NEWS RELEASE TRANSMITTED BY CCNMatthews

FOR:  AXMIN INC.

CDNX SYMBOL:  AXM

AND HIGH RIVER GOLD MINES LTD.

TSE SYMBOL:  HRG

MAY 29, 2002 - 08:30 EDT

AXMIN Inc.: Joint Development Study For Gold Mining In
Burkina Faso, West Africa

TORONTO, ONTARIO--AXMIN Inc. ("AXMIN") (AXM-TSX Venture) and High 
River Gold Mines Ltd. ("High River") (HRG-TSX) are pleased to 
announce the signing of a Heads of Agreement, which enables a 
pre-feasibility study to be conducted on the joint development of 
a gold mining operation in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The 
operation could have potential production levels of more than 
100,000 ounces per annum from the combination of gold resources on
the Bouroum property of AXMIN with those on the Taparko property 
of High River. The two properties are about 35 kilometres apart 
and are located approximately 165 and 200 kilometres northeast of 
Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. 

The Heads of Agreement allows for the exchange of data and sharing
of costs of the pre-feasibility study, which will be managed 
jointly by AXMIN and High River and will be completed by 
independent mining consultants acceptable to both parties. The 
ownership structure of the joint mining project is yet to be 
determined and will take into account the contributions from each 
property. On receiving a positive pre-feasibility study, both 
companies envision being able to fast track the combined project 
towards a bankable feasibility study and a development decision. 

At Taparko, High River has defined an unclassified gold resource 
of 1.04 million ounces, amenable to low-cost open-pit mining, as 
calculated by Michael J. Michaud of Steffen, Robertson Kirsten 
(Canada) Inc. using a cut-off grade of 1.0 gram of gold per tonne.
The resource consists of approximately 12.6 million tonnes grading
2.6 grams of gold per tonne and is contained in four zones within 
a 4.4 kilometre long section of the Taparko Shear Zone. 

AXMIN's estimate of gold resource at Bouroum, based on the 
independent review by Dr Mike Armitage of SRK Consulting (United 
Kingdom) is 2.3 million tonnes grading 3.1 grams of gold per tonne
(230,000 ounces) in the indicated category and 2.6 million tonnes 
grading 2.8 grams of gold per tonne (235,000 ounces) in the 
inferred category, both calculated at a 1 gram of gold per tonne 
cut off grade. 

Both companies have agreed to begin reverse circulation and core 
drilling programs, at their own expense. The objective of AXMIN's 
program is to confirm and better define the resource, as well as 
to explore additional sites of known gold mineralization on the 
Bouroum property while High River's program is aimed at expanding 
the established resource base at Taparko. 

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