completed on the "Coloradito" target (see table below and attached figures). From surface mapping, sampling and limited historic drilling with Company validation, an area with near surface potentially large bulk tonnage Mo-W-Ag-Au mineralization has been defined that is approximately 500 metres long by 200 metres wide, and 100 to 200 metres in depth. The Coloradito weighted average grades of 0.051% Mo and 0.044% WO3 plus 15.9 gpt Ag and 0.11 gpt Au are similar to current economic or potentially economic near surface bulk tonnage deposits such as Thompson Creek Mine, ID (0.046 to 0.081 % Mo), Endako, BC (0.030 to 0.046 % Mo), Sisson, NB (0.031% Mo, 0.094% WO3) and El Creston, Mexico (0.071% Mo, 0.06% Cu). All references are from public company websites.

The Coloradito target is one of three targets adjacent to the Main Mineralized Trend for which the Company has reported an initial Inferred Resource of +100 million ounces of Ag equivalent (see press release dated January 5, 2012).

The most significant drill results of the validated historic holes at Coloradito, which have only partially tested the target are shown in the following table and attached figures.

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