HOUSTON LAKE MINING INC.

(HLM-TSX.V)

 

PRESS RELEASE

 

Houston Lake Updates Drilling on West Cedartree Gold Project

 

December 10, 2003: Sudbury, Ontario - Houston Lake Mining Inc. (TSX.V:HLM, "Houston Lake") is pleased to provide an update on the 1000m (3280 ft.) diamond drill program that commenced on November 17, 2003. The program is comprised of approximately 20 drill holes which target the recently discovered Angel Hill Gold Zone ("AHGZ"). The AHGZ is one of several gold zones identified thus far on the Company’s 100 percent-owned West Cedartree Gold Project which is located near Sioux Narrows, Ontario. Houston Lake reports that the first seven drill holes have all successfully intersected the AHGZ. The AHGZ has an average estimated true width of 9.7m (31.82 feet). The drill core is in the process of being logged and split. Samples from the first seven drill holes will be shipped by next week with results anticipated by early January.

Houston Lake has completed all of the expenditures and issuances required to earn a 100 percent interest in the McLennan Gold Property, a key property in the West Cedartree Gold Project. The Company now owns a 100 percent interest in a total of 603.6 hectares (1490.9 acres) spanning four properties in the West Cedartree Lake area subject to Net Smelter Royalties ranging from 0 to 2.5 percent. An all weather gravel road provides direct access to both the historic McLennan Gold and newly discovered Angel Hill Gold Zones on the project. Since Houston Lake finished building its land position at West Cedartree in the Fall of 2002, the Cedartree Lake area has seen one of the highest concentrations of staking activity in all of Ontario.

The steeply dipping AHGZ extends in outcrop for a strike length of 225m (738 ft.), and the zone remains open along strike to the south. A magnetic high is traceable southward from the vicinity of the exposed AHGZ to a number of gold-in-soil anomalies and passes near a gold showing in the southern portions of the property for a potential strike length of 2.1 km (6888 ft.). The Company has recently completed an extensive mechanized stripping, systematic channel sampling and detailed mapping program over a 130m (426 ft.) segment of the AHGZ. The AHGZ was directly tested by 77 of the systematic channel samples which ranged from trace to 71.30 g/t Au (2.080 oz/t) and had a weighted average of 4.04 g/t Au (0.118 oz/t). Surface measurements indicate that the AHGZ dips about 85 degrees to the east.

The 1000m. (3280 ft.) drill program builds upon the detailed surface program and is comprised of about 20 drill holes. The aim of the drill program is to provide the basis for a resource estimate to a depth of 40m (130 feet) below the stripped area. The first seven drill holes evaluate the AHGZ at 20m (65.6 foot) intervals over a strike length of 120m (393.6 feet) and intercept the zone at depths of approximately 20 to 30m (65.6 to 98.4 feet). The first seven drill holes of the program have all encountered the highly carbonatized, fuchsitic and variably silicified rocks characteristic of the AHGZ. Drilling indicates that the gold zone has an estimated true width that varies from 4.25 to 16.09m (13.94 to 52.78 feet) and averages 9.7m (31.82 feet). Results of the first seven drill holes are anticipated to be announced in early January.

The remaining drill holes of the program are planned to further appraise the AHGZ over the 120m stripped area in two sets comprised of seven drill holes in each set. Each set will evaluate the AHGZ at a different depth. Independent consulting geologist, Dean Cutting, P. Geo. is the Qualified Person responsible for the project.

Houston Lake is actively exploring for Gold, Platinum Group Metals and Rare Metals with a strategic focus on northwestern Ontario. The Company has a total of 16,547,195 common shares issued and outstanding inclusive of the financing. The common shares of Houston Lake Mining Inc. trade through the facilities of the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol HLM. For further information, 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
email: houston@vianet.on.ca
Web Site: www.houstonlakemining.com

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


Back to Index