St Andrew Goldfields Ltd. - Holt Mine shaft incident

TORONTO, Feb. 21, 2012 /CNW/ - St Andrew Goldfields Ltd.

, is informing the public of a serious shaft incident at the Holt Mine located in the eastern portion of the Company's land package in the Timmins mining district. On the afternoon of February 19(th), a shaft incident occurred at the Holt Mine while skipping waste to surface. Initial reports indicate that the skip door became unlatched and opened while the skip was in motion, damaging approximately 100 metres of shaft timber. No employees were injured in the incident. Normal operations at the Holt Mine have been suspended as of February 19 at 4pm. Specialized crews are proceeding with the shaft repair work and at this time, the Company estimates that it will take less than one week to complete the repairs and resume normal operations.

The operations at the Holloway Mine, Hislop Mine and Holt Mill are not affected by this incident and it will not prevent the Company from achieving its objective of producing 90,000-100,000 ounces of gold in 2012.

Updates will be provided in due course.

About SAS

SAS (operating as 'SAS Goldmines'), is a gold mining and exploration company with an extensive land package in the Timmins mining district, north-eastern Ontario, which lies within the Abitibi greenstone belt, the most important host of historical gold production in Canada. SAS is focussed on developing its assets in the Timmins Camp, with three producing mines and aggressive exploration activities across 120km of land straddling the Porcupine-Destor Fault Zone.

FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

This news release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, 'forward-looking information') under applicable securities laws, concerning the Company's business, operations, financial performance, condition and prospects, as well as management's objectives, strategies, beliefs and intentions. Forward-looking information is frequently identified by such words as 'may', 'will', 'plan', 'expect', 'estimate', 'anticipate', 'believe', 'intend' and similar words referring to future events and results, including with respect to the repair work being conducted at the Holt Mine, and the timing thereof; the resumption of operations at the Holt Mine and restart of production; and the Company's gold production levels at the Holloway Mine, Hislop Mine, and Holt Mine during 2012. This forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Factors that may cause actual results to vary materially include, but are not limited to, uncertainties relating to the interpretation of the geology, continuity, grade and size estimates as well as recoverability of the mineral reserves and resources; unanticipated operational and technical difficulties which could increase operating and capital costs; changes in the availability of qualified personnel; fluctuations in gold prices and exchange rates; insufficient funding or delays or inability to raise additional financing on satisfactory terms if required; changes in laws, regulations and the risks of obtaining necessary licenses and permits; changes in general economic conditions and changes in conditions in the financial markets. Such forward looking information is based on a number of assumptions, including but not limited to the level and volatility of the price of gold, the accuracy of reserve and resource estimates and the assumptions on which such estimates are based, the ability to achieve capital and operating cost estimates, the ability of the Company to retain and attract qualified personnel, the sufficiency of the Company's cash reserves and operating cash flow to complete planned development and exploration activities, the availability of additional financing on acceptable terms if and as required and the level of stability of general business and economic conditions. Should one or more risks and uncertainties materialize or should any assumptions prove incorrect, then actual results could vary materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking information and accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on this forward-looking information. SAS does not assume the obligation to revise or update this forward-looking information after the date of this release or to revise such information to reflect the occurrence of future unanticipated events, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. A more detailed description of these risks and uncertainties are can also be found in the Company's Annual Information Form obtained on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

St Andrew Goldfields Ltd.

CONTACT: For further information about St Andrew Goldfields Ltd., please

contact:

Tel: 1-800-463-5139 or (416) 815-9855; Fax: (416) 815-9437;

Website: www.sasgoldmines.com



Suzette N Ramcharan

Manager, Investor Relations

Email: sramcharan@sasgoldmines.com



Jacques Perron

President & CEO

Email: jperron@sasgoldmines.com



Ben Au

CFO, VP Finance & Administration

Email: bau@sasgoldmines.com