Trading Symbol:
SLI
(TSX Venture Exchange)
EKL
(Frankfurt
Exchange)
SELSF
(U.S.
Clearing Symbol)
News Release
2007-23
August 1,
2007
NEWS RELEASE
Jales/Gralheira
Property, Portugal
– Development Plans
Lori McClenahan,
President of St. Elias Mines Ltd., and Alan Matthews, C.Eng., President of
Kernow Resources & Developments Ltd. (collectively the
“Companies”), are pleased to provide the following update regarding
the development plans for the Jales/Gralheira Gold Property (the
“Property”) located in northern Portugal.
St. Elias owns a 51% interest in the Property
and Kernow Resources & Developments Ltd. owns a 49% interest.
The Jales/Gralheira Property, Portugal
Jales/Gralheira Gold Property (the “Property”)
covers approximately 1,250 acres (500 hectares) and is located in northern Portugal
..
The Property includes the Jales Mines,
which produced approximately 830,000 ounces of gold in ore grading 12.9g/t
between 1933-1992, and the Gralheira deposit, which has been explored by
drilling
[over
120 drill holes completed to a maximum depth of 1,675 feet (511m) over a strike
length 8,860 ft (2,700m)];
underground sampling from a 350m long adit and 200m of crosscuts; and a TITAN24
IP/Resistivity geophysical survey.
Recent History
The Property is subject to a joint
venture between the Companies (St. Elias as to 51% and Kernow as to 49%.)
St. Elias is operator of the joint
venture, however, Kernow will enter into a
Technical Services Agreement with St.
Elias to manage the exploration/development programs.
The Companies have recently
been awarded an Experimental Mining License (“EML”) for the
Property (refer to Kernow’s news
release dated May 28, 2007.)
The EML is for a period of three years and allows the Companies to
undertake underground test work at the project as well as continuing to explore
the project.
Under the terms of the
EML, a minimum of 250,000 Euros must be expended on the Property each year over
the three-year life of the license.
Mining
and Exploration Plan
The Companies have developed the
following plan to assist in the completion of a pre-feasibility study
with the underlying objective of assessing the probability of putting the
Property into production:
·
Prepare and file a
technical report compliant with National Instrument 43-101 which would include an updated resource calculation;
·
Prepare an area to extract a higher grade section of the Gralheira
deposit (approximately 100 tonnes of material);
·
Underground bulk sampling conducted in combination with the
testing of two extraction methods (shrinkage stoping and sublevel stoping) to
assist in the determination of the appropriate mining method;
·
Metallurgical testing;
·
Continued base-line environmental studies.
The above plan is in the process
of being implemented.
The geological and technical
content of this release has been reviewed, verified by the Companies’
geological staff (which includes Alan Matthews, C.Eng. a “qualified
person” for the purpose of NI 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 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.