New Jersey Mining Company Leases Claims to Hecla Silver Valley, Inc.

KELLOGG, ID -- (Marketwire) -- 09/27/12 -- New Jersey Mining Company (OTCBB: NJMC) is pleased to announce that it has signed a mineral lease with Hecla Silver Valley, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hecla Mining Company (Hecla) for 39 unpatented lode claims at a gold-telluride prospect known as Little Baldy. Little Baldy is one of seven gold prospects that makes up the Company's Toboggan Project near Murray, Idaho. Hecla owns the patented mineral rights to 139 acres in the core of the Little Baldy prospect which are not part of the lease.

The Little Baldy prospect was discovered by soil sampling completed during Newmont Exploration Limited's three year exploration program in the area. A gold-in-soil anomaly of approximately 700 meters by 300 meters was discovered by Newmont which is centered on Hecla's claims but overlaps onto the claims owned by NJMC and now leased to Hecla. Surface sampling by Newmont of mineralized rocks showed extremely high gold values with the highest grade sample assaying 2,130 grams per tonne (gpt) gold. The gold mineralization at Little Baldy exhibits the typical association with tellurium found elsewhere in the Toboggan Project as the high grade sample assayed greater than 500 parts per million (ppm) tellurium.

Newmont interpreted the presence of at least three gold veins from their geologic work. Five other surface rock samples taken from different locations averaged 26.6 gpt gold and 165 ppm tellurium. As stated above, Hecla owns the patented mineral rights to 139 acres in the core of the Little Baldy prospect which are not part of the lease. However, NJMC owns the surface rights on these patented claims. The lease covers 39 unpatented claims owned by NJMC that surround Hecla's patented claims. The lease has a 20-year term and calls for annual payments to NJMC of $24,000 then escalating to $36,000 after three years and $48,000 after six years. A work commitment of $200,000 by the third year is required of Hecla with increasing work commitments thereafter. Should gold production be realized from the leased claims a 2% net smelter return royalty is due NJMC.

In other news, the Company has suspended milling operations at the New Jersey Mill. Silver ore from our joint venture partner, United Silver Corp. (USC) was being processed with good recoveries when USC experienced concentrate marketing delays. It is not known when milling operations will resume.

About New Jersey Mining Company:
New Jersey Mining Company is involved in exploring for and developing gold, silver and base metal resources in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District of northern Idaho. New Jersey Mining Company has a portfolio of mineral properties in the Coeur d'Alene Mining District including the New Jersey Mine which includes a fully-permitted 360 tonne per day flotation mill and a concentrate leach plant. In an effort to boost awareness of our company among gold stock investors, we are working with the Gold Stocks 360 web site to display highlights of our fundamentals at http://www.goldstocks360.com.

This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor created by such sections. Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that New Jersey Mining Company believes are reasonable but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated are discussed in New Jersey Mining Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.