(via Thenewswire.ca)

Lori McClenahan, President of St. Elias Mines Ltd. ("St. Elias" or the "Company"), is pleased to to update bulk-sampling results from the ongoing underground exploration program at its 100%-owned Tesoro Gold Project in southwestern Peru. An additional 23.9 tons of bulk sample material from the C2 Vein at Zona Canchete were processed at the Dynacor mill and returned an average grade of 0.78 oz/t gold. To date, 63 tons of bulk samples have been processed from the C2 Vein with an average grade of 2.04 opt gold.

The Company is now taking a bulk sample from the C3 Vein at Zona Canchete, which is a narrow but high-grade (+- 1.0 oz/t gold) vein paralleling the C1 Vein, which has been described in previous news releases (average grade of 0.99 oz/t gold based on milling of 451 tons of bulk sample.) The grade of the bulk sample from the C3 Vein should be available within the next two weeks.

St. Elias is also pleased to announce that it has initiated procedures to acquire an established Peruvian exploration company (Minera Santa Elisa S.A.C.) as a subsidiary. This will give the Company access to properties with solid evidence of epithermal gold, porphyry copper, and iron-oxide copper-gold mineralization.

In addition, the Company announces that it is in the process of completing an Environmental Impact Study ("EIS") for the Tesoro Project. The EIS is needed in order to obtain the required permitting for the Company's upcoming 5,000-meter drilling program.

Tesoro Gold Project

The Tesoro Gold Project is 100% owned by the Company with no underlying royalties. The Property covers approximately 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres) and is part of the well-known gold-bearing Nazca-Ocona belt that is located in southern Peru. The Nazca-Ocona gold belt has a long mining history dating back to pre-Incan time. Gold is associated with disseminated to semi-massive sulphides in quartz veins cutting a diorite intrusion. The continuity of the quartz veins and fractures is very impressive in the Nazca-Ocona belt. While the veins tend to be narrow, the grade is significant and the mineralized structures tend to extend along strike for kilometers and to depths of up to 1,000 meters.

To date, a total of 1,157 tons of bulk sample material averaging 0.93 oz/t gold has been extracted from ongoing underground exploration development at several locations on the Tesoro Property including:

-643 tons averaging 0.77 oz/t gold from the A4 Vein;

-451 tons averaging 0.99 oz/t gold from the C1 Vein; and

-63 tons averaging 2.04 oz/t gold from the C2 Vein.

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.

Qualified Person

All technical work is being supervised by, and the contents of this news release have been verified by, John Brophy, P.Geo., a Canadian geologist residing in Peru, who is a "qualified person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

For additional information on St. Elias and its projects, please visit us at www.steliasmines.com or call 1-888-895-5522 (toll free US and Canada).

ST. ELIAS MINES LTD.

(signed "Lori McClenahan")

Lori McClenahan,

President

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this document.

This News Release may contain forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statement.