St. Elias Mines Ltd. - Diamond Drilling, Tesoro Gold Project in Peru

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Lori McClenahan, President, St. Elias Mines Ltd. (SLI - TSX:V) announced today that the diamond drilling contract has been successfully negotiated and signed for drilling at the Tesoro Gold Project in Peru.  

St. Elias has retained the Peruvian subsidiary of Energold Drilling Corp. (TSX-EGD) to conduct the initial phase of the Company's 10,000-metre drilling program at Tesoro.  Energold has a strong international presence with over 100 drill rigs providing surface, underground and conventional drilling services.  Energold operates in 20 countries worldwide in South America, Africa and Asia.

Initial drill targets have been prioritized and laid out.  The targets are subject to final adjustment as additional geological information is received and compiled from the ongoing mechanical trenching program currently underway on the Tesoro Gold Project.

Logistical support for the drilling program has commenced, including but not limited to: prepositioning of fuel and consumables to support drilling and related equipment, bulk water transporting, exploration staff and camp personnel.  It is anticipated that an additional 20 Peruvian nationals will be hired to support the drilling program.  Drilling activities are scheduled to run in two shifts, 24 hours per day, seven days a week until the program is complete.

As at May 31, 2011, 15 trenches totalling 1,200 linear metres have been completed with 215 samples collected over 5m sample intervals from the trenches at the Tesoro Project.  The trenches were completed by a backhoe and a track-mounted excavator at Zona Central (Main Structural Corridor) and Zona Este (Parallel Structural Corridor).

Quantec Geoscience Ltd., through detailed analysis of its Titan 24 data, has recommended a total of 52 drill holes to test the first and second priority targets interpreted in the Property. Of these, 26 drill holes are recommended to test the first priority anomalous zones, and 26 drill holes are proposed to test the second priority target zones.

Additional interpretation of the Quantec geophysical data by in-house exploration personnel and McElhanney Engineering Group continues and results from these studies are being utilized to maximize exploration data and guide the drilling program.

A Brief History of the Tesoro Gold Project

The Tesoro Gold Project is 100% owned by the Company with no underlying royalties. The Property covers approximately 6,974 hectares (17,436 acres) and is part of the prolific 300km X 30km Nazca-Ocona gold belt parallel to the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.  The Nazca-Ocona gold belt has a long mining history dating back to pre-Incan time.  Gold is associated with disseminated sulphides that seeped into quartz veins and fractures within the intrusive body.  The continuity of the quartz veins and fractures is very impressive in the Nazca-Ocona belt.  While the veins tend to be narrow, the grade is significant and the mineralized structures tend to extend along strike for several kilometers and to depths of up to 1,000 meters.

To date, the Company has identified five mineralized zones with more than 50 quartz veins (having a total combined length of 9km) at the Tesoro Project and has carried out underground exploration and development work on three of these veins (C1, C2 and A4 Veins.)  The veins are interpreted as mesothermal, indicating that the vein structures may extend to considerable depths.

The Tesoro Property has never been evaluated to depth, or to its full strike potential.  This leaves a large potential for the discovery of additional mineralization.  

Qualified Person

All on-site technical work is being supervised by, John Brophy, P.Geo. and the contents of this news release have been verified by, Paul D. Gray, P.Geo., 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) or contact:

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.

SOURCE St. Elias Mines Ltd.