October 3, 2000:  Sudbury, Ontario - Houston Lake Mining Inc. ("Houston Lake") is pleased to update the exploration status on the Company’s 1632 hectare (4030 acre) Tib Lake Palladium Property which is located in the Lac Des Iles area of northwestern Ontario. Three drill holes have been now completed and a total of 162 drill core samples have been shipped. Houston Lake has earned a 100 percent interest in the property subject to a 2.5 percent Net Smelter Royalty with a buyback of 1 percent for $1,000,000. The Company’s switchboard has been flooded with telephone calls and Houston Lake apologizes for being unable to keep up with the volume.

The current program of seven diamond drill holes has been temporarily put on hold after the completion of three drill holes. Drill holes TL-00-15 and TL-00-16 targeted the vicinity of the Kuhner Palladium Occurrence where a 1995 drill hole, TL-95-09, intersected economically significant results at shallow depths. The third drill hole of the current program, TL-00-17 tested the broad zone of heterogenous gabbro/gabbro breccia rocks that extend 2.5 km. (1.5 miles) between the Kuhner Palladium Occurrence and the Jewelweed Palladium Occurrence. A total of 162 drill core samples have now been shipped under Rush status to Chemex Labs of Mississauga, Ontario. Houston Lake will take this opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the first three drill holes and to integrate recommendations from a recently received geophysical interpretation report and also to incorporate new information from the ongoing detailed geological mapping survey into the current drilling program. Drilling is expected to recommence later this week.

Houston Lake has engaged the services of Walter Peradery, Ph.D. to supervise the detailed mapping survey that began late last week. Dr. Peradery brings to the project extensive nickel-copper-PGM exploration expertise gained from his experience with Inco Ltd. The detailed mapping program will focus on the zone of heterogenous gabbro/gabbro breccia rocks which are located in the southern portions of the property between the Kuhner and Jewelweed occurrences. This zone coincides with a broad IP anomaly which is interpreted to be due to a mainly sulphide response.

The mapping program has already identified a new zone of gabbro breccia which extends for over 200 metres open along strike in both directions and that may extend to include the Road Palladium Occurrence on the Tib Lake property. This zone consists of norite fragments enclosed within a sulphide-bearing pyroxenite matrix. A similarly described sulphide-bearing gabbro breccia rock type is a favourable host for palladium mineralization at the Lac Des Iles mine of North American Palladium Ltd.

Houston Lake is actively exploring for rare metals, platinum group metals and gold in northwestern Ontario. Houston Lake Mining Inc. has a total of 12,762,432 common shares issued and outstanding inclusive of the final 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


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