HOUSTON LAKE MINING INC.

(HLM-TSX.V)

PRESS RELEASE

Agnico-Eagle returns Tib Lake PGM Project to Houston Lake

February 24, 2003:  Sudbury, Ontario - Houston Lake Mining Inc. (TSX.V:HLM, "Houston Lake") announces that Agnico-Eagle Mines Limited (TSE:AGE,AEM-NYSE, "Agnico-Eagle") will not continue on its second year of a four year option to earn a 50 percent interest in the 1632 hectare (4030 acre) Tib Lake property which is located in the Thunder Bay Mining District of northwestern Ontario. HLM management would like to take this opportunity to thank Agnico-Eagle for their past participation in the project.

The Tib Lake property is located in the Lac Des Iles area just 15 km. (9 miles) from the Lac Des Iles mine of North American Palladium Ltd. ("PDL"). At December 31, 2001, the total proven and probable reserves, and measured and indicated resources at the Lac Des Iles mine had increased to 159 million tonnes averaging 1.55 grams of palladium per tonne containing 8.0 million ounces of palladium. Recent exploration by PDL has identified a potential underground resource at the LDI mine. The Tib Lake gabbro, with a surface exposure of some 25 square km. (10 square miles), is the second largest intrusion of the Lac Des Iles suite of rocks and, as such, remains a prime target for palladium-platinum-gold (PGE) exploration.

A total of $518,000 in exploration was spent by Agnico-Eagle on the project. The recent work adds more than ten full years of assessment work on the project which helps to sustain Houston Lake’s 100 percent ownership in the large Tib Lake property for the foreseeable future. While the recent drilling was not fully successful in extending the mineralization along strike at the Kuhner Zone, HLM management is pleased with the identification of a new area of interest south of the Kuhner and with the higher platinum content of the mineralization encountered in the Agnico-Eagle drilling. The Kuhner Zone remains open to depth below previous drill intersections of 18.47 metres (60.6 feet) of core length grading 1.68 g/t PGE’s at an average depth of 35 metres (100 feet) and 22 metres (72.2 feet) of core length grading 1.456 g/t PGE’s at an average depth of 65 metres (213.2 feet). The Kuhner Zone is situated proximal to the East Dog River Fault which is interpreted magnetically to be a series of block faults rather than one major break. The recently completed drill program will be evaluated in light of the possible effects of faulting on the strike extensions of the Kuhner Zone.

Houston Lake will therefore reintroduce Dr. Walter Peredery to the project to review data from previous exploration and to make recommendations for future exploration and drilling at Tib Lake. Dr. Peredery is eminently qualified to carry out such work through his extensive experience in nickel-copper-PGE mineralization with Inco Ltd. in the Sudbury area (Ontario) and Thompson Belt (Manitoba) and is well acquainted with Russian and South African PGE deposits and the Lac Des Iles area. HLM management remains confident in and committed to the Tib Lake PGM project.

Corporate Update

Houston Lake held its Annual Shareholders Meeting on February 18, 2003. The Corporation received a unanimous endorsement of the current Board of Directors, Auditors and a Rolling Stock Option Plan.

Line-cutting and geophysical crews are currently being mobilized to the Company’s 604 hectare (1491 acre) West Cedartree Gold Project located near Kenora, Ontario. Approximately 70 line-km. (42 miles) of grid will be laid out to cover gold zones verified in a stripping and channel sampling program last Summer and possible extensions of these zones into the Southern portions of the project area. The West Cedartree Project adjoins Metalore Resources Limited’s (MET:TSE) ground. Metalore’s Third Quarter Interim Report states that their "foremost priority for 2003 will be to further explore and possibly delineate initial tonnages and grade" on their East Cedartree Gold Project.

Table 1. New Shear Zone Channel Sampling Results from West Cedartree Project

Houston Lake is actively exploring for Gold, Rare Metals, and Platinum Group Metals with a strategic focus on northwestern Ontario. Houston Lake Mining Inc. has a total of 15,803,195 common shares issued and outstanding. The common shares of Houston Lake Mining Inc. trade through the facilities of the TSX 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.

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