Southern Empire receives drill permit for VLM

Mr. Dale Wallster reports SOUTHERN EMPIRE RECEIVES DRILL PERMIT FOR THE VLM COPPER PROPERTY, SONORA, MEXICO Southern Empire Resources Corp. has received a permit for a core drilling program at its 100-per-cent-owned VLM copper property located near the community of Suaqui Grande, 130 kilometres southeast of Hermosillo in Sonora, Mexico. The VLM property is in the world-class Laramide Arizona-Sonora porphyry copper belt, where more than 20 porphyry copper-molybdenum deposits have been mined for decades and others are currently under development. Historical work at the VLM property has identified oxide copper and molybdenum mineralization hosted in silicified quartz monzonite. Southern Empire is planning for a 500-to-750-metre, three-to-five-hole drill program using triple-tube technology to maximize core sample recovery. The permit, issued by the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (Semarnat; Mexico's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources), allows for up to 22 holes drilled from 12 sites. Southern Empire has initiated discussions with surface landholders regarding access for this future work. The detailed mobilization and drilling schedule will be announced once service providers have been selected and timing finalized. Qualified person The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been prepared, reviewed and approved by David Tupper, PGeo (British Columbia), Southern Empire's vice-president, exploration, and a qualified person within the context of Canadian Securities Administrators' National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (NI 43-101). About Southern Empire Resources Corp. Southern Empire is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of metals and minerals deposits in the American southwest and northern Mexico, particularly focused on those that are amenable to lower-cost metal extraction methodologies such as heap leaching. To achieve its goals, Southern Empire has assembled a board of directors, all veterans in mine and corporate finance, exploration, permitting, development and operations, which will guide the future growth of the company. In the Cargo Muchacho mountains of Imperial county, California, Southern Empire's wholly owned Oro Cruz project has the potential to re-establish gold production from a moderate-tonnage oxide gold deposit located approximately 22.5 kilometres (14 miles) southeast of the operating Mesquite gold mine of Equinox Gold Corp., which has now produced more than five million ounces. At Oro Cruz, extensive historical drilling and large-scale open-pit and underground mining of the American Girl, Padre y Madre, Queen and Cross oxide gold deposits by the American Girl Mining joint venture (AGMJV) of MK Gold Company and Hecla Mining Company occurred between 1987 and 1996. During that time, gold was recovered by heap leaching of lower-grade ores and milling of higher-grade ores. Following significant definition drilling and underground development, the Oro Cruz open-pit and underground mines operated successfully for only one year (producing about 61,000 ounces of gold). AGMJV operations ceased in late 1996 as collapsing gold prices caused the entire operation to be shuttered and decommissioned, leaving the Oro Cruz property with many gold exploration targets, in addition to a historical inferred resource estimate, reported in 2011 by Lincoln Mining Corp., totalling 341,800 ounces gold based on 4,386,000 tonnes averaging 2.2 grams gold per tonne at a cut-off grade of 0.68 gram per tonne gold (4,835,000 tons at 0.07 ounce gold per ton. Although no surface facilities remain, the underground infrastructure at Oro Cruz (including a 2.4-kilometre haulage ramp, sublevels and draw points) remains in excellent condition and the open pit was abandoned just after stripping was completed prior to the start of Stage II pit expansion. We seek Safe Harbor.