VANCOUVER, British Columbia,
Aug. 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --
Lori McClenahan, President and CEO
of St. Elias Mines Ltd. (SLI - TSX:V), announced today that diamond
drilling has commenced at the Tesoro Gold Project in Peru. The 10,000-metre drilling program has
been designed to test near-surface and deeper-seated geophysical
anomalies identified by Titan 24 geophysical surveys.
The Company has engaged the Peruvian subsidiary of Energold
Drilling Corp. to conduct the initial portion of the drilling
program to test the near-surface targets. An additional diamond
drill rig, with a deeper drill capacity, is slated to commence
drilling in October, 2011 to test the deeper-seated targets.
The initial series of drill holes will test the "Zona Central IP
Anomaly" in the A4, A5, A7 and A8 vein areas of Zona Central. The
drill holes will test high-priority drill targets identified by
Titan 24 geophysical surveys and the down-dip extensions of known
gold mineralization.
The Zona Central IP anomaly, located beneath Zona Central, is a
chargeability anomaly that measures >16 milliradians ("pink").
The anomaly is a bowl-shaped feature measuring approximately 1,800
metres by 1,700 metres by 1,300 metres. There are
northwest-southeast lineaments (faults or structures) associated
with this anomaly that are coincident with known mineralized
structural trends on the Tesoro Property. Within the large IP
anomaly there is a zone of higher chargeability that measures
>18.5 milliradians ("red") that is oriented in a north-south
direction. The centre of the southern end of the "red"
chargeability anomaly is 600 metres below surface.
Three-dimensional images of this anomaly are available on the
Company's website "www.steliasmines.com" (pink and red colours
correspond to chargeability anomalies of > 16 and > 18.5
milliradians respectively).
The Zona Central IP anomaly is located at the centre of a number
of cross-cutting structures and may be the source of the
near-surface gold mineralization found in the Zona Canchete,
Zona Este and Zona Central.
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 in quartz veins and
fractures within intrusive rocks. 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 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.
Private Placement
The Company has negotiated a non-brokered private placement of
up to 2,500,000 units at a price of $1.80 per unit raising gross proceeds of up to
$4,500,000. Each unit will consist of
one common share and one common share purchase warrant (a
"Warrant"). Each whole Warrant will entitle the holder to purchase
one additional common share at a price of $2.10 per share for a period of 12 months from
closing. The private placement is subject to regulatory
acceptance.
The Company will pay finder's fees of up to 8% of the gross
proceeds raised, payable in cash or common shares or a
combination.
The proceeds of the private placement will be used for
exploration expenditures on the Company's properties and for
general working capital.
Qualified Person
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 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:
European
Consultant
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U.S. Investor Relations
Consultant
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Michael Kott
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Herbert Haft
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CM-Equity AG & Co. KG
Financial Service
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The Haft Group, Inc.
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Tel: 011 4989 1890 474
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Tel: (212)
759-8865
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Email:
kott@cm-equity.de
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Email: herbhaft@haftgroupinc.com
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herbhaft@aol.com
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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.
Trading Symbol: SLI (TSX Venture Exchange)
EKL (Frankfurt Exchange)
SELSF (U.S. Clearing Symbol)
SOURCE St. Elias Mines Ltd.