VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 1, 2011) - East Asia Minerals Corporation (News - Market indicators) is pleased to announce that it has commenced a Phase II drilling program at its Sangihe gold project, located in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. A 200-metre capacity Diamond drill rig is currently on its way to site and will begin drilling at the Binebase oxide gold deposit within 10 days. A total of 4,000 metres of Diamond drilling are planned during this campaign, which is targeted for completion by calendar year end.

The Phase II drill program will focus on expansion of the surface and near-surface gold resources at both Binebase and Bawone through further in-fill and extension drilling. In addition, beginning in April, an airborne magnetic survey will be conducted over a significant portion of the license area to generate new prospects.

East Asia also intends to conduct initial drilling at the Salurang, Sede, Kupa and Taware gold prospects, which are known to host gold-bearing quartz veins. At the Sede and Kupa prospects, significant gold results have been obtained from sets of northeast-trending quartz-sulphide veins defined by small pits and adits. The veins at the Sede prospect are intermittently developed over a strike length of approximately 800 metres. Widths of individual veins vary from a few centimetres to over a metre. Channel sampling by East Asia has produced results of up to 4.57 g/t gold over 4.75 metres, which, although not true width of the vein, indicates the presence of elevated gold within the vein wall rocks. High grade results of greater than 5 g/t gold in individual samples are present at the Sede, Kupa and Taware prospects.

East Asia completed the Phase I drill program at Sangihe in 2008, which included 7,561 metres of drilling in 79 shallow holes at the Binebase (62 holes) and Bawone (17 holes) prospects. In addition, almost 1,700 surface samples were collected.

In September 2010, East Asia released an initial NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate for its Sangihe gold project. The Binebase deposit has an inferred resource of 17.9 million tonnes at 0.76 g/t gold and 18.7 g/t silver for a total of 435,234 ounces gold and 10,716,742 ounces silver. The Bawone deposit has an inferred resource of 9.5 million tonnes at 1.32 g/t gold and 4.0 g/t silver for a total of 401,484 ounces gold and 1,210,495 ounces silver (news release September 22, 2010).

Samples reported were assayed at PT SGS Indoassay Balikpapan Lab. Darryl Clark, PhD, MAusIMM, the designated QP within the meaning of NI43-101 has reviewed and approves the content of this release.

About East Asia Minerals Corporation
East Asia Minerals (News - Market indicators) is an Asian-based, Canadian mineral exploration company with gold and copper exploration properties in Indonesia, and uranium exploration properties in Mongolia. In Indonesia the Company has a 70 to 85% interest in six advanced gold and gold-copper properties located in Aceh Province, Sumatra, and Sangihe Island, North Sulawesi. The Company owns seven uranium properties, including the advanced Ingiin-Nars, Ulaan Nuur and Enger uranium projects, and two phosphate properties in Mongolia. East Asia currently has 77,069,872 shares outstanding. Its shares are listed for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "EAS".

Forward Looking Statements - This News Release contains forward looking information within the meaning of the British Columbia Securities Act, the Ontario Securities Act and the Alberta Securities Act, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results and the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits, the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with our expectations, metal recoveries, accidents, equipment breakdowns, title matters and surface access, labour disputes or other unanticipated difficulties with or interruptions in production, the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of new or updated feasibility studies, the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses, commodity price fluctuations (including uranium, fuel, steel and construction items), currency fluctuations, failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and other risks and uncertainties. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The words anticipate, believe, estimate and expect and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, are intended to identify forward looking statements relating to the business and affairs of the Company. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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