October 10, 2000:   Sudbury, Ontario - Houston Lake Mining Inc. ("Houston Lake") is pleased to report on drilling results from the Company’s 1632 hectare (4030 acre) Tib Lake Palladium Property which is located in the Lac Des Iles area of northwestern Ontario. The property is located just 9 miles northwest of the Lac Des Iles Mine of North American Palladium Ltd. ("NAPL") where a US$126 million expansion of the mine is underway. Three drill holes of the seven drill hole diamond drilling program have been now completed. Drill hole TL-00-16 intersected the Kuhner Zone and encountered 22 metres (72.2 feet) of core length grading 1.453 g/t PGE’s (0.042 oz/t PGE’s), 0.17% nickel and 0.15% copper. This intercept extends the PGE mineralization at the Kuhner Occurrence an additional 35 metres (113 feet) from a depth of 30 metres (100 feet) to a depth of 65 metres (213 feet). Drilling has recommenced as of Friday, October 6, 2000 on the remaining four drill holes of the exploration program. 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 diamond drilling program is composed of seven diamond drill holes totaling in excess of 1000 metres (3,280 feet). The program has a two-fold purpose: to verify palladium-platinum-gold mineralization in the vicinity of the Kuhner Occurrence (TL-00-15 and TL-00-16) while the other 5 drill holes test a variety of geological/geophysical environments in a broad area of sulphidized heterogenous gabbro/gabbro breccia that extend 2.5 km (1.5 miles) westward from near the Kuhner Occurrence to the Jewelweed Occurrence. A total of 505 metres (1656 feet) of the program has now been completed in the three drill holes. The program has recommenced last Friday after a one week hiatus which allowed modification of the drilling program with information from a geophysical reinterpretation (IP, magnetics, and VLF-EM) of existing data and the ongoing detailed geological mapping program. Drill hole TL-00-18 was started on Friday and is at 185 metres (606.8 feet) as of last night.

Drill hole TL-00-16 targeted the downward extension of the Kuhner Palladium Occurrence at Line 66+00E, 12+00N where surface sampling encountered several 1 metre channel samples of over 2 g/t palladium. A 1995 drill hole, TL-95-09, intersected economically significant results of intersected a core length of 18.47 metres of 1.68 g/t PGE’s (palladium, platinum, and gold) at a depth of 30.5 metres (60.6 ft. of 0.05 oz/t PGE’s) under the Kuhner Occurrence. Drill hole TL-98-14 encountered 10.47 metres grading 0.319 g/t PGE’s (34.3 ft. of 0.01 oz/t PGE’s) in the vicinity of the intercept of TL-95-09.

Drill hole TL-00-16 intersected the Kuhner Zone at an average depth of 65 metres (213 feet) and encountered 22 metres (72.2 feet) of core length grading 1.453 g/t PGE’s (0.042 oz/t PGE’s), 0.17% nickel and 0.15% copper in a vertically dipping and sulphidized gabbronorite host. The average ratio of palladium to platinum to gold is 6.4:2.4:1.2. The Kuhner Zone appears to be widening with depth and is open along strike. Results compare favourably to the Roby Zone open pit of NAPL’s Lac Des Iles Mine where reserves are 74.2 million tonnes grading 1.64 grams palladium, 0.18 grams platinum and 0.14 grams gold per tonne plus 0.07% copper and 0.06% nickel, based on a cutoff grade of 0.92 grams palladium-equivalent.

Drill hole TL-00-15 was drilled just to the north of the Kuhner Occurrence to test a new geophysical target and to add stratigraphic information. TL-00-15 intersected 11.0 metres grading 0.470 g/t PGE’s (36.1 feet of 0.01 oz/t PGE’s) hosted in a sulphidized gabbronorite and gabbro host. The third drill hole, 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 and did not return significant assays. All PGE assays utilized the fire assay method while nickel, copper and cobalt were analyzed with the ICP method by Chemex Labs of Mississauga, Ontario. The project is under the supervision of independent consulting geologist, Ken Germundsen, Ph.D. Additional assays from drilling, detailed mapping and prospecting are expected over the next several weeks.

Houston Lake is actively exploring for rare metals, platinum group metals and gold in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Houston Lake Mining Inc. has a total of 12,797,432 common shares issued and outstanding. 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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