August 16, 2000: Sudbury, Ontario - Houston Lake Mining Inc. ("Houston Lake") is pleased to report that the Company has received $110,000 of the $150,000 proposed financing announced on July 20, 2000. The funds are slated for drilling on the Company’s 100 percent owned, 1632 hectare (4030 acre) Tib Lake Palladium Property which is located in the Lac Des Iles area of northwestern Ontario. The property interest is subject to a 2.5 percent Net Smelter Royalty with a buyback of 1 percent for $1,000,000. Houston Lake believes that it now has enough funds to complete the proposed 1,000 metre (3260 foot) diamond drilling program as current drilling prices are lower than expected. The Company will therefore expedite the filing of the first tranche of the $150,000 non-brokered private placement contingent upon regulatory approval.

The Company will issue 275,000 Units priced at $0.40 in this first closing. Each Unit consists of one Flow-through Common Share and one-half Purchase Warrant. One full warrant can be exercised at $0.50 for a period of eight months. The private placement has a four month hold period subject to Alberta and Ontario resale restrictions of twelve months and eighteen months respectively.

Houston Lake is an early entrant into the palladium exploration sector and commenced the evaluation of palladium properties in 1997. Palladium was below $200/oz at the time and there were few competitors vying for palladium properties. Palladium demand has outstripped supply for the past several years, fueled mainly by demand for catalytic converters. Catalytic converters are essential in controlling automotive emissions. Palladium has maintained a price in excess of $(US)700/oz. over the past month.

The Company chose the Tib Lake Palladium Property based on solid comparisons drawn by the government geologists of the Ontario Geological Survey of the geological setting, host rocks, sulphide mineralization, ore-forming processes, large intrusion size and high palladium background values of the Tib Lake gabbro relative to that of the Roby deposit of the nearby Lac Des Iles palladium mine of North American Palladium Limited ("NAPL"). Backed by over 100 years of mining industry experience, Houston Lake’s management believes that large intrusion size and high background PGE values are prerequisites for the potential of discovering a significant PGE deposit. The Tib Lake gabbro is exposed over a 25 sq. km. (9 sq. mile) area and is the second largest mafic intrusion after NAPL’s Lac Des Iles intrusion in the Lac Des Iles area. The Tib Lake property encompasses the majority of the prospective Lower and Border Zones and contains all published palladium occurrences of the Tib Lake gabbro. The property is now surrounded on all sides by more recent staking by other companies including NAPL.

Houston Lake is the first company to conduct systematic exploration over the Tib Lake gabbro. The Company has expended over $300,000 over the past two years in a series of exploration programs that were conducted by independent geological consultants. Previous work encompasses 70 km. (44 miles) of line-cutting and magnetic surveys, 40 km. (25 miles) of IP (Induced Ionization) surveys, geological mapping, trenching and stripping, re-logging of old drill core, drilling of a confirmation hole, and compilation leading to the recommendations which include the current drill program. Highlights of the previous exploration include: the 1995 drill intercept of 18.47 metres grading 1.68 g/t PGE’s (palladium + platinum + gold) at a depth of 30 metres (60.6 feet grading 0.05 oz/t PGE’s at a 100 foot depth) in drill hole TL-95-09, the recent identification of five major IP anomalies and the coincidence of a 4.5 km (2.7 miles) long heterogenous gabbro/gabbro breccia rock unit with palladium occurrences and with the 2.5 km (1.5 mile) long IP Anomaly 1 in the Border Zone of the Tib Lake Gabbro.

The exploration program will consist of a 1000 metre (3260 foot) diamond drilling program and mainly target IP Anomaly 1 in the vicinity of and below the Kuhner Occurrence, the site of the 1995 drill hole, TL-95-09. The Company has engaged an independent consulting geologist to finalize drill targets, tender drilling contracts and oversee the upcoming program. The program is expected to begin in the next several weeks as soon as drill crews can be mobilized.

Houston Lake is actively exploring for rare metals, platinum group metals and gold in northwestern Ontario. Houston Lake Mining Inc. has a total of 12,612,432 common shares issued and outstanding inclusive of the first closing. The common shares of Houston Lake Mining Inc. trade through the facilities of the Canadian Venture Exchange under the symbol HLM. For further information on all of the Company’s projects, we invite you to visit us at www.houstonlakemining.com.

For more information, please contact:

E. Grayme Anthony B.Sc., P. Geo., F.G.A.C., M.B.A.

Tel: (705) 897-7622

Fax: (705) 897-7618

e-mail: houston@vianet.on.ca

Web Site: www.houstonlakemining.com

The Canadian Venture Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.