VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, April 17 /CNW/ - Lori McClenahan, President of St. Elias Mines Ltd. (TSX VENTURE:SLI) (U.S. Clearing Symbol:SELSF) (the "Company"), is pleased to announce additional results from the ongoing underground exploration and development program at Zona Central at the Tesoro Gold Project (the "Property") located in southwestern Peru. A channel sample from a quartz vein exposed within the A-4 Vein System of Zona Central returned 681.0g/t Au (19.65 opt) across 37cm and a duplicate check sample returned 37cm of 591.0g/t (17.24 opt) gold.

To date, 20 quartz-vein samples have been collected from the A4 Vein System and submitted for coarse metallic assay. The average grade of the 20 samples is 2.37 opt gold. The average width of the vein samples is 30.4cm (about twice the average width of the C1 Vein). It is important to note that the average grade does not include the duplicate check sample (17.24 opt) and that there is often more than one vein exposed at the levels sampled.

A channel sample taken from the A-4 shaft at the 10-m level assayed 681.0g/t Au (19.65 opt) gold over 37cm. A duplicate sample (taken to verify the initial sample) assayed 591.0g/t (17.24 opt) gold over 37cm. The contribution due to coarse gold is virtually identical in both samples (15.57% in the initial sample and 15.60% in the duplicate sample). Coarse gold contributed 3.09 opt and 2.69 opt, respectively, to the samples.

Additional results include 71.6g/t (2.09 opt) gold over 1.0 metre with a contribution of 12.5% due to coarse gold from the 10m level and 11.87 opt gold over 25cm with a contribution of only 1.47% due to coarse gold from the 30m level.

In addition to gold occurring in the quartz veins, it also occurs in adjacent rock units (the andesite dyke, fault gouge and fresh granodiorite.) Of 11 samples of "andesite dyke", the average grade is 1.73g/t gold (range 0.02 to 10.0g/t gold) across an average width of 82cm. Of 11 samples of "fault gouge", the average grade is 4.46g/t gold (range 0.05 to 24.7g/t gold) across an average width of 30cm. Of 6 samples of "fresh granodiorite", assays range from 60ppb gold to 870ppb (0.87g/t) gold, with an average grade of 0.36g/t gold across an average width of 40cm. This low-grade material is being stockpiled on surface for possible future processing.

Development work on the A-4 Vein System is ongoing. The A-4 shaft is currently at a depth of 40m.

The A-4 Vein System, comprising two to three known veins, is part of eight other main veins (or vein swarms) with an aggregate length of approximately 3,000m, within an area measuring 1,000m x 1,200m, that comprise Zona Central. On surface, the A-4 Vein System extends for at least 650 meters, has a northwesterly strike and varies in width between 25cm and 43cm.

Zona Central, located within the northern area of the Property, is one of five gold-bearing zones identified to date on the Property. A map showing the location of the Zones within the Property can be viewed at http://www.steliasmines.com/properties/PeruFig3.pdf.

Sample preparation and analytical work was undertaken at ALS Chemex SA laboratory (an ISO certified 9002 facility) in Lima, Peru using standard industry practice fire assay with AA finish. Samples believed to contain higher gold grades are assayed by process Au-SR21 (Screen Coarse Metallics).

All technical work is being supervised by, and the contents of this news release have been verified by, John Brophy, P.Geo, a Canadian geologist residing in Peru, who is an independent qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Properties.

The Tesoro Gold Property is 100% owned by the Company with no underlying royalties.

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.