St. Elias Mines Ltd. Announces Exploration and Development Plans
for Tesoro Project in Peru
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- St. Elias Mines
Ltd. (SLI - TSX:V) today announced further exploration and
development plans for its wholly owned Tesoro Gold Project in
southern Peru. St. Elias also
urged shareholders to vote the WHITE proxy for the Company's
nominees to the Board of Directors.
"After careful review, we have adopted a two-part strategy to
advance our Tesoro project over 18 to 24 months," said Lori McClenahan, President and CEO of St. Elias
Mines. "In order to carry out the strategy we will need additional
capital. We are focused on completing our financing and hope to do
so during early 2013, if market conditions permit."
One part of the Tesoro strategy involves exploration to explore
for new gold-bearing material. St. Elias has established a number
of attractive targets for a 3,000 metre to 5,000 metre diamond
drilling campaign.
The other part of the strategy involves development focused on
more than 20 waste rock dumps left behind by prior mining activity.
St. Elias intends to sample and test the dumps and prepare a
National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate. St. Elias proposes to
follow up with a prefeasibility study to determine whether gold
could be profitably recovered from the dumps, providing cash to
support additional exploration.
Vote the WHITE proxy for an experienced board
St. Elias continues to encourage shareholders to vote the WHITE
proxy to elect the five St. Elias nominees. The Annual Special and
General Meeting (the "Meeting") of St. Elias shareholders is
scheduled for December 27, 2012 at
11 am Vancouver time. Shareholders who wish to vote
the WHITE proxy for the St. Elias nominees have only one more day
to vote prior to the proxy voting deadline of Friday, December 21, 2012 at 11:00 A.M. (Vancouver time).
St. Elias also continues to believe that a circular issued by
dissidents Gilby Len Hastman and
Darcy Kim Hastman is deficient and
that the dissident nominees lack relevant experience. The
dissidents still have not provided any details of how they intend
to advance St. Elias' portfolio of high potential properties, nor
have they proposed a management team to operate St. Elias. Not one
of the remaining dissidents has experience in mineral exploration
or corporate finance, and not one has previously served as a
director of any publicly-traded company.
The nominees put forward by the Company are experienced and
capable. Under their supervision, the current management team will
advance our exploration properties and raise awareness of St. Elias
in a prudent and measured way – all with a view to surfacing value
for our shareholders.
Please review the Management Information Circular at
www.steliasmines.com or www.SEDAR.com and vote only the WHITE
proxy. Vote today. If you have questions or seek assistance with
voting your WHITE proxy, please call our proxy solicitation agent,
Georgeson toll free at: 1-888-605-8412 or askus@georgeson.com.
Details of Proposed Exploration Drilling Activities
Subject to the availability of additional capital, St. Elias
proposes diamond drilling of 3,000 – 5,000m in order to:
- Test the extensions (both vertical and along strike) of some of
the known gold bearing quartz veins (notably the A-4, C-1, C-2 and
Poderosa veins). The geologically-modelled strike
extensions of both the C-1 and C-2 vein systems are covered by a
10-30m thick blanket of dacite tuff both to the east and west of
the previously-drilled outcropping vein segments;
- Explore for high-grade gold in deep, down-plunge extensions of
the steeply-plunging gold-bearing "ore shoots" in the A-4, C-2 and
Poderosa veins. The "ore shoots" in these veins were
thoroughly exploited by independent miners in past years, but
production was limited to a few tonnes per day (pers. comm.,
Marcial Portocarrero,
2012).
- Explore for high-grade gold in selected parts of the A-4, C-2
and Poderosa veins, notably the inferred down-plunge "ore shoots"
in these veins that were thoroughly exploited by independent miners
in years past. These are worthwhile drill targets because
past production in each mine was limited to a few tonnes per
day.
An existing Category 1 EIA drilling permit (allowing St. Elias
to drill 20 platforms or less) is in place that allows the Company
to continue drilling at Tesoro if the existing 20 drill pads
already in place are utilized again. An Environmental Impact Study
(EIAsd) to support an expanded drill permit (allowing a virtually
unlimited number of drill platforms) is nearing completion.
Details of Proposed Development Activities
Subject to the availability of additional capital, St. Elias
intends to complete the National Instrument 43-101 compliant
resource estimate on the waste rock dumps [by mid-2014]. These
dumps are unusual because they were left behind by informal miners
who rejected any material that was visually estimated to grade less
than 15 g/t gold (pers. com., Marcial
Portocarrero, 2012).
Preliminary surface-pit sampling of the larger dumps returned
sample grades ranging from 0.5 to 5 g/t. Mechanized trenching
of the dumps has been underway since October
3, 2012, preparing sample sites within the deeper sections
of the dumps. Systematic metallurgical bench testing of dump
material will begin once all of the dump sample assays have been
received and compiled.
If the National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate
justifies further development, St. Elias would proceed with a
pre-feasibility study that will incorporate resource data,
metallurgical data and preliminary cost estimates for a full-scale
gold recovery project at Tesoro. The most likely approach would be
a combined vat (agitated) leach and heap leach gold recovery
project. The purchase and installation of a small and simple (50
tpd) processing plant to process screened dump feed will be
considered if the pre-feasibility study so recommends.
About The Tesoro Gold Project
The Tesoro gold project is 100 per cent owned by the company
with no underlying royalties. The property covers
approximately 4,415 hectares and is part of the prolific
300-kilometre-by-30-kilometre Nazca-Ocona gold belt that parallels
the Pacific Coast of southwestern Peru. Further information on the background
and history of the Tesoro Gold project, as well as St. Elias'
exploration activities to date are available on the Company's
website, www.steliasmines.com.
The technical contents of this news release have been verified
by George Sivertz, P. Geo, a
Canadian geologist and a part-time resident of Peru. Mr.
Sivertz is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument
43-101 (Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects).
About St. Elias
St. Elias is a gold-focused exploration company led by an
experienced management team and active in Peru and British
Columbia. St Elias' properties have high potential and are
located in two of the most prolific mining regions of the world.
For additional information on St. Elias and its projects, please
visit us at www.steliasmines.com or call Danny Aaron at 1-888-895-5522 (toll free US and
Canada).
If you have questions or need assistance voting your shares,
contact our proxy solicitation agent, Georgeson Shareholder
Communications Canada Inc. at 1-888-605-8412 (North American toll
free) or email: askus@georgeson.com.
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, financings 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.