Lori McClenahan, President of St. Elias Mines Ltd. (the "Company" or "St. Elias"), is pleased to provide the following update with respect to recent bulk sampling and ongoing underground exploration and development at the Tesoro Gold Project (the "Property") located in southwestern Peru. In the most recent bulk sample, a total of 81.4 tonnes of material from the A4 Vein and the C1 Vein returned a weighted average grade of 0.76 oz/t gold. Total underground development on the A4 and C1 Veins completed by the Company to date is approximatley 1,000m (3,280 feet).

Of the 81.4 tonnes of bulk sample material, 66.5 tonnes were extracted from the A4 Vein from a newly discovered mineralized pod near the extraction shaft at depths of 42 to 56 meters below surface. This included a medium-grade lot of 50.2 tonnes grading 0.554 oz/t gold and a high-grade lot of 16.3 tonnes grading 1.25 oz/t gold containing common coarse-grained gold. The Company continues to pursue this pod to determine if it extends any deeper. Total underground development on the A4 Vein includes 122 meters of level drifting and 158 meters of shaft-sinking and raising.

On the C1 Vein, 14.9 tonnes of bulk sample material grading 0.909 oz/t gold were extracted. Most of the recent work on the C1 Vein has involved underground development through unveined country rock to extend the main extraction shaft to a depth of 100 meters below surface and to complete a crosscut on the 60m level to the parallel C3 and C4 Veins. Total underground development to date on the C1 vein includes 457 meters of level drifting and 215 meters of shaft-sinking and raising.

While underground development continues at Zona Canchete and Zona Central, the Company is also conducting reconnaissance work to locate and sample veins that have not been sampled previously. Ten of 24 reconnaissance samples collected to date have returned interesting gold assays ranging from 0.45 oz/t gold to 1.56 oz/t gold across widths of 3.0 to 9.0cm.

The Company is continuing with its plan to develop the Property by incrementally expanding the operation from artisanal levels of production through to a profitable production level while concurrently defining resources or reserves. To date, the Company has:

• identified five mineralized zones on the Property with more than 50 quartz veins (having a total combined length of 9km) and has only carried out underground exploration and development work on two of these veins (the C1 Vein at Zona Canchete and A4 Vein at Zona Central);
• completed approximately 1,000m of underground development on the C1 and A4 Veins including: 457 meters of level drifting and 215 meters of shaft-sinking and raising on the C1 Vein; and 122 meters of level drifting and 158 meters of shaft-sinking and raising on the A4 Vein;
• extracted and processed a total of 601 tonnes of bulk sample material at a weighted average grade of 0.87 oz/t gold from the C1 and A4 Veins including: 346 tonnes at a weighted average grade of 0.0.96 oz/t from the C1 Vein; and 254 tonnes at a weighted average grade of 0.74 oz/t from the A4 Vein;
• calculated an inferred mineral resource of 4,290 tonnes grading 1.04 oz/t gold with a total gold content of 4,460 ounces for the C1 Vein based on assay results from existing underground workings. (Note: A conservative figure of 100 meters was used for the length of the vein in the resource estimate and the depth of the evaluated part of the vein is considered to be 100 meters in the resource estimate. The C1 Vein is open to the east on all levels and to depth.)

The Tesoro Gold Project is 100% owned by the Company with no underlying royalties. The Property comprises approximately 1,800 hectares in three contiguous claims situated in a highland desert plateau in southwestern Peru. The claims are within the well-known Nazca-Ocoña metallogenic province, a 300km X 30km gold belt paralleling the Pacific Coast of southwestern Peru in which there are more than 70 gold deposits comprising narrow but generally high-grade gold-bearing quartz veins. Although the veins are narrow, the mineralized structures tend to extend along strike for kilometres and to depths of 1,000 metres.

All of the weights given above are "dry" weights, and all assay results have been confirmed by check assays from ALS Chemex Labs in Lima , Peru .

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.