NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY CCNMatthews

FOR:  HIGH RIVER GOLD MINES LTD.

TSX SYMBOL:  HRG

JULY 19, 2004 - 11:18 ET

High River Gold Releases Six-Month Production Results

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews Jul 19, 2004) - (TSX:HRG) - 

BURYATZOLOTO DECLARES INITIAL DIVIDEND 

High River Gold Mines Ltd. ("High River") today reported its 
attributable gold production for the first six months of 2004 and 
provided an update on mine and project activities. The Company's 
gold production is unhedged. 

In addition, High River is pleased to report that its Russian 
subsidiary, OJSC Buryatzoloto, has initiated a dividend 
programme, with the first payment to be made by August 31, 2004. 

High River continues to benefit from its 54.1% equity interest in 
Buryatzoloto, which owns and operates two underground gold mines, 
Zun-Holba and Irokinda, located in the Republic of Buryatia in 
southern Siberia, Russia. High River also has a 50% joint venture 
interest in the New Britannia Mine, located in Snow Lake 
Manitoba, where Kinross Gold Corporation is the mine operator. 

High River also has two development projects, the Taparko Gold 
Project in Burkina Faso, West Africa and the Berezitovy Gold 
Project in the Amur Oblast in southern Siberia, Russia. Both of 
these projects will be open pit mines with conventional mills and 
are scheduled to start production during the fourth quarter of 
next year.  

High River continues to pursue new, advanced projects and growth 
opportunities in both Russia and West Africa. 

CONSOLIDATED PRODUCTION RESULTS 

High River's attributable gold production for the six month 
period ending June 30, 2004 declined by 10% to 54,072 ounces 
compared to 59,978 ounces in the 2003 period. The decreased 
production resulted from lower production at the New Britannia 
Mine which is nearing the end of its mine life. Total cash cost 
for the period is estimated to be approximately US $265 per ounce 
(cash operating cost of US $246 per ounce) compared to US $222 
per ounce (cash operating cost of US $207 per ounce) in 2003. 


/T/

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Production Highlights        Buryatzoloto Mines    New Britannia Mine
                           ------------------------------------------
(six months ended June 30)     2004          2003      2004      2003
                           ------------------------------------------
Gold Production (oz) (100%)  73,011        73,529    29,146    40,398
High River Share (oz)        39,499        39,779    14,573    20,199
Total Cash Cost (US $/oz)      $236 (est)    $182      $345      $301
Tonnes Milled               250,490       242,305   273,095   336,044
Head Grade (g/t)               9.52         10.01      3.57      3.95
Recovery (%)                   94.2          93.8      93.0      94.7
Realized Gold Price (US $/oz)  $400          $347      $402      $338
---------------------------------------------------------------------

/T/

Buryatzoloto Operating Results 

Buryatzoloto continues to achieve its production objectives and 
is one of Russia's leading gold producers. For the first six 
months of 2004, Buryatzoloto produced 73,011 ounces of gold 
(100%) at an estimated total cash cost of approximately US $236 
per ounce and remains on plan to achieve its full year objective 
to exceed 150,000 ounces. The increased total cash cost reflects 
substantial advanced mine development and preparatory work 
charged to operating expense in the first six months at the 
Zun-Holba Mine, combined with the transition to shaft mining 
using a cut-and-fill method, as well as a stronger Russian 
rouble. Buryatzoloto is projecting the per ounce total cash cost 
to average in the range of US $210 to US $220 for the year, which 
is in line with the budget forecast. Buryatzoloto is essentially 
unhedged and realized an average price of US $400 per ounce for 
gold sales during the period. 

New Britannia Operating Results 

At New Britannia, gold production for the six month period was 
29,146 ounces (100%) at a total cash cost of US $345 per ounce. 
The mine continued to experience production shortfalls, both in 
tonnage and grade. During the second quarter, High River and 
Kinross Gold Corporation (the mine operator) announced that they 
had suspended underground development at the mine and that the 
mine would continue to produce until approximately the end of the 
third quarter using the developed ore. Recent ore definition has 
indicated that the northwest trending portion of the Lower Dick 
Zone may extend further than previously believed. This 
possibility is currently being evaluated. New Britannia realized 
an average price of US $402 per ounce for gold sales during the 
period. 

BURYATZOLOTO DIVIDENDS 

At the Buryatzoloto Annual Meeting, held on June 30, 2004, 
shareholders approved the company's proposal to initiate a 
dividend programme for Common shares and Class "A" Preferred 
Convertible shares. A cash dividend in the amount of 21 roubles, 
87 kopecs was declared for each Class "A" share and 2 roubles, 60 
kopecs for each Common share to holders on record as of May 17, 
2004. On that date, there were 413,010 Class "A" shares and 
6,827,270  

Common shares outstanding representing a total dividend payment 
of approximately US $920,000 using a Rouble:US $ exchange rate of 
29.1 : 1. The value of High River's share of the dividend would 
be approximately US $330,000. 

High River views the initiation of dividends by Buryatzoloto as 
being significant as it demonstrates that profits of successful 
Russian companies can flow to foreign investors, subject to a 
withholding tax of up to 15%. 

DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS UPDATE 

Taparko Gold Project (Burkina Faso, West Africa) 

On July 7, 2004 High River announced that the "exploitation 
permit" for the Taparko Gold Project had been granted by the 
Government of Burkina Faso. A recently completed bankable 
feasibility study evaluated the construction of a mill and 
infrastructure on High River's Taparko property to process ore 
from three Taparko pits and three pits on the nearby, recently 
acquired Bouroum property. Annual gold production is expected to 
average approximately 91,000 ounces over a seven-year period, but 
should exceed 100,000 ounces in each of the first three years. 

The Company believes there is excellent potential to expand both 
the annual production rate as well as mine life and is designing 
the plant for expansion. Construction is to begin in the third 
quarter of 2004 with commercial production scheduled for the 
fourth quarter of 2005. High River has hired the Project Manager 
for Taparko and is close to finalizing bank financing for the 
project. 

Berezitovy Gold Project (Amur Oblast, Russia) 

In June, High River released details of a bankable feasibility 
study on the Berezitovy Gold Project. Based on CIM-classified 
reserves of 1.04 million ounces and using a US $350 per ounce 
gold price, the Berezitovy CIP plant would process approximately 
1.5 million tonnes of ore per year from a single pit producing 
approximately 100,000 ounces of gold per year for a nine-year 
period. Construction has started on a power line to connect 
Berezitovy to the low-cost regional power grid. Discussions with 
banks have recently commenced with respect to the debt portion of 
the project financing. 

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS 

This report contains forward-looking statements based on current 
expectations. These forward-looking statements entail various 
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ 
materially from those reflected. Risk and uncertainties about the 
Company's business are more fully discussed in the Management's 
Discussion and Analysis published in the Company's Annual Report 
and Annual Information Form. 

-30-

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