Century Provides Operational and Financial Update for Lamaque Mine (ccnm)

BLAINE, WASHINGTON--(Marketwire - March 8, 2011) - Century Mining Corporation ("Century" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:CMM) is currently commissioning the Lamaque gold mine in Val d'Or, Québec, Canada. On February 9, 2011, the mill facility experienced a failure of its cone crusher that placed the total crusher circuit inoperable until February 17, 2011, at which time the Company was able to implement a temporary solution and resume operation. Final repairs and replacement of the cone crusher were completed on March 6, 2011.

The loss of the crusher circuit for nine days and the need to operate with a temporary solution since that time have had a more severe impact on the Lamaque mill throughput than originally anticipated. In January mill throughput improved to average 944 tpd for the month, below the Company's expectations. Due to the crusher failure, mill throughput was reduced to 788 tpd for the month of February.

Mining operations continued during the period in which the crusher circuit was inoperable. The production rate has improved but remains below plan, and management continues to work on programs to improve this situation. In January the mine production averaged 971 tpd and this increased to an average of 1168 tpd in February.

Prior to the crusher circuit failure, the Company was working on a number of programs intended to continue the ramp up of the ore production including the refurbishment of the third ball mill, underground dewatering, reconfiguration of the crusher conveyor system, and development of the North Wall ore area.

The losses in mill throughput resulting from the crusher failure has had an adverse impact upon the Company's cash flow and its available funds. This severe constraint on funds availability has forced management to halt the operations of the contractor responsible for the development of access to the North Wall mining area, which is now expected to delay mining in this area until May at the earliest, subject to funding availability.

All other capital projects have also been placed on hold while the Company considers its options as it seeks to meet its obligations associated with debt repayment and ongoing working capital payments as the Company continues to operate on a cash negative basis as it works to ramp up production. The delays in the capital projects will slow the ramp up process and further extend the period during which the Company expects to operate on a cash negative basis.

The current gold production guidance for 2011 at the Lamaque operation is 70,000 to 75,000 ounces. The operating team is now completing a full review of potential operational impacts based on the recent cone crusher failure and the subsequent development and production delays resulting from the financial impact of the downtime. The Company will provide an update on production guidance for 2011 when this review is complete.

While this incident has had a negative impact on the Company's ramp-up process at Lamaque, the operating staff at the mine must be congratulated for their ingenuity and speed in responding to implement contingency measures and minimize the production downtime, avoiding further delays and production losses.

About Century Mining Corporation

Century Mining Corporation is a Canadian gold producer and holds strategic land positions in Canada, the United States and Peru. The Company's strategy is to grow to its gold production through existing mine expansions and acquisitions of other strategic and synergistic gold opportunities.

On behalf of Century Mining Corporation,

Daniel J. Major, President & CEO