St. Elias Mines Ltd. - Sampling Results, Cueva Blanca Gold Property in Peru

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Lori McClenahan, President, Intigold Mines Ltd. (IGD – TSX:V) and St. Elias Mines Ltd. (SLI - TSX:V), announced today the results of a verification sampling program at the Cueva Blanca Gold Property (the "Property") located in northwest Peru.  

The Phase I program has been designed with a plan to bring the historical exploration work conducted at the Property to current NI 43-101 standards.  The program consisted of systematic sampling (outcrops and trenches) at the Cruz Vein portion of the Property.  Assay results indicate a weighted average grade of 2.84 g/t gold across an average width of 4.3 meters and along a strike length of 850 meters in the Cruz Vein system.

Cruz Vein System

Historical exploration work on the Cruz Vein system, which included 91 trenches and 18 drill holes totalling 1,860 metres, proved that the quartz veins consistently contain gold and silver and that the Cruz Vein system is a classic epithermal gold-silver deposit.  Historical results of gold assays from the Cruz Vein drill program include 6.0 metres of 2.31 grams per tonne, 6.0 metres of 2.96 grams per tonne (including 1.75 metres of 7.45 grams per tonne), 1.5 metres of 22.68 grams per tonne, 9.5 metres of 8.09 grams per tonne (including 1.5 metres of 35.84 grams per tonne), 10.8 metres of 2.4 grams per tonne and 1.2 metres of 6.95 grams per tonne. The vein intersections contain virtually no sulphides.  The vein system is open along strike to the southeast and northwest, and to depth. (Summary Report, Sivertz, 1999.)  The historical results provide an indication of the potential of the Property and are relevant to continuing exploration.

While the company has no reason to doubt the accuracy of the historical results, the data should not be relied upon until confirmed by the companies' own exploration that meets NI 43-101 standards for disclosure.

Cruz Vein Verification Sampling

The verification program involved the collection of 101 one-metre-long channel samples of vein material along a strike length of 850 meters.  In addition, 81 one-metre-long channel samples were collected from the foot-wall and hanging-wall volcanic rocks that host the vein system.  Samples were submitted to CIMM Labs, which is an ISO-certified facility in Lima.

Vein material of the Cruz Vein system yielded gold in rock assays from 0.08 to 15.46 grams.  Seventy-two samples were above 1 gram gold and twelve samples were above 5 grams.  The Cruz quartz vein/stockwork system contains individual quartz-calcite veins up to 6.5m wide, although most of the exposures in the system consist of narrower veins forming sheeted zones over widths up to several tens of metres (Summary Report, Sivertz, 1999.)

The verification program of the Cruz Vein system was designed to ground truth gold mineralization reported by Inca Pacific Resources Inc.  To this end, the data from the verification program has shown gold mineralization is present in the Cruz Vein system and that a more extensive exploration program is merited.

Cueva Blanca Gold Property

St. Elias owns 100% of the Property.  Intigold has entered into an agreement with St. Elias to acquire an option to earn a 60% interest, subject to a 1.5% net smelter return royalty ("NSR"), in the Property.

The Property, comprising approximately 5,000 hectares, covers a large epithermal alteration system developed in Tertiary volcanic rocks.  It is located in the Lambayeque Department in northern Peru along the same geological trend as a number of multi-million ounce deposits including Yanacocha, Pierina and Lagunas Norte.  The Property is bordered by Vale de Brazil's mineral concessions to the south and southeast and Barrick Gold hold extensive mineral concessions four kilometers to the north.

The Cueva Blanca is a promising high-grade gold/silver vein prospect with common geologic characteristics to the El Pinon in Chile, which is a unique type of epithermal deposit that formed in a specific geologic environment.  Examples of this type of system are the El Dorado deposit in El Salvador, the Midas and Sleeper mines in northern Nevada, and the El Limon mine in Nicaragua.

Qualified Person

All technical work is being supervised by, and the technical 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.

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.