Excelsior Engages In-Situ Copper Recovery Permitting Expert

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 20, 2012) - Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE:MIN)(FRANKFURT:3XS)(OTCQX:EXMGF) ("Excelsior" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has engaged Haley & Aldrich, a national underground and environmental consulting firm with significant project permitting expertise, to develop a comprehensive permitting plan for the North Star deposit at the Company's Gunnison Copper Project in southeast Arizona.

Excelsior has engaged Haley & Aldrich to support the completion of two related tasks;

1.  To design a hydrological program that will lead to a more complete
    understanding of North Star's hydro-geological conditions.
2.  To provide environmental, engineering and strategic services related to
    hydrologic studies that will lead to the successful permitting of the
    project.

Eric Mears, Vice President and Manager of Mining Services, leads a team at Haley & Aldrich that has been intimately involved in the permitting of the Florence in-situ copper recovery project beginning with Magma Copper in 1996. The team has also participated on other in-situ development and optimization projects in the southwest US. This proven expertise with in-situ recovery permitting and operation strengthens Excelsior's credibility with the regulatory and investment community.

Speaking on the engagement, Mr. Mears stated, "Haley & Aldrich generates value for our clients by integrating our engineering and environmental expertise with lean principles and by sharing what we've learned in our own journey toward sustainability. Excelsior exemplifies this ethos by visualizing a project that vastly reduces the typical impacts that are associated with traditional open pit projects. Assuming the Gunnison Project reaches the production stage, Excelsior will employ advanced mining techniques that will provide for an efficient operation with limited environmental impacts. Haley & Aldrich is pleased to be leading the Gunnison Project through the myriad of state and federal permitting required to bring this facility into full operation."

Stephen Twyerould, President and CEO of Excelsior, added, "We are extremely fortunate to have retained a firm with such a wealth of direct permitting experience related to in-situ copper projects in Arizona. We look forward to successfully completing the permitting process with Haley & Aldrich."

About Haley & Aldrich

For over 50 years, Haley & Aldrich has been advising mining companies, developers, major institutions and Fortune 100 clients on their environmental and geotechnical challenges. Established in 1957 with a focus on underground engineering and problem solving, Haley & Aldrich has built an impressive resume of more than 25,000 engineering and environmental consulting projects. With more than 25 offices in the United States, Haley & Aldrich is recognized for strategic environmental, engineering, and management consulting services based on a tradition of specialized capabilities in the geosciences. The firm's sophisticated mining practice delivers a full range of environmental, geotechnical and water resource services for metals, industrial minerals and construction materials clients.

About Excelsior

Excelsior is an exploration and development company with a copper project located within the copper porphyry belt of Arizona. The Gunnison Copper Project is located close to the required infrastructure and its oxide resource has the potential to be mined using in-situ recovery methods. The Excelsior team consists of experienced professionals with proven track records of advancing projects towards production. Excelsior's exploration work on the Gunnison Property is supervised by Dr. Stephen Twyerould, Fellow of AUSIMM, President and CEO of Excelsior, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Dr. Twyerould has reviewed and approved the technical information disclosed in this news release.

Further details about Excelsior can be found at: http://www.excelsiormining.com. Further information about the Gunnison Copper Project can be found in the technical report filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com entitled: "Gunnison Copper Project Preliminary Economic Assessment, NI 43-101 Technical Report" dated November 18, 2011.

ON BEHALF OF THE EXCELSIOR BOARD

Stephen Twyerould, President & CEO