Trading Symbol: SLI (TSX Venture Exchange)

EKL (Frankfurt Exchange)

SELSF (U.S. Clearing Symbol)

News Release 2012-01

January 10, 2012

NEWS RELEASE

St. Elias Mines Ltd. – 2011 Diamond Drilling Gold Results - Tesoro Gold Project in Peru

Vancouver, B.C. January 10, 2012: Lori McClenahan, President, St. Elias Mines Ltd. (SLI - TSX:V) announces gold results from Diamond drilling completed at the Tesoro Gold Project in Peru. Eleven Diamond drill holes, totalling 4,374.50m have been completed to date.

Gold values greater that 1000ppb (1 g/t) are as follows:

* Highest gold value obtained in these drill holes

The gold grades in the above table are uncut and the reported drill core intercept widths do not necessarily reflect the true width of the mineralization encountered.

A systematic resampling program including total metallic screening and re-assaying of high grade intercepts is ongoing. This is in an effort to qualify the suspected nugget effect on chemical assays received thus far.

The company utilizes an industry-standard QA/QC (quality assurance/quality control) program. HQ and NTW Diamond drill core is sawn in half with one-half shipped to the ISO certified CIMM Peru S.A. assay laboratory in Lima, Peru for chemical analysis. Blanks, duplicates and certified reference standards are inserted into the sample stream to monitor laboratory performance.

Diamond drilling at the Tesoro Gold Project has re-commenced after the Christmas Holidays. Preparation for the arrival of a second Diamond drill rig at the project is underway.

"I believe that complete results received from the Phase I drilling at Tesoro will be more representative than the partial results reported here, however, it is important to note that the results so far indicate the system is mineralized to depth" stated President Lori McClenahan.

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-Ocoña gold belt parallel to the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru. The Nazca-Ocoña 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-Ocoña 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.

Qualified Person

All technical work is being supervised by, 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:

European Consultant U.S. Investor Relations Consultant

Michael Kott                                                     Herbert Haft

CM-Equity AG & Co. KG Financial Service       The Haft Group, Inc.

Tel: 011 4989 1890 474 0                                   Tel: (212) 759-8865

Email: kott@cm-equity.de                                  Email: herbhaft@haftgroupinc.com

herbhaft@aol.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, 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.