Exploration work will consist of geological mapping and sampling, interpretation of satellite imagery acquired, as well as control grid emplacement.

The Chance E Claim is a strategic claim that adjoins the southern end of the Tesoro gold project, where St. Elias is currently drilling to delineate gold resources.

The company said that geological information, together with Titan 24 geophysical data and satellite imagery, confirm that structural lineaments, which are coincident with gold mineralization on Tesoro, extend onto the Chance E Claim.

Under an option agreement, IntiGold Mines (CVE:IGD) can acquire a 60 percent interest in the Chance E Claim, subject to a 1.5% net smelter royalty, in exchange for a cash payment of $500,000 to St. Elias, 1.0 million IntiGold common shares and spending $1.0 million in exploration costs on the property over a three-year period.

IntiGold’s first year commitment under the option agreement is to pay $25,000 to St. Elias and incur $200,000 in exploration expenditures.

"The board of directors of Intigold and St. Elias are excited to be initiating the exploration of  the Chance E claim which is on strike to the numerous gold bearing veins occurring on the adjoining Tesoro Property," said St. Elias president and CEO,  Lori McClenahan.

In late January, St. Elias unveiled further details on drill results at Tesoro announced earlier that month. The previously announced assay results were initial results from 11 diamond drill holes, or 4,375 metres of a planned 5,500-metre phase IA drill program at the project.

Drilling is testing high-priority targets identified by a 2009/2010 Titan 24 geophysical survey at Tesoro. The company said summary drilling results will be announced once the phase IA program is completed, and the compilation and interpretation of all data is finished.

Up until that point, drilling had focused on the anomaly at Zone Central, where drill hole TE-11-06 returned "compelling initial results".

While additional drill testing is required, the company was in the process of completely sampling the hole from 60 metres to 170 metres on minimum 1.5-metre intervals to more accurately define a potential, bulk-tonnage mineralized target, it said.

The interval from 90.6 metres to 128.5 metres in hole TE-11-06 assayed 0.74 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 37.85 metres, including 0.74 metres of 23.5g/t gold at 112.26 metres and 0.35 metres of 9.6g/t gold at 113.32 metres.

St. Elias said at the time these mineralized intersections led it to fine tune additional exploration targets for drilling.

George Sivertz is a professional geologist and has a bachelor of science in geological science from the University of British Columbia. He has more than 35 years of mineral industry experience, and has a background in exploring and developing gold, silver and copper deposits in Latin America, particularly in Peru.

His expertise ranges from property evaluations, technical reviews and regional exploration programs, to due diligence studies and resource estimations.

Sivertz has also worked in a variety of geological settings around the world, notably in British Columbia, Yukon, Mexico and the southwest United States.

The second addition, Teo Salazar, is a graduate of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marco Faculty of Geology and has 18 years of experience in mineral exploration.

Salazar has performed several exploration programs in many of the famous mining districts of Peru, St. Elias added.

St. Elias has hired Exploration & Mining Associates S.A. to provide a full service package that includes accounting, payroll management, financial and legal advice, office space, logistics and the sourcing of professional exploration mining personnel.

"These professionals have extensive experience in Peru which will help bolster our team as we advance to the next stage of St. Elias' development," chief executive Lori McClenahan said in a statement.

"They will work with our existing geological team, led by James Thom to form a united exploration group with formidable geological and administrative expertise and experience."

McClenahan noted that the "team has the ability to rapidly and efficiently design, execute and ramp up exploration and development programs on [the company's] gold projects in Peru".

Most recently, the company unveiled drilling results from its Tesoro project, where 11 holes have been completed for a total of 4,374.5 metres.

Notable results included 4.144 parts per million (ppm) of gold over 0.57 metres in hole DDH TE 01 and 1.148 ppm gold over 0.18 metres with 0.43 metres of 9.438 ppm gold in hole DDH TE 04.

Tesoro covers approximately 6,974 hectares and is part of the prolific 300 by 30 kilometre Nazca-Ocoña gold belt in Peru.

St. Elias Mines is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of natural resource properties. It owns claims in Peru and British Columbia.

The previously announced assay results were initial results from 11 diamond drill holes, or 4,375 metres of a planned 5,500-metre phase IA drill program at the project.

Drilling is testing high-priority targets identified by a 2009/2010 Titan 24 geophysical survey at Tesoro.

The company said summary drilling results will be announced once the phase IA program is completed, and the compilation and interpretation of all data is finished.

To date, drilling has focused on the anomaly at Zone Central, where drill hole TE-11-06 returned "compelling initial results".

While additional drill testing is required, the company is in the process of completely sampling the hole from 60 metres to 170 metres on minimum 1.5-metre intervals to more accurately define a potential, bulk-tonnage mineralized target, it said.

The interval from 90.6 metres to 128.5 metres in hole TE-11-06 assayed 0.74 grams per tonne (g/t) gold over 37.85 metres, and includes 0.74 metres of 23.5g/t gold at 112.26 metres and 0.35 metres of 9.6g/t gold at 113.32 metres.

St. Elias said these mineralized intersections have led the company to fine tune additional exploration targets for drilling.

The Quantec survey data is currently being re-evaluated and re-interpreted to take into account the latest drill results, in correlation with the geophysical targets, the company added.

The gold miner also said that several sampled intervals from drilling contained sulphide mineralization, which so far indicates a correlation between these visible sulphides and gold mineralization.

The company is in the middle of a re-sampling and drill core analysis program, with a focus on increasing the sampling intervals both above and below any noted quartz or sulphide intersections.  Where areas of multiple sulphide mineralization was noted, continuous sampling through these zones to combine one single sampled interval will be completed.

"While it is still early days for our flagship project, we are very excited as initial drilling at Tesoro has confirmed gold mineralization at depth," said president Lori McClenahan.

"We are using logical and systematic exploration steps and techniques to guide us in our exploration efforts.  Much more exploration/drilling is warranted at the Tesoro.  This is just the beginning."

The second drill rig is onsite and turning, which is expected to result in quicker turnaround time for geological information and analyses.

The Tesoro property is 100 percent-owned by the company, with no underlying royalties.

The project covers approximately 6,974 hectares and is part of the prolific 300 kilometre by 30 kilometre Nazca-Ocoña gold belt parallel to the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.

While veins tend to be narrow, the grade is significant and the mineralized structures tend to extend along strike for several kilometres and to depths of up to 1,000 metres, St. Elias said.

To date, the miner has identified five mineralized zones with more than 50 quartz veins, having a total combined length of nine kilometres at Tesoro. It has carried out underground exploration and development work on three of these veins.

The Tesoro property has never been tested to depth or to its full strike potential, leaving St. Elias potential for the discovery of additional mineralization. 

McClenahan said that the price of gold wouldn't fall and the there were a lot of reasons why the price was up.

"They range from the pure fundamentals, the excessive printing of fiat money, political unrest. There's a bunch of reasons why gold has gone up and stayed strong over a long period of time," McClenahan said.

"Not one of those reasons is going away, so gold is going to stay strong."

Asked about the impact on precious metals markets of exchange-traded funds, McClenahan said: "If gold just traded purely on the fundamentals, without all the derivatives around it, it would probably be a lot higher."

McClenahan pointed to the example of molybdenum.

"Moly never traded with the derivatives going around it, it was just pure supply and demand. The minute they put those derivatives on it, the price fell, it went right down."

"Gold is so strong, it's ignoring the derivatives right now."

In terms of forward prices, McClenahan declined to give a forecast, but said: "What I truly believe is that it's going to stay strong for a long time."

For investors looking to invest in gold, one way is to buy stock in gold majors: "They're very, very safe. They're producing and they've got the assets."

Investors also have a choice of buying gold bars directly. Another way is to invest in junior exploration companies - such as St Elias Mines.

"Quite frankly, people are attracted to the penny stocks because you get a ten-bagger a lot more easier than you could on a Barrick."

The full segment can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/StEliasMines

St Elias Mines is a junior gold explorer currently focused on three gold properties in Peru - Tesoro, Vilcoro and Cueva Blanca.

Most recently, the company unveiled drilling results from the its Tesoro project, where 11 holes have been completed for a total of 4,374.5 metres.

Notable results included 4.144 parts per million (ppm) of gold over 0.57 metres in hole DDH TE 01 and 1.148 ppm gold over 0.18 metres with 0.43 metres of 9.438 ppm gold in hole DDH TE 04.

Tesoro covers approximately 6,974 hectares and is part of the prolific 300 kilometre by 30 kilometre Nazca-Ocoña gold belt in Peru.

To date, the company has identified five mineralized zones with more than 50 quartz veins, having a total combined length of nine kilometres.

The Tesoro property is 100 percent-owned by the company, with no underlying royalties.

The project covers approximately 6,974 hectares and is part of the prolific 300 kilometre by 30 kilometre Nazca-Ocoña gold belt parallel to the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.

While veins tend to be narrow, the grade is significant and the mineralized structures tend to extend along strike for several kilometres and to depths of up to 1,000 metres, St. Elias said.

To date, the miner has identified five mineralized zones with more than 50 quartz veins, having a total combined length of nine kilometres at Tesoro. It has carried out underground exploration and development work on three of these veins.

St. Elias sold 2.5 million units for $1.80 per share, raising gross proceeds of $4.5 million.

Each unit consists of one common share and one share purchase warrant of St. Elias Mines, with each whole warrant giving the holder the right to purchase an extra share for a cost of $2.10 for 12 months, expiring on October 7, 2012.

A finder’s fee of $14,508 in cash, along with 2,340 shares were paid.

The new funds will be used for exploration expenditures on the company’s properties and for general working capital, it said. The placement remains subject to regulatory approval.

St. Elias is engaged in the exploration and development of natural resource properties. Its gold properties in Peru include Tesoro, Vilcoro and Cueva Blanca.

In late August, the company reported it began a 10,000 metre drill campaign at the Tesoro site, designed to test the near-surface and deep-seated geophysical anomalies identified by earlier surveys.

The company has a 52-week high of $2.73, while its 52-week low is $1.43.

The new site offers a "user friendly" configuration that allows investors and interested parties to view corporate and property information. Also available are technical reports for the company’s projects.

In a statement, the mineral explorer said: “This is a dynamic site containing links to property technical reports, industry related sites, articles that pertain primarily to gold, as well as commodity and stock market information.”

St. Elias said its new site will be updated on an ongoing basis, and can be accessed at www.steliasmines.com.

St. Elias is engaged in the exploration and development of natural resource properties. Its gold properties in Peru include Tesoro, Vilcoro and Cueva Blanca.

In late August, the company reported it began a 10,000 metre drill campaign at the Tesoro site, designed to test the near-surface and deep-seated geophysical anomalies identified by earlier surveys.

The Vancouver-based company’s stock traded at $2.06 Wednesday afternoon on the TSX Venture Exchange. St. Elias Mines has a 52-week trading high of $2.73, and a 52-week low of $1.27.

"Management and board of directors of St. Elias believe that the current market price of the company's shares does not adequately reflect the underlying value of its British Columbia mineral properties," said president and CEO, Lori McClenahan.

"The proposed spinout is an excellent opportunity for shareholders to maximize the value of their St. Elias holdings."

Under the terms of the proposed transaction, St. Elias will transfer 100% of its interest in all of its British Columbia mineral properties to Havilah Mines, the new company incorporated for the purpose of the spin-out arrangement.

St. Elias will retain its holdings in its gold properties in Peru, and will not have any change in its capitalization, it said.

With the transaction, current shareholders of St. Elias will be entitled to receive one common share of Havilah for every 20 common shares of St. Elias held as of the effective date.

The company said that no St. Elias options or warrants will entitle holders to receive any shares of Havilah, unless holders exercise these options or warrants prior to the effective date.

An application will be made to list Havilah's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange. The spin-out arrangement remains subject to stock market, regulatory, court and shareholder approval.

St. Elias' gold properties in Peru include Tesoro, Vilcoro and Cueva Blanca. At Tesoro, the company announced just last week that it started a 10,000 metre drill campaign at the site, designed to test the near-surface and deep-seated geophysical anomalies identified by earlier surveys.

The drill program is designed to test the near-surface and deep-seated geophysical anomalies identified by earlier surveys, with the first series of drill holes testing high-priority targets, including a down-dip extension, in the Zona Central region, of known gold mineralization.

At Zona Central, St. Elias said there are northwest-southeast faults associated with IP an anomaly, which are consistent with known mineralization trends on the property.

The project covers a 6,974 hectare area on the prolific Nazca-Ocoña gold belt in southwestern Peru.

To date, St. Elias has identified five mineralized zones with over 50 quartz veins, with a total depth of nine kilometres. Underground exploration and development work has so far been carried out on three of these veins.

Still, the Vancouver, B.C.-based company said the property has not been evaluated to depth, or along the full strike length, leaving strong potential for the discovery of additional mineralization.

In separate news, St. Elias said it has negotiated a non-brokered private placement of up to 2.5 million units at $1.801 per unit, for total gross proceeds of $4.5 million.

Each unit will consist of one common share of St. Elias common stock, and one common share purchase warrant, which may be exercised for a single common share of the company at a price of $2.10 per share, for one year following closing.

The private placement, which is subject to regulatory approval, will help the company fund its exploration expenses for the Tesoro property.

St. Elias' stock on the TSX-Venture rose 0.97% today, trading at $2.09 per share as of 3:31 pm EDT.

The program, which consisted of samples from the Cruz Vein portion of the property, returned assays with a weighted average grade of 2.84 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold across an average width of 4.3 metres, and along a strike length of 850 metres.

The verification program involved the collection of 101 one-metre-long channel samples of vein material, along a strike length of 850 metres.

The company said vein material of the Cruz system yielded gold-in-rock assays from 0.08 to 15.46 grams.  Seventy-two samples were above 1 gram of gold and twelve samples were above 5 grams.

Historical work on the Cruz Vein system, which included 91 trenches and 18 drill holes, proved that the quartz veins consistently contain gold and silver and that the system is a classic epithermal gold-silver deposit, the company said.

Previous gold assay results from the vein include 6.0 metres of 2.31 grams per tonne (g/t), 6.0 metres of 2.96 g/t, including 1.75 metres of 7.45 g/t, and 1.5 metres of 22.68 g/t.

According to the company, the vein system is open along strike to the southeast and northwest, and to depth.

"The data from the verification program has shown gold mineralization is present in the Cruz Vein system and that a more extensive exploration program is merited," the company concluded in a statement.

St. Elias owns 100% of the Cueva Blanca property. Intigold Mines (CVE:IGD) has entered into an agreement to earn a 60% interest in the project, subject to a 1.5% net smelter return royalty.

The property, comprising approximately 5,000 hectares, covers a large epithermal alteration system developed in Tertiary volcanic rocks.  It is located along the same geological trend as a number of multi-million ounce deposits including Yanacocha, Pierina and Lagunas Norte.

As of the end of May, 15 trenches totaling 1,200 metres were completed at the property, as part of the current mechanical trenching program. Two hundred and fifteen samples were collected from the trenches, the company said.

The Tesoro Gold Project is 100% owned by St Elias, with no underlying royalties. The property covers approximately 6,974 hectares, and is part of the prolific Nazca-Ocoña gold belt parallel to the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.

To date, the company has identified five mineralized zones at Tesoro, with more than 50 quartz veins, having a total combined length of 9 kilometres. Work so far has suggested that the veins could extend to considerable depths, St. Elias said.

"Results from surface exploration, underground development and geophysics to date highlight the significant potential to extend existing resources and discover new resources," said president and CEO, Lori McClenahan.

"We look forward with enthusiasm in anticipation of future results."

The company said the trenching program has been designed to confirm the direction, size and continuity of the mineralized structures and to delineate additional drilling targets at the property.

Targets will include those identified by a recent geophysical survey, areas along strike on the main structural deposit, as well as those on the recently discovered parallel structural corridor.

Alongside trenching, St. Elias will be beginning  its 2011 drilling program.

The Tesoro Gold project covers approximately 6,974 hectares and is part of the prolific 300km by 30km Nazca-Ocoña gold belt, parallel to the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.

To date, the company has identified five mineralized zones with more than 50 quartz veins at Tesoro and has carried out underground exploration and development work on three of these veins. 

Under the terms of the new option deal, Intigold can earn a 60% carried interest in the project, located in Northern Peru, subject to a 1.5% net smelter return royalty.

Cueva Blanca covers 1,200 hectares and is located along the same geological trend as a number of multi-million ounce deposits, including Yanacocha, Pierina and Lagunas Norte. Past assay results from the deposit include 9.5 metres of 8.09 g/t gold, including 1.5 metres of 35.84 g/t gold.

To acquire the 60% carried interest, Intigold must make cash payments of $0.2 million to St. Elias over a two-year period, as well as issue 1.0 million Intigold shares and incur $1.5 million in exploration expenditures over a three-year time frame.

The study represents the third EIS completed for the Tesoro site.

"The completion of this EIS is in line with St. Elias' aggressive exploration program at Tesoro," said president and CEO Lori McClenahan.

"The company is now well-positioned to begin its drilling program with cash and encouraging exploration results, including gold assays and favourable targets from a deep penetrating Titan 24 geophysical survey, in hand."

Indeed, the company is due to begin the 10,000 metre diamond drill program as soon as possible, which will be designed to test near-surface and deeper geophysical anomalies identified by the Titan survey. Holes will reach down to targeted depths of up to 1,500 metres.

According to St. Elias, exploration work at the project thus far has shown the potential to expand known mineralized zones both on strike and to depth.

In addition, the property has never been evaluated to depth, or to its full strike potential, providing the potential to discover additional mineralization.

Tesoro consists of nine mineral claims covering 17,436 acres, and is located in the District of Acari and lies within the well-known 300 km by 30 km Nazca-Ocoña gold belt.

Dorex has options to acquire up to an 80% interest, subject to a 1.5% net smelter royalty, in Strawberry Flats from St Elias, in exchange for Dorex paying $250,827 in cash and issuing 1.2 million common shares to St. Elias. Dorex must also spend $1.6 million in exploration costs on the property.

Of the 1,124 soil samples delivered to the labs from Dorex's exploration program, 1,014 samples returned results, with gold-in-soil assays ranging from trace to 851 ppb Au.  566 of the soil samples returned results below detection limit, and 447 returned results of 2 ppb Au or greater.  These 447 samples averaged 10.4 ppb Au, with 70 samples returning values of 11 ppb Au or greater, the company said.

The eight silt samples collected returned values from trace to 36ppb Au, with three below detection limits and five reporting 2 ppb Au or greater, averaging 9.2 ppb Au.

According to St. Elias, the 28 rock samples that were analyzed ranged from trace amounts to 10,000 ppb Au.

St. Elias said that the preliminary data from the Phase I program is currently being interpreted and once all results are finalized, they will be used to guide the phase II trenching program, slated to begin this November.

The phase 1 program was designed to confirm, infill and expand the historic gold-in-soil geochemical anomalies reported by previous workers.

The bulk of the exploration program consisted of a large grid, covering an area of approximately 1.8 km by 1km, which was focused on expanding the historic geochemical grids to the North towards Astral Mining's Jumping Josephine project.

Aside from Strawberry Flats, Vancouver-based St. Elias is also focused on its Tesoro Gold project and Cueva Blanca property in Peru.

The Ministry of Energy and Mines in Peru recently granted the company a permit to allow drilling, a complicated process said St. Elias, involving community consultation, approval and participation; evaluation of environmental impacts; an archeological assessment; and approval of work plans.

Ansell Capital has the right to acquire a 65% interest in Vilcoro, subject to a 1.5% net smelter royalty under a joint venture agreement with St. Elias.

The two companies have said that they are now requesting bids from various businesses to begin the drill program. Initially, the plan is to drill six to eight reverse circulation holes, totaling 1500 to 2000 metres.

The Vilcoro Gold property, comprising 1,600 hectares, is located near the town of Santiago de Chuco in the sierra of northern Peru. The project is principally underlain by tertiary volcaniclastic rocks of the Callipuy Formation.

The sierra of northern Peru is one of the most prolific gold-producing regions in the world, and the Callipuy volcanics host the largest of the gold deposits, including Pierina, Yanacocha and Alto Chicama, three multi-million ounce gold deposits.

Vilcoro is also located adjacent to the claim block that covers the Lagunas Norte mine, recently put into production by Barrick Gold in the Alto Chicama mining district.

St. Elias was up nearly 3% on Tuesday, trading at $1.8 as of 1:16pm ET.

In June, the company commissioned consultants to update the report on the Tesoro property, to include the results from exploration work conducted from February 2008 to date, including the stage 1 and stage 2 Titan 24 Geophysical Surveys.

The updated report states that the property warrants a "systemic and phased series of mineral exploration programs to adequately appraise the project's economic potential".

The Titan 24 Surveys outlined high priority geophysical targets, both near surface and to depth. As such, the author of the report recommends these targets warrant follow-up systematic exploration through trenching, particularly on the newly discovered North Corridor, and diamond drilling totalling approximately 10,000 metres, the company said.

The exploration work will also be designed to conduct "on the ground follow-up" and surface sampling of all high-priority geophysical anomalies, as well as outcrop mapping of the entire property.

St. Elias said that the report outlined a proposed budget of $2.5 million for the entire exploration campaign.  It is expected that the programs will give the company enough information to guide further mineral exploration and development programs on Tesoro.

The Tesoro project, which consists of nine mineral claims covering 17,436 acres, is located in the Department of Arequipa in the District of Acari.

The property lies within the well-known 300 km X 30 km Nazca-Ocoña gold belt, adjacent to and paralleling the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.  More than 70 gold (± copper) deposits have been discovered and exploited since the 17th century on the belt, most of which are quartz-vein hosted gold deposits.

To date on the project, mesothermal-vein style gold mineralization has been identified superficially and to depths of over 100 metres, but the property has never been evaluated to depth or to its full strike potential.

Exploration results to date have shown that the Tesoro project could be expanded both on strike and to depth, and could be ground for additional discoveries.

In this regard, the company has staked six New Tesoro Claims (Chance A, B, C, D, E and F).  Prior to the acquisition of the New Claims, the Tesoro project comprised three mineral claims (Chance 1, Chance 2 and Chance 5) covering approximately 5,000 acres.  With the addition of the new claims, the Tesoro Gold project covers 17,436 acres.

The 100% owned Tesoro Gold project is located in the Department of Arequipa in the District of Acari in southwestern Peru.  The property lies within the well-known 300 km X 30 km Nazca-Ocoña gold belt, adjacent to and paralleling the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.

The Nazca-Ocoña gold belt has a mining history dating back to pre-Incan time with more than 70 gold (± copper) deposits discovered and exploited since the 17th century, most of which are quartz-vein hosted gold deposits.

At Tesoro to date, mesothermal-vein style gold mineralization has been identified superficially and to depths of over 100 metres. The property, however, has never been evaluated  to depth, or to its  full strike potential, which leaves potential for future discoveries.

Separately, the company announced that it has appointed Kulwant Sandher as chief financial officer. Sandher has served as CFO for The Stallion Group, Serebra Learning, Conac Software, and served as a COO for Marketrend Interactive. Currently, he is serving as a director and CFO of Delta Oil & Gas and as CFO of Millrock Resources.

St. Elias also granted incentive stock options to the company's directors and employees, giving them the ability to purchase up to 1 million common shares under the company's stock option plan, for a period of two years at a price of $1.56 per share.

Over 1,200 soil samples, 28 rock samples and eight silt samples were collected during the 10 day, on-the-ground program in late summer this year.  The program was designed to confirm, infill and expand the historic gold-in-soil geochemical anomalies reported by previous workers of the Strawberry Flats Gold property.

The bulk of the program consisted of a large geochemical grid covering an area of approximately 1.8 km by 1 km. Assay results are expected shortly, and once received, they will be used to define and prioritize targets for a phase 2 follow up trenching program, planned for later this fall.

Phase 2 will also concentrate on additional sampling from the historic anomalies, as well as any newly generated geochemical anomalies from the phase 1 program, the company said.

Dorex Minerals, who conducted the phase 1 program, has the options to acquire up to an 80% interest, subject to a 1.5% NSR, in the Strawberry Flats Gold property from St. Elias.

Dorex’s 2010 exploration programs are meant to further delineate future drill targets for a phase 3 diamond drilling program by confirming and expanding on the historical work done on the property already, including a trenching program completed by Cameco in 1989.

Cameco's “Trench No. 5” averaged 7.04 g/t Au over its 12 metre length and exposed a 7 metre wide fault zone with heavily silicified and pyrite chalcopyrite-galena-sphalerite-iron carbonate veined sections, with the a single 2 metre section reported to average 39.16 g/t Au and 6.55 g/t Ag.

The Strawberry Flats Gold project adjoins the Jumping Josephine gold project owned by Astral Mining and Kootenay Gold.

Vancouver-based St. Elias Mines is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and sale of mineral properties. It is currently focused on its Tesoro Gold Project and Cueva Blanca property in Peru.

The Vancouver-based company has claimed that anonymous posters placed a series of defamatory comments on a Stockhouse bulletin board against the company, its president and management and "are continuing to post false and defamatory comments as of today".

Further details regarding the defamation lawsuits will be released once filings are made with the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

"The company has grounds to file defamation lawsuits with the courts against the posters to seek general and aggravated damages as well as punitive damages. There is a need to deter irresponsible, self-interested, malicious postings and the courts have, in the past looked down upon libellous material found in online postings," said president Lori McClenahan.

"Statements transmitted and published over Stockhouse's website about particular companies are accessible by millions of individuals, shareholders and potential investors, and the extent of the damage could be considerable," she added.

In the past, Stockhouse posters have indeed faced legal action over forum postings.  One such case is the lawsuit where Barrick Gold was awarded $125,000 by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice after the company was libelled on internet chat lines.

In a more recent case, a handful of inflammatory online postings about Farallon Mining led to the biggest internet defamation award ever handed out in Canada of $425,000.

St.Elias was up more than 7% on Monday, trading at $1.45 as of 12:12pm ET on the TSX-Venture Exchange.

The report, which was conducted by Quantec GeoScience, also identified a further 26 zones, which are classified as second priority targets for follow-up, as the zones are related to or an extension of previously discovered mineralized zones.

Most of the first priority targets are situated along, or in the area surrounding the northwest-southeast structural trends in the central part of the survey grid, also known as the Tesoro Structural Corridor.

Quantec performed a Titan 24 Direct Current Resistivity (DC), Induced Polarization (IP) and Audio Magnetotelluric (AMT or MT) survey over the property, which was conducted in two stages.

Titan 24 is a deep earth imaging technology for delineating ore bodies to depth.

During the fall of 2009, stage 1 of the survey was completed, which consisted of nine lines covering approximately 21.6 line kilometres over the project area.

Stage 2 of the survey, designed to follow-up the results of the 2009 survey, comprised 18 Titan lines totalling 43.2 line kilometres, infilling the area within the lines from the stage 1 survey.

Quantec, based on detailed analysis of the data, has recommended a total of 52 drill holes to test the first and second priority targets identified at the property.

Of these 52, 26 drill holes are suggested for the testing of the first priority zones and 26 are proposed to test the second priority target zones.

The Tesoro Gold project is 100% owned by St. Elias and it covers approximately 2,000 hectares, part of the 300km X 30km Nazca-Ocoña gold belt parallel to the Pacific coast of southwestern Peru.

While the veins on the Nazca-Ocoña gold belt tend to be narrow, the grade is significant and the mineralized structures tend to extend along strike for several kilometers and to depths of up to 1,000 meters.

The Tesoro property has never been evaluated to depth, or to its full strike potential, said the company.

The property, comprising 21 mineral claims covering 8,221.53 hectares, lies within a mineral-rich region of central British Columbia, approximately 130 kilometres south of Houston.

Under the terms of the deal, Downtown can earn an initial 51% undivided interest in the property by paying St. Elias $5,000 in cash within five business days from signing the letter agreement, and by issuing 5,000 common shares of Downtown within 10 business days to St. Elias.

In addition, over a period of three years, Downtown is required to pay an aggregate of $75,000 in cash; issue approximately 110,000 shares; and spend approximately $600,000 on exploration costs.

In order to acquire the remaining 24% stake, Downtown is required to pay St. Elias $250,000 in cash, issue 300,000 shares, and spend $1.5 million on exploration expenditures over a period of three years from the date the company chooses to elect this second option.

The South Rim project covers a zone of high-grade molybdenite float, as well as a gold-bearing quartz vein epithermal system.  It is located immediately south of the southern rim of an oval shaped "caldera" (volcano crater), measuring approximately 20km x 40km.

Downtown will manage and operate the exploration programs during the period of the first option and thereafter if the first option is fully completed. 

The transaction is still subject to a number of conditions, including formal agreement and exchange approval.

Vancouver-based St. Elias Mines is engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and sale of mineral properties. It owns theTesoro Gold Project and Cueva Blanca property in Peru.