HOUSTON LAKE MINING INC.
PRESS RELEASE
Houston Lake Options Second Rare Metals Property
April 21, 1999: Calgary, Alberta - Houston Lake Mining Inc. ("Houston Lake") is pleased to announce that the Company has signed a 100 percent option agreement with an arms length private individual on the 1024 hectare (2528 acre) Favourable Lake Rare Metals Property. Houston Lake is required to issue 200,000 common shares, and expend $76,800 over 3 years to earn a 100 percent interest in the Favourable Lake Property. The Option Agreement is subject to a 2.5 percent N.S.R. and Alberta Stock Exchange approval.
The Favourable Lake Rare Metals Property is located approximately 175 kilometres north of Red Lake, Ontario and 50 kilometres from Houston Lake’s Pakeagama Lake Rare Metals Property. The property covers a portion of the Severn River pluton, a peraluminous fertile granite similar to that noted at Houston Lake’s Pakeagama Lake Rare Metals Property. The property was selected on the basis of a number of favourable features for concentrations of rare metals, first identified by Dr. Denver Stone of the Ontario Geological Survey ("OGS") in a regional reconnaissance mapping program in 1990. The property is considered to be highly prospective because:
The pluton contains muscovite, indicating potential for evolved pegmatite mineralization.
Several tourmaline occurrences are noted on the property. Tourmaline contains boron which is important in the complexing and transport of rare metals such as lithium, tantalum, cesium and rubidium.
Electron microprobe analysis of crystals from the Severn River pluton was conducted by Dr. A. G. Tindle of Open University, United Kingdom. Dr. Tindle reports the presence ferrotantalite rims surrounding ferrocolumbite cores which indicates significant fractionation.
The strong and growing demand for rare metals makes the Favourable Lake Property an attractive exploration target. Tantalum is used in electrical capacitors, tantalum-carbide tools, chemical alloys and for prosthetic devices and surgical implants in the medical industry. Cesium is used in calibrated drill muds, power generation, motors, opto-electronics and as a chemical catalyst in DNA separation. Rubidium and Lithium are used primarily by the ceramics and glassware industries.
The common shares of Houston Lake Mining Inc. trade through the facilities of the Alberta Stock Exchange under the symbol HLM. Houston Lake has a total of 11,176,600 common shares issued and outstanding.
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For more information, please contact:
E. Grayme Anthony
Tel: (705) 897-7622
Fax: (705) 897-7618
e-mail: houston@vianet.on.ca
The Alberta Stock Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.