Excelsior Commences Its 2012 Drilling Program at Gunnison

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 29, 2012) - Excelsior Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE:MIN)(OTCQX:EXMGF)(FRANKFURT:3XS) ("Excelsior") is pleased to announce that it has commenced its 2012 drilling program on the Gunnison Copper Project, located in southern Arizona. The program has begun with the utilization of both a diamond drill rig and a reverse circulation drill rig. The first series of drill holes are being completed in order to acquire additional metallurgical data. Subsequent drilling will focus on additional hydrological and geological data acquisition, with the goal of the entire 2012 program being the completion of a pre-feasibility study by year's end.

"We are excited to be back drilling on Gunnison again," stated Stephen Twyerould, President and CEO of Excelsior. "We have set an ambitious program for 2012 and, now that it is underway, we are looking forward to making significant progress in advancing the Gunnison project as quickly as possible."

The program is designed to advance the project geologically, hydrologically and metallurgically. The resultant data will be used to optimize well field design, leaching solution composition, as well as provide critical information for groundwater quality control and ultimately, project reclamation, all of which will be essential as the project moves forward in the permitting process.

Project Summary

The Gunnison Copper Project is located approximately 65 miles southeast of Tucson, AZ. The focus of the project is the North Star deposit, which currently has a total indicated mineral resource of 3.21 billion pounds of oxide copper (511 M tons at 0.31%) and an inferred mineral resource of 0.88 billion pounds of oxide copper (159 M tons at 0.28%). This oxide mineral resource has the potential to be mined using in-situ recovery methods. The Gunnison property also has the added benefit of being situated in a very remote location, near an existing mining operation.

Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

About Excelsior

Excelsior is an exploration 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

For further information regarding this press release, please contact:

Excelsior Mining Corp.

Concord Place, Suite 300, 2999 North 44th Street, Phoenix, AZ, 85018.