Trading
Symbol:
SLI
(TSX Venture Exchange)
U.S.
Clearing Symbol: SELSF
News Release
2007-13
April 17, 2007
NEWS RELEASE
TESORO GOLD PROJECT
,
PERU
17.24
oz/t Gold at Zona Central
Lori McClenahan, President of St. Elias
Mines Ltd. (the “Company”), is pleased to announce additional
results from the ongoing underground exploration and development program at
Zona Central at the Tesoro Gold Project (the “Property”) located in
southwestern Peru.
A channel sample
from a quartz vein exposed within the A-4 Vein System of Zona Central returned 681.0g/t
Au (19.65 opt) across 37cm and a duplicate check sample returned 37cm of 591.0g/t
(17.24 opt) gold.
To date, 20 quartz-vein samples have been collected
from the A4 Vein System and submitted for coarse metallic assay.
The average grade of the 20 samples is
2.37 opt gold.
The average width of
the vein samples is 30.4cm (about twice the average width of the C1 Vein).
It is important to note that the average
grade does not include the duplicate check sample (17.24 opt) and that there is
often more than one vein exposed at the levels sampled.
A channel sample taken from the A-4 shaft at the 10-m
level assayed 681.0g/t Au (19.65 opt)
gold
over 37cm.
A duplicate sample
(taken to verify the initial sample) assayed 591.0g/t
(17.24 opt)
gold over 37cm.
The
contribution due to coarse gold is virtually identical in both samples (15.57%
in the initial sample and 15.60% in the duplicate sample).
Coarse gold contributed 3.09 opt and 2.69
opt, respectively, to the samples.
Additional results include 71.6g/t (2.09 opt) gold
over 1.0 metre with a contribution of 12.5% due to coarse gold from the 10m
level and 11.87 opt gold over 25cm with a contribution of only 1.47% due to
coarse gold from the 30m level.
In addition to gold occurring in the quartz veins, it
also occurs in adjacent rock units (the andesite dyke, fault gouge and fresh
granodiorite.)
Of 11 samples of “andesite
dyke”, the average grade is 1.73g/t gold (range 0.02 to 10.0g/t gold)
across an average width of 82cm.
Of
11 samples of “fault gouge”, the average grade is 4.46g/t gold
(range 0.05 to 24.7g/t gold) across an average width of 30cm.
Of 6 samples of “fresh
granodiorite”, assays range from 60ppb gold to 870ppb (0.87g/t) gold,
with an average grade of 0.36g/t gold across an average width of 40cm.
This low-grade material is being
stockpiled on surface for possible future processing.
Development work on the A-4 Vein System is
ongoing.
The A-4 shaft is currently
at a depth of 40m.
The A-4 Vein System, comprising two to three known
veins, is part of eight other main veins (or vein swarms) with an aggregate
length of approximately 3,000m, within an area measuring 1,000m x 1,200m, that
comprise Zona Central.
On surface,
the A-4 Vein System extends for at least 650 meters, has a northwesterly strike
and varies in width between 25cm and 43cm.
Zona Central, located within the northern
area of the Property, is one of five gold-bearing zones identified to date on
the Property.
A map showing the
location of the Zones within the Property can be viewed at http://www.steliasmines.com/properties/PeruFig3.pdf
..
Sample preparation and
analytical work was undertaken at
ALS Chemex SA laboratory (an ISO certified 9002
facility)
in Lima
, Peru
using standard industry practice fire assay with AA finish.
Samples believed to contain higher gold
grades are assayed by process Au-SR21 (Screen Coarse Metallics).
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 an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument
43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties.
The Tesoro Gold Property is 100% owned by the Company
with no underlying royalties.
The
Property, located in the prolific 300km x 30km Nazca-Ocoña gold belt of
southwestern Peru
,
hosts multiple epithermal gold-bearing veins which have been traced for a
strike length of over 6.5km.
To date,
more than 70 gold deposits have been exploited in this region.
The Property is located between two gold
deposits/mining camps.
Dynacor
Mines Ltd. (T-DYN) , the owner of the claims located immediately northwest of
the Property, published a gold resource of +606,611 oz at 16.4g/t (on only 3 of
10 veins discovered to date) and has subsequently announced the discovery of
additional veins carrying comparable gold grades.
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.