American Sands Energy Corp. Retains Merriman Capit

SALT LAKE CITY, July 11, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- American Sands Energy Corp. (OTCBB: AMSE ) ("AMSE" or the "Company"), an oil sands exploration and development company operating in Utah, announced today it has retained a leading boutique investment bank as its capital markets advisor.

"We are pleased that Merriman Capital, Inc. will be acting as our dedicated capital markets advisor," said William Gibbs, CEO of the Company. "We know the firm well, and management and key shareholders know the personal commitment its CEO Jon Merriman and his entire team make to their clients. As our pace of business development is accelerating, we will benefit from Merriman's track record of advising emerging growth public companies from development stage to operations. This engagement is one element in our expanded corporate finance strategy that will include enhanced corporate and shareholder communications and additions to our leadership team focused on accessing public and private capital to implement our business plan."

In particular, Merriman Capital will review the Company's current financing arrangements, analyze the Company's operating projections and market conditions, and provide the Company management with recommendations regarding the proper positioning of the Company with potential investors and methods of addressing the Company's financing needs.

About American Sands Energy Corp.

American Sands Energy Corporation is a development stage Delaware company with primary operations in Utah. The Company has acquired rights to oil sand ore covering approximately 1,800 acres of prime oil sand deposits in the Sunnyside area of Utah. The Company has an extraction and recovery system using a licensed proprietary solvent that separates oil and other hydrocarbons from sand, dirt and other substances without creating tailing ponds and other environmental hazards. For more information, visit www.americansandsenergy.com .

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding AMSE's future plans and expected performance based on assumptions the Company believes to be reasonable. A number of risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements, including, without limitation, the success rate of business development efforts, exploration efforts and the timeliness of development activities, the ability to place the project into full production; the ability to secure all necessary mining permits in a timely manner, fluctuations in energy prices, confirmation of estimated resources, and other risk factors described from time to time in the Company's reports filed with the SEC. In addition, the Company operates in an industry sector where securities values are highly volatile and may be influenced by economic and other factors beyond the Company's control. American Sands Energy Corp. undertakes no obligation to publicly update these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Phil Allen 303.898.0625