Southern Silver Exploration Corp. (TSX.V: SSV) (“Southern Silver”) announced today that it has purchased a 5.0146 hectare parcel of land at its Cerro Las Minitas mineral property in Durango State, Mexico. The property overlies portions of mineral claims currently under option to Southern Silver where a 10,000 metre diamond drill exploration project is underway. The purpose of the acquisition of the land parcel is to provide a convenient site at the mineral claims for construction of a mill, if warranted based upon results of ongoing exploration. The property was acquired from a private vendor in consideration for a cash payment of US$40,000 and 50,000 common shares in the capital of Southern Silver.  The acquisition is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.

Private Placement
Southern Silver also announced a unit offering of 8.0 million units in a non-brokered private placement at a purchase price of $0.15 per unit to raise gross proceeds of $1.2 million.  Each unit will consist of one common share and one share purchase warrant.  Each warrant will be exercisable to purchase one additional common share for a period of two years at an exercise price of $0.20 per share. Proceeds of the offering will be utilized to fund an expanded and accelerated exploration program on the Cerro Las Minitas mineral claims where Southern Silver has currently completed approximately 30% of the previously announced 10,000 metre drill program.

Warrant Extension
Southern Silver reports that it will extend the expiry date of 11,847,500 share purchase warrants from December 10, 2011 to June 10, 2012, and the expiry date of a further 2,740,000 share purchase warrants from December 24, 2011 to June 24, 2012.  Each warrant is exercisable to purchase one common share of Southern Silver for a price of $0.20 per share.  These warrants were issued pursuant to a private placement of 18,160,000 units with 18,160,000 warrants attached, which closed in two tranches on December 10, 2009 and December 24, 2009.  The extension of the warrant expiry dates is subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.

Exploration Program
Diamond drilling continues on the Cerro Las Minitas project. Twenty-three holes have been completed to date for 6100 metres of a total anticipated 13,000 metre drill program. Thirty-one hundred metres of the 10,000 metre Phase II program have been completed. Drilling has focused on the expansion of the newly discovered Blind Zone, which is a NW-SE-trending silver-rich polymetallic mineralized zone located approximately 200 metres to the west of the main area of active mining on the property.

Twelve holes have tested the Blind zone to a 375 metre strike length and a 280 metre depth. Assays have been received from seven of these holes. Assays are pending from five holes.

Highlights from the previous drilling include:

• a 1.8 metre interval averaging 1400g/t Ag, 19.7% Pb and 14.5% Zn within a 3.3 metre interval averaging 818g/t Ag, 12.9% Pb and 10.9% Zn from drill hole CLM-008, and 
• a 4.5 metre interval averaging 192g/t silver, 0.3% copper, 5.3% lead and 8.4% zinc within an 11.7 metre interval averaging 113g/t silver, 0.2% copper, 3.3% lead and 4.9% zinc from drill hole 11CLM-016.

Southern Silver is currently testing a 100 metre lateral offset to the southeast of its previously drilling.   

About the Cerro Las Minitas property
The Cerro Las Minitas property comprises 17 concessions which total 10,980 hectares and an approximate 25 kilometre lineal strike length. The property is located about 70 kilometres to the northeast of the city of Durango, Durango State, Mexico and is accessed easily by road. 

Mining has been conducted on the property since colonial times and has identified several types of silver-, lead- and zinc-enriched massive-sulphide pipes, veins and carbonate-replacement deposits (CRDs), as well as mineralized skarns at the margins of a large intrusive body. The Santa Eulalia replacement deposit (45Mt of 310g/t Ag, 7.1% Zn and 8.2% Pb) and the skarn deposit of San Martin (60Mt of 118g/t silver, 0.9% copper and 3.9% zinc) are examples of two major Mexican mines occurring in similar geological environments⁽¹⁾.

The mineralized zones at Cerro Las Minitas have been exploited to depths of 300 metres and over widths of 60 metres.

About Southern Silver Exploration Corp.
Southern Silver Exploration Corp. is a precious/base metal exploration company and a member of the Manex Resource Group; a private company comprised of an exceptional multi-disciplinary team of professionals with specific expertise in all areas of exploration, development, corporate finance and public company administration.

Southern Silver’s growth strategy is to acquire, explore and develop high-quality properties in progressive jurisdictions within North America. Its current projects include the silver-lead-zinc Cerro Las Mintas project and the copper-gold-silver Minas de Ameca in Mexico, the porphyry copper-molybdenum Dragoon project in Arizona and the gold-silver Oro project in New Mexico.

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Robert Macdonald (P.Geo) is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this release.

(1) Southern Silver advises that tonnage and grade of adjacent properties or those used for comparative purposes may not reflect the ultimate potential of the Cerro Las Minitas project

On behalf of the Board of Directors
“Lawrence Page”
Lawrence Page, President, Southern Silver Exploration Corp.

For further information, please visit the company’s website at southernsilverexploration.com or contact Liana Shahinian at 1.888.456.1112 or by email at liana@mnxltd.com.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. These statements are based on a number of assumptions, including, but not limited to, assumptions regarding general economic conditions, interest rates, commodity markets, regulatory and governmental approvals for the company’s projects, and the availability of financing for the company’s development projects on reasonable terms. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, the timing and receipt of government and regulatory approvals, and continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions.  Southern Silver Exploration Corp. does not assume any obligation to update or revise its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by applicable law.