Trading Symbol:  SLI (TSX Venture Exchange)

EKL (Frankfurt Exchange)

SELSF (U.S. Clearing Symbol)

News Release 2007-31

October 12, 2007

NEWS RELEASE

VILCORO GOLD PROPERTY , PERU -Ongoing Exploration Program

Lori McClenahan, President of St. Elias Mines Ltd. (“St. Elias” or the “Company”), and Marcus Johnson, President of Geneva Resources Inc. (“Geneva”), are pleased to present this update on exploration of the Vilcoro Gold Property (the “Property”) based on rock and soil sampling to date (531 rocks, 507 soils), including trench and outcrop assay results from 120 rock samples collected during the latest campaign, which focused on evaluation of gold-in-soil anomalies and reconnaissance exploration on the property.

The Company is pleased to report that three new gold zones were identified in the Main Trend as a result of evaluation of gold-in-soil anomalies; Zone 4 (average 0.45 g/t gold in four samples from a 15-m trench), Zone 7 (average 0.58 g/t gold from 2-to 8-m-long chip samples of five scattered outcrops), and Zone 8 (average 0.55 g/t gold in four samples from an 8.5-meter trench.   In addition, trenching has expanded the size of two previously known zones (Zone 2 and Zone 3).   The Company is also encouraged by reconnaissance results, which included identification of two new areas of gold mineralization represented by a 13-m chip sample of altered tuff grading 0.66 g/t gold located 2 km to the north of the Main Trend, and a 5-m chip sample of altered tuff grading 1.23 g/t gold located to the west of the pueblo of Santiago de Chuco.   Both of these areas are being targeted for follow up.

MAIN TREND

The Main Trend consists of 7 well-defined clusters of gold-in-rock anomalies (Zones 1 to 7) as well as numerous isolated gold anomalies within a sinuously shaped structural corridor measuring 1.7 km in strike and spanning a vertical distance of 360 meters.

Additional trenching, soil sampling, and PIMA analyses (portable infrared mineral analysis) have refined the Company’s appreciation of mineralized zones within the Main Trend.   Certain areas of mineralization, defined as separate zones in previous new releases, have been consolidated.   Enumerations of zones in this news release therefore supersede previous enumerations.

Zone 1 (A.K.A. Zona Manto) is the highest-grade prospect discovered to date on the Property and is defined by 84 channel samples taken mainly from underground workings in altered tuff. The zone is 130 meters long, up to 20 meters wide, and has a vertical span of 55 meters (from 3050 to 3105 m ASL).   The average grade of samples collected from Zone 1 is 2.65 g/t gold (seven assays ranging from 10.5 g/t gold to 842.0 g/t gold were cut to 10.0 g/t gold in calculating this average).

Zone 2 is immediately east of Zone 1.   It is defined by 31 channel samples collected mainly from trenches in altered tuff.   The zone is 210 meters long, up to 50 meters wide, and has a vertical span of 100 meters (from 2930 to 3030 m ASL). The average grade of samples collected from Zone 2 is 0.43 g/t gold.

Zone 3 is 520 meters east-northeast of the eastern limit of Zone 2. It is in an area of anomalous gold-in-soil assays (7 samples ranging from 53 ppb gold to 169 ppb gold).   The zone is 200 meters long, up to 100 meters wide, and has a vertical span of 40 meters (from 2780 to 2820 m ASL).   It is defined by 26 rock channel samples collected mainly from trenches in altered tuff that returned an average grade of 0.23 g/t gold. Zone 3 appears to be the easternmost, deepest, and lowest-grade level of the epithermal system.

Zone 2 to Zone 3:   In between Zone 2 and Zone 3 and within Zone 3 itself, most of the Company’s efforts to trench gold-in-soil anomalies to an outcrop source were not successful. Pits as deep as 3 meters failed to encounter bedrock except as noted below.   Still, the presence of gold-in-soil anomalies between Zones 2 and 3 suggest that the Main Trend persists beneath soil cover.

Zone 4 is one of the trenches that successfully reached outcrop to evaluate a gold-in-soil anomaly. Four samples collected from this 15-m-long north-south oriented trench returned an average assay of 0.45 g/t gold.   Zone 4 is 220 meters north-northeast of the east end of Zone 2 at an elevation of 2860 m ASL.   The spatial relationships between Zone 2 and Zones 3 and 4 suggest that, to the east of Zone 2, the Main Trend might be offset to the north.   It is also possible that the Main Trend is wider than has been previously thought, and consists of multiple subparallel mineralized structures.

Zone 5 is an area of low-grade altered tuffs about 50 meters to the south of and parallel to Zone 1.   The zone is 90 meters long, up to 30 meters wide, and returned an average of 0.22 g/t gold in 18 samples.

Zone 6 is a 50 by 60-meter area that has two outcrops of altered tuff and hydrobreccia.   It lies about 150 meters south-southwest of Zone 5 at elevations ranging between 3110m and 3150m ASL.   Eight samples from Zone 5 returned an average grade of 0.41 g/t gold.

Zone 7 consists of 5 scattered isolated outcrops within an area measuring 190m by 90m that corresponds to the most prominent area of gold-in-soil anomalies encountered to date on the Main Trend.   The average grade of five chip samples, ranging in length from 2.0 to 8.0 meters, is 0.58 g/t gold.   The zone has a vertical span of 40 meters, between 3110m and 3150m ASL.

Zone 8 is another of the trenches that successfully reached outcrop to evaluate a gold-in-soil anomaly.   Three samples collected from this 8.5-m-long north-south oriented trench returned an average assay of 0.55 g/t gold. Zone 8 is 300 meters west of the west end of Zone 1 at an elevation of 3200 m ASL.

The technical information contained in this news release has 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 Properties. ”

The Vilcoro Gold Property comprises 1,600 hectares and lies along the same geological belt of Tertiary rocks that hosts many multi-million-ounce deposits in northern Peru such as Newmont’s Yanacocha Mine (+40 million oz gold) and Barrick’s Pierina deposit (8 million oz. gold).  The Property is favourably located adjacent to the claim block that covers the Lagunas Norte mine (+9 million oz gold) recently put into production by Barrick Gold in the Alto Chicama mining district of central Peru ..

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 ).

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 contains forward-looking statements regarding the ongoing and upcoming exploration work and expected geometry of geological formations and structures.  Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.