Southern Arc Reports Further Encouraging Drill Results from the Mencanggah Prospect,

Southern Arc Minerals (TSX VENTURE:SA)(OTCQX:SOACF) ("Southern Arc" or "the
Company") is pleased to report further encouraging drilling results from the
Tibu Serai and Bising targets at the Mencanggah prospect on Southern Arc's West
Lombok property. 


The Company recently completed 12 diamond drill holes (1,696 metres) on the West
Lombok property - three at Bising target and nine at Tibu Serai. The results
continue to demonstrate the consistency of the wide mineralized body along the
500-metre strike one of the Bising Hill target, and highlight the potential of
higher-grade zones within numerous silica ledge bodies mapped at Tibu Serai and
other localities throughout the property. 


Southern Arc has now provided SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. ("SRK") with all
drilling and exploration data collected to date from the West Lombok project,
with the objective of completing a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource
estimate by mid-2013. The report is expected to provide an inferred resource
estimate for the property incorporating epithermal-gold mineralization from
parts of the Raja target (Pelangan prospect), Bising and Tibu Serai targets
(Mencanggah prospect), as well as porphyry copper-gold mineralization from the
Selodong prospect. The report will also include SRK's recommendations for
additional drilling for both resource upgrade and expansion, which will help to
focus next steps for the project. 


"We have seen consistently strong drill results at the West Lombok property, and
look forward to the results of the SRK report," said John Proust, Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Southern Arc. "With West Lombok successfully advanced
to this stage, Southern Arc may consider bringing a partner to the project to
accelerate West Lombok's advancement while reducing financial exposure and risk
to Southern Arc's shareholders.


"Southern Arc's treasury is one of its key assets in what is undeniably a
difficult capital market. While our share price has followed the general
downward trend of most resource companies, having current working capital of
approximately $14 million puts Southern Arc in a unique position among our peers
and provides the financial flexibility to consider new opportunities that can
bring near-term value to our shareholders. As announced in December, Southern
Arc is implementing a diversification strategy and actively pursuing
advanced-stage gold projects in new jurisdictions. We look forward to reporting
progress on a number of fronts to our shareholders in the near term."




Tibu Serai Target                                                           
                                                                            
Highlights from Tibu Serai drilling include:                                
                                                                            
MCG058 0.70 m @ 13.50 g/t gold and 2.3 g/t silver from 3.20 m               
       18.70 m @ 2.46 g/t gold and 0.4 g/t silver from 58.80 m              
       Including 6.90 m @ 5.65 g/t gold and 0.5 g/t silver from 70.60 m     
       Including 1.10 m @ 31.97 g/t gold and 1.9 g/t silver from 76.40 m    
                                                                            
MCG060 22.50 m @ 1.60 g/t gold and 1.5 g/t silver from 60.30 m              
       Including 5.10 m @ 5.29 g/t gold and 5.3 g/t silver from 76.70 m     
                                                                            
MCG067 4.50 m @ 7.79 g/t gold and 0.7 g/t silver from 70.60 m               
       Including 0.60 m @ 16.60 g/t gold and 1.6 g/t silver from 70.60 m    
       And 1.05 m @ 20.94 g/t gold and 1.0 g/t silver from 73.40 m          
                                                                            
MCG061 26.30 m @ 1.22 g/t gold and 0.2 g/t silver from 96.50 m              
       Including 8.00 m @ 3.21 g/t gold and 0.3 g/t silver from 114.80 m    
       Including 0.90 m @ 11.20 g/t gold and 0.2 g/t silver from 117.60 m   
       And 0.80 m @ 13.80 g/t gold and 0.7 g/t silver from 122.00 m         
                                                                            
MCG062 3.95 m @ 3.55 g/t gold and 0.2 g/t silver from 21.65 m               
       Including 0.80 m @ 11.70 g/t gold and 0.2 g/t silver from 23.90 m    



The nine Tibu Serai holes (1,273.0 metres, Table 1, Figure 1) extended the known
dip and strike extent of the mineralization previously reported in MCG055 (24.8
m @ 4.27 g/t gold and 0.6 g/t silver, including 5.4 m @ 9.44 g/t gold and 1.3
g/t silver, Southern Arc news release dated March 25, 2013). Eight of these
holes intersected significant mineralization within a 220-metre strike length
centred on MCG055. Two holes drilled 40 m northwest and southeast of MCG055
confirmed continuity of high gold grades along an 80-m strike length at similar
elevations. MCG058, located 40 m northwest, intersected 6.90 m @ 5.65 g/t gold,
while MCG060, located 40 m southeast of MCG055, intersected 5.10 m @ 5.29 g/t. 


MCG061 intersected mineralization 60 m vertically below MCG055 (26.30 m @ 1.22
g/t gold including 8.00 m @ 3.21 g/t gold), indicating continuity of
mineralization at depth. MCG067, located approximately 120 southeast of MCG055,
intersected high-grade mineralization (4.50 m @ 7.79 g/t gold) within a second
shoot zone that remains open to the southeast.


Drilling has also intersected a parallel vein zone exposed 200 m to the
southeast of MCG067 (Figure 1). A narrow high-grade intersection in MCG058 (0.70
m @ 13.50 g/t gold and 2.3 g/t silver) well above the targeted mineralization is
interpreted to represent the strike extension of this parallel vein zone. 


These results support the contiguous nature of high-grade mineralization along
just one of the mineralized structures at Mencanggah and highlight exploration
potential in the numerous high-grade surface indications of epithermal gold
mineralization that remain to be drill tested at both Mencanggah and Pelangan. 


Bising Target

Three Bising holes infilled a 200-m gap zone in previous drilling between MCG031
and MCG032 (Table 2, Figure 2) and confirmed the continuous and very wide nature
of the moderately dipping mineralized body at the Bising hill along a 500-m
strike zone. Particularly encouraging is the result from MCG057, which confirmed
continuity between other wide greater than 1 g/t gold intervals intersected to
the west (MCG030, 041, 042, 028) and east (MCG032) of this location (Figure 2).




Highlight results from Bising include:                                      
                                                                            
MCG057 52.70 m @ 0.68 g/t gold and 2.3 g/t silver from 7.55 m               
       Including 27.15 m @ 1.00 g/t gold and 3.4 g/t silver from 28.40 m    
                                                                            
MCG056 41.40 m @ 0.69 g/t gold and 1.4 g/t silver from 97.50 m              
       Including 13.70 m @ 0.94 g/t gold and 0.9 g/t silver from 105.00 m   
                                                                            
MCG059 34.15 m @ 0.52 g/t gold and 1.1 g/t silver from 94.85 m              
       17.35 m @ 0.78 g/t gold and 1.7 g/t silver from 111.65 m             



Porphyry Copper-Gold Exploration Drilling

Southern Arc also recently completed two drill holes to test porphyry
copper-gold mineralization on the property. MCD001 and MCD002 (1,197.7 metres,
Table 3, Figure 3) tested two deep porphyry targets beneath the Mencanggah
lithocap. These holes were targeting modeled magnetic geophysical anomalies
underlying the Tibu Serai area. Neither hole encountered significant
porphyry-style mineralization, instead intersecting magnetite rich diorite and
volcanics, respectively. 


Southern Arc remains very optimistic about porphyry copper exploration on the
property. Areas in the Selodong prospect where previous drilling encountered
gold-rich high-grade porphyry drill intersections have similar geophysical
signatures to other porphyry targets on the property. Porphyry deposits often
occur in clusters, and numerous porphyry targets remain to be drill tested
beneath the lithocaps at Mencanggah, Pelangan and Selodong. 


To view Tables 1, 2 and 3, please visit the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/sa530t.pdf


To view Figures 1, 2 and 3, please visit the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/sa530f.pdf


On behalf of the Board of Southern Arc Minerals Inc. 

John Proust, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer

About Southern Arc 

Southern Arc Minerals Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on
gold and copper-gold exploration. The Company's key exploration property is its
West Lombok project, with several gold-rich copper porphyry and epithermal gold
vein prospects. Southern Arc is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the
symbol SA and on the OTCQX International under the symbol SOACF. More
information is available at www.southernarcminerals.com or by emailing
[e-mail]. 


Qualified Person 

The technical information in this document has been reviewed by Southern Arc's
Executive Vice President, Andrew Rowe, B. App. Sc. Geology, MAusIMM. Mr. Rowe
has over 20 years of international mineral exploration experience throughout
Southeast and Central Asia and Australia. During this time he has held such
positions as Principal Geologist - Feasibility Studies, Senior Geologist and
Consulting Geologist. The technical information in this document has also been
reviewed by Southern Arc's President & Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Mike
Andrews, PhD, FAusIMM, who has sufficient experience relevant to the style of
mineralization under consideration and qualifies as a Qualified Person as
defined by National Instrument 43-101. 


The drill program and sampling protocol is managed by Southern Arc under the
supervision of Andrew Rowe. The diamond drill holes are drilled at PQ, HQ and NQ
sizes depending on hole depth and core recovery to date has averaged better than
98.0%. Half core is cut by rock saw and is generally sampled using nominal
1-metre intervals; however, sample intervals are varied according to geological
contacts and have ranged between 0.2 to 2.5 metres in length. Three quality
control samples (one blank and two standards) are inserted into each batch of 40
samples. The half core samples are securely transported from the project site to
the Intertek Testing Services ("ITS") sample preparation laboratory in Sumbawa
Besar via private truck hired by Southern Arc. Sample pulps are then sent to the
ITS Jakarta laboratory by ITS. Gold is analysed by fire assay with AAS finish
and a four-acid digestion with ICP-MS finish is used to analyse a full suite of
elements including silver and base metals. ITS is one of the world's largest
product and commodity testing, inspection and certification organizations. The
Jakarta laboratory is ISO 17025 accredited and employs a Laboratory Information
Management System for sample tracking, quality control and reporting. 


Forward-looking Statements 

This news release contains forward-looking statements relating to expected or
anticipated future events and operations, timing of projects and anticipated
results that are forward-looking in nature and, as a result, are subject to
certain risks and uncertainties, such as general economic, market and business
conditions, the regulatory process and actions, the need to obtain permits, the
need to work with local communities and authorities to advance the properties,
technical issues, new legislation, competitive and general economic factors and
conditions, the uncertainties resulting from potential delays or changes in
plans, the occurrence of unexpected events, and the Company's ability to execute
and implement future plans. Actual results achieved may vary from the
information provided herein as a result of numerous known and unknown risks and
uncertainties and other factors, including uncertainty related to drill results
and the inclusion of drill results in future resource estimates for the
property. There is no representation by the Company that actual results achieved
during the forecast period will be the same in whole or in part as that
forecast. 


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: 
Southern Arc Minerals Inc.
Rhylin Bailie
Vice President, Communications & Investor Relations
604-676-5241 or North American toll-free: 1-855-676-5241
[e-mail]
www.southernarcminerals.com