VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/07/12 -- Zena Mining Corp. (TSX VENTURE:ZCC) ("Zena" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed its 2012 exploration program on its Lapin Barite property situated near Rock Creek, B.C. The Company owns 100% of the rights to the Industrial Minerals subject to a 10% net profits interest and royalty and other payments based on production to the original underlying vendors.

Barite (Barium sulphate - BaSO4) the primary industrial mineral on this property, is a major component and the weighting agent used in drilling mud for the oil and gas industry's exploration and developmental drilling programs. In 2004, Zena obtained a permit for exploration and test mining a small bulk sample.

In 2010, Zena explored the "B" zone deposit by excavator stripping, mapping, and diamond sawing representative samples. Stripping exposed an area roughly 40 by 20 meters which contains at least five zones of Barite, of which the most important is the Main zone, exposed over a strike length of 20 meters and up to 10 meters wide.

In September 2011, additional areas in the "B" zone were stripped, and argillic sediments were removed from the east wall of the Main zone. An excavator with a rock-breaker was used to expose the barite along its length, and about 200 tonnes of barite was set aside from which 20 tonnes was mined and trucked to a storage site in Rock Creek B.C. From the "B" zone, 26 barite samples each from 1-5 kg in size (averaging 3 kg) were collected from four separate areas and shipped to ALS Minerals Laboratory (ISO 17025 accredited) in North Vancouver, where Specific Gravity measurements were completed. The twenty-six samples from the Main Zone had specific gravity ranging from 3.63 to 4.41, with a weighted average of 4.12.

A minimum specific gravity of 4.10 is required for Barite used as a weighting medium for drilling mud.

In July 2012, a small work program was completed on the "B" zone, stripping an additional area approximately 20 meters northward from the 2011 work. Additional barite was broken out using an excavator and set aside for sampling and testing. Approximately 500 tonnes of barite is now piled at the side of the stripped area and is available for testing.

In October 2012, the barite was randomly sampled along the length of the mined material with 3 samples totalling approximately 25 kg. The weighted average specific gravity measured by ALS Canada Ltd. Laboratory was 3.83. Individual samples tested ranged from specific gravity of 2.67 to 4.09.

The property has at present three known zones with Barite mineralization, known as "A", "B" and "C" zones.

The Company's 2013 planned exploration program, subject to renewal of the exploration and test mining permit from the Mines Inspection Branch, is recommended to be approximately the same as the 2012 program, with a cost budget to be approximately the same as the 2012 program. The 2013 program will include additional stripping of the northern limits of the Barite lenses in the "B" zone, with the goal of producing a larger test sample. The Company may also include in the exploration program further review of the "A" zone.

This press release has been reviewed by Barry J. Price, M.Sc., P.Geo., an independent consultant based in Vancouver BC. Mr. Price reviewed the 2012 stripping and sampled the test-mined material.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Kevin Hanson, Director

Neither the 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.