St. Elias Mines Ltd.: Tesoro Gold Project, Peru-First Ever Bulk Sample Taken from C2 Vein Returns Average Grade of 5.84 oz/t (182 g/t) Gold

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Nov. 12, 2009) - Lori McClenahan, President of St. Elias Mines Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:SLI)(FRANKFURT:EKL)(U.S. CLEARING SYMBOL:SELSF) ("St. Elias" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce the first bulk sample ever taken from the C2 Vein at the Tesoro Gold Project (the "Property") located in southwestern Peru has returned an average grade of 5.84 oz/t gold.

Bulk Samples

The first bulk sample ever taken from the C2 Vein at Zona Canchete, weighing 4.1 tons, was processed at the Dynacor Mill and was determined to have a grade of 5.84 oz/t gold. This grade was precisely duplicated in a referee sample submitted to ALS Chemex Labs in Lima, Peru.

The C2 Vein has been traced on surface for a strike length of about 200 meters. It trends north-northwest and dips steeply (75 degrees) to the east. Based on 31 channel samples previously collected from shallow pits, the vein is 5.0 to 30.0 cm wide (average 12 cm) with assays ranging from 0.03 to 2.60 oz/t gold (average 0.43 oz/t gold). The bulk sample, taken from an adit driven into the northern end of the vein, is substantially higher grade than would have been predicted from the near-surface sampling results.

The C2 Vein appears to be similar to the A4 Vein in Zona Central (some 700 meters to the south) in that the strikes and dips are the same, and the veins are characterized by moderate-grade material punctuated by high-grade "bonanza" shoots that seldom are evident based on assays from shallow pits. This is quite distinct from the east-trending veins at Zona Canchete (C1, C3, and C4), which are sub-vertical structures with consistent and higher-grade gold assays (typically 1.0 oz/t), but lacking high-grade "bonanza" shoots.

To date, a total of 1,085 tons of bulk sample material averaging 0.88 oz/t gold has been extracted from ongoing underground exploration development at the Tesoro Property including:

• 643 tons averaging 0.77 oz/t gold from the A4 Vein;
• 438 tons averaging 1.01 oz/t gold from the C1 Vein; and
• 4.1 tons averaging 5.84 oz/t gold from the C2 Vein.

The Tesoro Project
The Tesoro Gold Project is 100% owned by the Company with no underlying royalties. The Property covers 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) and is part of the well-known gold-bearing Nazca-Ocoña belt that is located in southern Peru. The continuity of the quartz veins is impressive in the Nazca-Ocoña belt. While the veins tend to be narrow, the gold grade is significant and the mineralized structures tend to extend along strike for kilometres and to depths of up to 1,000 metres.

To date, the Company has identified five mineralized zones with more than 50 quartz veins (having a total combined length of 9 km) at the Tesoro Project. The veins are mesothermal, indicating that the vein structures may extend to considerable depths.

The Tesoro Property has never been evaluated to depth, or to its full strike potential. This leaves a large potential for the discovery of additional mineralization