Trading Symbol:
SLI
(TSX Venture Exchange)
EKL
(Frankfurt
Exchange)
SELSF
(U.S.
Clearing Symbol)
News Release
2008-04
January 31, 2008
NEWS RELEASE
TESORO GOLD PROJECT
,
PERU
-
Bulk Sample Batches Return Grades of 0.79 oz/t, 0.99 oz/t and 0.34 oz/t Gold
Lori McClenahan, President of St. Elias Mines Ltd. (the
“Company”), is pleased to announce bulk sample and exploration
results from the Company’s ongoing development program at
the
Tesoro Gold Project (the “Property”) located in southwestern Peru
..
Bulk Samples
A total of 71 tonnes of development material has been
processed at the milling facility of D
ynacor Mines Incorporated located
immediately to the north of the Property.
Included in this material is 26 tonnes grading 0.79 oz./t gold and 31
tonnes grading 0.99 oz./t gold from the C-1 Vein at Zona Canchete and 14 tonnes
grading 0.34 oz./t gold from the A-4 Vein System at Zona Central.
To date, a total of 332 tonnes of bulk sample material
averaging 0.97 oz/t gold has been extracted from ongoing underground
exploration development at the C-1 Vein.
In addition, a total of 188 tonnes of bulk sample material averaging
0.75 oz./t gold has been extracted from the A-4 Vein System.
Exploration
At Zona Canchete,
detailed sampling has been completed on the C-3 and C-4 Veins, which are
parallel to the C-1 Vein and located respectively 60 metres and 30 metres to
the north of it.
At the C-3 Vein, 19
channel samples were collected across a strike length of 70 metres from shallow
pits and trenches.
The vein remains
open to the east and west.
Although
the C-3 Vein is narrow at surface (average 8cm), grades obtained were extremely
encouraging, ranging from 4g/t to 268g/t gold (0.12 oz/t to 7.82 oz/t) with an
average grade of 1.2 oz/t gold.
These grades are superior to grades obtained from detailed surface
sampling of the C-1 Vein completed prior to the initiation of underground
operations.
At the C-4 Vein,
16 channel samples were collected across a strike length of 120 metres from
shallow pits and trenches.
The vein
remains open to the east and west.
The C-4 Vein is somewhat narrower than the C-3 Vein and has grades
ranging from 0.36g/t to 55.3g/t gold (0.01 oz/t to 1.61 oz/t), with an average
grade of approximately 0.5 oz/t gold.
At Zona Central,
three new trenches have intersected the A-1 Vein, extending its strike length
from 70 metres to 90 metres.
Grades
in the new trenches are 0.12 oz/t, 0.62 oz/t and 0.70 oz/t gold.
To date, 18 channel samples collected
from the A-1 Vein have returned an average grade of 0.55 oz/t gold across
widths of 10cm to 40cm.
Assays and check assays of all samples,
including bulk samples, are analyzed by fire assay by ALS Chemex SA laboratory
(an ISO certified 9002 facility) 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.
The Tesoro Gold Project is 100% owned by the Company with
no underlying royalties.
The
Project is located
within the prolific 300km x 30km Nazca-Ocoño gold belt
paralleling
the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru
, within which there are more than 70 known gold deposits comprising
narrow but generally high-grade auriferous quartz veins.
Although the veins are narrow, typically
<1.0 metres wide, the mineralized structures tend to extend along strike for
kilometres and to depths of up to 1,000 metres.
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 contains
forward-looking statements regarding the ongoing and upcoming exploration work
and expected geometry of geological formations and structures.
Actual results may differ materially
from those currently anticipated in such statements.