St. Elias Mines Ltd. - Spinout of Havilah Mines Ltd.

(via Thenewswire.ca)

Vancouver, B.C. March 5, 2012: Lori McClenahan, President and CEO of
St. Elias Mines Ltd. (SLI - TSX:V), announced today the following
update with respect to the status of the "spin-out" and
listing of Havilah Mines Ltd. on the TSX Venture Exchange.

Havilah Mines Ltd.

St. Elias has received conditional approval from the TSX Venture
Exchange (the "Exchange") with respect to its Plan of
Arrangement or "spin-out" of its property assets in British
Columbia to Havilah Mines Ltd. ("Havilah"). The Plan of
Arrangement was approved by a special resolution passed by the
shareholders of St. Elias at a meeting held on November 17, 2011 and
approved by the Supreme Court of British Columbia on November 18,
2011. Completion of the Plan of Arrangement is subject to the final
approval of the Exchange and the concurrent financing of Havilah.

The Plan of Arrangement, which is fully described in the St. Elias'
information circular dated October 19, 2011, effectively involves a
restructuring of the Company's business and assets in order to
separate its property interests in Peru from its property interests in
British Columbia. Upon completion of the Plan of Arrangement, Havilah
will hold a 100% interest in St. Elias' mineral properties in British
Columbia and St. Elias will retain 100% of its interest in all of its
Peruvian gold properties.

In conjunction with the Plan of Arrangement, Havilah has arranged a
$600,000 private placement consisting of 1,500,000 flow-through units
(the "FT Units") at a price of $0.20 per FT Unit and
3,000,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.10 per Unit.
Each FT Unit will consist of one flow-through common share in the
capital of Havilah and one warrant to acquire one common share in the
capital of Havilah for a period of 24 months following the closing of
the private placement at a price of $0.30 per share during the first
year and $0.45 per share during the second year. Each Unit will
consist of one common share in the capital of Havilah and one warrant
to acquire one common share in the capital of Havilah for a period of
24 months following the closing of the private placement at a price of
$0.30 per share during the first year and $0.45 per share during the
second year. A finder's fee of 6% of the gross proceeds, payable in
cash or shares or a combination thereof, is payable with respect to
the private placement.

Upon final approval from the Exchange and the completion of the
financing of Havilah, the effective date (the "Effective
Date") for the Plan of Arrangement will be set and the common
shares of Havilah will trade on the Exchange. The Effective Date has
also been determined as the "record date" for shareholders
of St. Elias to participate in the Plan of Arrangement. In order to
receive shares of Havilah, investors must be holders of St. Elias
shares at the close of business on the Effective Date. Shareholders
of record on the Effective Date will receive one share of Havilah for
every 20 shares of St. Elias that they own, while retaining their St.
Elias shares. There will be no change in shareholders' holdings in
St. Elias as a result of the Plan of Arrangement. Under the Plan of
Arrangement, the shareholders of record of St. Elias will continue to
participate in the exploration and development of St. Elias' Peruvian
gold properties but will also participate in the exploration of a
strategic group of British Columbia mineral properties. The Company
will issue another news release once the Effective Date and the
trading date have been determined.

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) or contact:

U.S. Investor Relations Consultant

Herbert Haft
The Haft Group, Inc.

Tel: (212) 759-8865

Email: herbhaft@haftgroupinc.com

herbhaft@aol.com

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.

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