January 18, 2000: Sudbury, Ontario - Houston Lake Mining Inc. ("Houston Lake") is pleased to report it has received additional assay results from its Pakeagama Lake Rare Metals Property, located approximately 170 km north of Red Lake, Ontario.

On November 29, 1999, the Company reported on assay results from 24 samples using the ICP Method for tantalum, rubidium, cesium, beryllium and tin. The samples were reanalyzed by Chemex Labs of Mississauga for niobium, lithium, thallium, germanium and antimony. These results are now included in this report as restated in the table below.

The twenty-four samples returned an average value of 280 g/t tantalum oxide, 0.46 percent rubidium oxide, 817 g/t cesium oxide, 366 g/t beryllium oxide, 124 g/t tin, 116.0 g/t niobium oxide, 1.42 percent lithium oxide, 4.3 g/t thallium, 4.5 g/t germanium, and 6.9 g/t antimony.

The Pakeagama Lake Rare Metals Pegmatite has been exposed for a minimum strike length of 260 metres (which is open along strike to the northwest and southeast, and with strong indications that the southeastern extension continues for an additional 300m. to the shores of Pakeagama Lake) and a width of 30 to 70 metres. Houston Lake President, Grayme Anthony, remarked: " The Pakeagama Lake Pegmatite shares many of the key characteristics of the only significant producing rare metals mine in North America, the Tanco Mine in Manitoba. These giant pegmatites are quite rare and extremely interesting from a geological perspective. In the past few years, pegmatites with economic concentrations of rare metals have also become very valuable, as new applications are being found for these metals. The demand for rare metals such as tantalum is generating interest from around the world. Multi-national end-users, such as Sony and Samsung, for example, have recently been reported to be interested in direct investments in tantalum producers in order to secure supply."

Company Chairman Rick Walker, went on to state that: "These results are extremely encouraging. The dimensions of the pegmatite with its large surface exposure make it amenable to low cost open pit mining methods; the high value of the rare metals content, as well as characteristics such as high degree of fractionation and key chemical ratios bring it in line with the Tanco model, and make the Pakeagama Lake Pegmatite a very exciting prospect. This type of target has the added value of being environmentally benign because it contains no toxic, radioactive or acid generating materials, which is important from both a risk and a cost perspective."

Tantalum is reported to sell for approximately US$34.00 per pound and is used in a number of applications, including capacitors which are used extensively in the electronics industry for cell phones, computers, avionics, automotive and in communications technology. The world demand for tantalum has grown at ten percent per year since 1992 to approximately 1800 tonnes per year. No significant North American or European suppliers are currently producing tantalum.

A new application for cesium has recently been tested in the form of cesium formate which is used as a drilling and completion fluid in deep sea oil and gas drilling. Cesium formate’s well bore performance and health, safety and environmental performance are stated as being superior to traditional brines and may become a standard in an industry striving to use "best practice technologies". The specialty fluid has been successfully used by Shell UK Exploration and Production, Total Oil Marine and Elf Exploration UK in the North Sea. Cesium shipments have been reported to bring as high as US$1000/tonne for 24 percent cesium oxide.

Lithium from silicate sources is used primarily in the specialty glass industry and is reported to sell for US $340/ton for spodumene concentrate (7.5 percent lithium oxide, 1998). Rubidium is used primarily in ceramics applications for spark plugs and insulators. Shipments of rubidium concentrate reached 60,000 tonnes in 1998 with prices of US$800/tonne for lepidolite and US$120/tonne for rubidium feldspar.

Germanium is used in the manufacture of electronic and optical devices. Approximately 40% of the market is devoted to fiber optics end uses. Prices are quoted as US$1700/kg (1998) with annual consumption estimated at 30,000 Kg per year and growing. Thallium has been recently identified as being present in the pegmatite. New applications in semiconductor and transmission equipment and radiation detection devices has seen thallium’s price more than double to US$580 per pound in 1998.

Exploration work will now focus on delineation of the strike and depth extent of the pegmatite through geological mapping and geophysics, trenching and stripping, detailed mapping and sampling of exposed pegmatite and aplites, leading up to a comprehensive drill program.

Tib Lake Palladium Property

The Tib Lake Palladium Property is located 6 miles northwest of the Lac Des Iles Mine of North American Palladium Ltd., where a recently announced positive feasibility study recommended a US$126 million expansion of the mine. Palladium is currently selling for approximately US$440 per ounce, and is used primarily in catalytic converters for the automotive industry.

Geological compilation of previous work involving magnetic and VLF-EM geophysics, property mapping, trenching and stripping, and re-logging of old drill core has been completed on the Tib Lake Property. Exploration will focus on a sulfide-bearing heterogeneous gabbro/gabbro breccia which is the host rock type to two of the three palladium occurrences thus far discovered on the property:

The Kuhner Occurrence is the site where a 1995 drill hole encountered an estimated true width of 13.6 metres of 1.68 g/t PGE’s (palladium, platinum, and gold) including 5.28 metres of 2.76 g/t PGE’s at a depth of 30.5 metres.

The Jewelweed Occurrence is located approximately 2.5 km. northwest of the Kuhner Occurrence and returned 1.2 g/t PGE’s in a government sample.

The Road Occurrence is a poorly exposed outcrop containing anomalous PGE values in a net-textured sulfide-bearing gabbronorite breccia and is located 800 m. east of the Jewelweed Occurrence.

Expressions of interest from a number of parties have recently been received by the Company and consideration is being given to bringing in a joint venture partner or, alternatively, seeking an equity financing in order to advance the exploration programs on the Pakeagama Lake and Tib Lake Projects.

Houston Lake is actively exploring for rare metals, platinum group metals and gold in northwestern Ontario. The common shares of Houston Lake Mining Inc. trade through the facilities of the Canadian Venture Exchange under the symbol HLM. Houston Lake Mining Inc. has a total of 11,363,266 common shares issued and outstanding. 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

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.