Tesoro C2 Vein Bulk Sample Returns Average Grade of 5.84 oz/t (182 g/t) Gold

Lori McClenahan, President of St. Elias Mines Ltd. (“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°) 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.

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.

ST. ELIAS FEATURED IN WALL STREET REPORTER INTERVIEW

St. Elias Mines Ltd. (“St. Elias” or the “Company”), announced today that its recent developments caught the eye of the Wall Street Reporter resulting in an audio interview that can be heard online at www.wallstreetreporter.com.

In the interview Mrs. McClenahan discusses St. Elias’ recent acquisition of the Strawberry Flats Gold Project, British Columbia, as well as, the continuing operations of the 100% owned Tesoro Gold Project in Peru.

“The Company is intently focused on the ongoing and frequent developments at the Tesoro project however, with respect to our Strawberry Flats acquisition, when an opportunity of this potential arises on the home-front, we are all but forced to take advantage of it. Call it fortuitous, or just being in the right place at the right time but as the old proverb states, luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity” says Lori McClenahan, President and CEO.

STRAWBERRY FLATS GOLD PROJECT, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Lori McClenahan, President of St. Elias Mines Ltd. (“St. Elias” or the “Company”), is pleased to announce that St.  Elias has acquired, by staking, a 100% interest in the Strawberry Flats Gold Project ("SFG Project") located in southcentral British Columbia.

The SFG Project, comprising four mineral claims covering approximately 886 ha (2,200 acres), is located just north (approximately 12km) of the historic Rossland Gold Camp which produced 2,700,000 ounces of gold between 1897 and the early 1940's.

Previous work at the SFG Project included a small trenching program completed by Cameco in 1989.  The program was designed to determine the bedrock source of gold in soil anomalies in an area within the Strawberry Flats Gold Project.  Cameco's trench #5 returned 8m of 10.45 g/t Au including 2m of 39.16g/t Au from continuous 1m long chip samples.  Cameco's report indicates that the 7m wide WNW trending gold rich structure exposed in trench #5 is of sufficient grade to warrant follow-up along strike in both directions and at depth.

*        The geological information and analytical results reported above predate National Instrument 43-101 and are not National Instrument 43-101 compliant.  St. Elias Mines has not undertaken any independent investigations of the dimensions, quantity or grade of this gold mineralization, and therefore these historical data should not be relied upon.

The SFG Project adjoins the Jumping Josephine Project owned by Astral Mining Corp. and Kootenay Gold Inc. who announced on October 29, 2009 their application for a 10,000 tonne bulk sampling permit from their JJ Main zone.  Drilling at this zone during 2007 - 2008 from within the proposed test pit area included 10m of 9.95g/t gold and 8m of 8.31g/t gold.  As with trench #5 at the SFG Project, there is local high-grade concentration of gold including 1m of 56.4g/t gold, 61.8g/t gold and 57.5g/t gold.

In keeping with St. Elias' business strategy, the Company is actively seeking a joint venture partner for the Strawberry Flats Gold Project.