• From 208.35 m to 211.15 m; 1.68% copper, 0.52 g/t gold, 17.3 g/t silver over a sampled width of 2.8 m. This intercept is some 50 meters away from its equivalent in the Discovery Hole.

A table with significant results to date is available at the following link:

http://www.empireminingcorp.com/i/nr/2011-05-18-table.pdf

Copper-gold mineralization in the Main Zone has been intercepted in all five drill-holes for which assays have been received to date; within a 250 meter by 75 meter north-south structural corridor (DHT 006 was mainly drilled outside the corridor, although collared within it). The Main Zone is open to the north, to the south and at depth and hole-to-hole correlation is evident. Detailed geological logging of the drill cores has enabled a clearer interpretation of grade and width continuity. There are two clear zones of copper-gold mineralization; one at depths of 50 to 70 meters, the other between 100 and 140 meters from surface. There is also a third, intermediate zone, evident in two of the drill-holes.

A longitudinal section and a map depicting the surface projection of the mineralization can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.empireminingcorp.com/i/nr/2011-05-18-longitudinal.pdf

Three maps plotting drill holes against geology, copper geochemistry and gold geochemistry can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.empireminingcorp.com/i/nr/2011-05-18-maps.pdf

Photos of core from DTH-008 can be viewed at the following link:

http://www.empireminingcorp.com/i/nr/2011-05-18-photos.pdf

Copper-gold is hosted almost exclusively by wollastonite, a calcium silicate mineral. This mineral forms approximately 50% of the rock mass in the upper 150m of the longitudinal section. A commodity review carried out for Empire by a Swedish-based industrial minerals specialist suggests that wollastonite could be a valuable co-product of copper and gold. Mineral processing specialists are being contacted to scope test work applicable to these ores in order to extract best value.

Drilling will continue to explore for extensions of the Main Zone skarn body and to build up sections using infill drilling where necessary for resource estimation purposes. IP geophysical targets to the north of the Main Zone have also been earmarked for drilling in the coming few weeks.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

All core was sawn in half with sample widths determined by geology and mineralization. Individual samples within visible mineralization did not exceed 1.0 m, while the maximum sample interval was 2.0 m. Samples were bagged, security tagged and sent to the ALS Chemex sample preparation facility in Izmir, Turkey and, following preparation, to the ALS Chemex laboratory in Vancouver. Gold was determined by fire assay with AA finish, ore grade repeats were run with ICP-AES and a total of 33 elements determined by ICP after four-acid digestion. Blank, replicate and Certified Reference Material made up approximately 15% of the batch. Additional check assays are under consideration, as is the acquisition of certified reference material in the higher grade range of the received assays.

Empire's Qualified Person, David C. Cliff, BSc (Hons), MIMMM, C Eng, FGS, also Empire's President & CEO, has reviewed and approved the content of this news release.