16:00 EST Tuesday, March 01, 2011

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 1, 2011) - David H. Brett, President and CEO, Pacific Bay Minerals Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:PBM) (the "Company"), reports that mineral claims staked by Pacific Bay in northern BC cover the highest gold silt sample site (7,086 parts per billion Au) reported in the recently-released Geoscience B.C. re-analysis of over 10,000 samples from across the northern part of the province. This same site also has a reportedly high silver in silt geochemical value (4974 ppm Ag). The unexplored 7,920 hectare Sphinx Mountain Property was originally staked in February 2010 to cover several high Rare Earth geochemical sample sites reported in previously-released B.C government stream sediment survey results.

The property is located on Sphinx Mountain near the junction of the Dease River with Provincial Highway 37, between Dease Lake and Cassiar. The geological setting and silt geochemical results indicate good exploration potential for intrusive-hosted gold mineralization. Another junior explorer, Serengeti Resources, recently announced the staking of a large claim block south of the Sphinx Mountain Property to cover another silt sample site measuring 1,702 ppb Au, the third highest in the data-package made public during the 2011 AMEBC Exploration Round-Up in Vancouver.

"It's remarkable that this extremely high gold-in-silt value has come to light after we acquired the property for what we thought was a strong Rare Earth anomaly," said Pacific CEO David H. Brett. "The gold potential has now taken top priority and we look forward to investigating the occurrence during our spring-summer exploration campaign in northern BC."

The technical information in this news release was reviewed and approved by Doug Blanchflower, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

Pacific Bay Minerals Ltd.

David H. Brett, MBA, President & CEO

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Investor Relations
Pacific Bay Minerals Ltd.
(604) 682-2421 or Toll Free: 1-800-670-6570 (Canada)
Toll Free: 1-800-665-5101 (USA)
(604) 682-7576 (FAX)
www.pacificbayminerals.com