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TORONTO, ONTARIO--(CCNMatthews - July 10, 2006) - High River Gold Mines Ltd. ("High River", the "Company")(TSX:HRG) is pleased to report that exploration is well advanced on the recently acquired world-class Prognoz silver project in Yakutia, Russia. The Prognoz Project is one of the few undeveloped, large, silver-rich projects in the world. High River's 85%-owned Russian subsidiary, OJSC Buryatzoloto ("Buryatzoloto"), recently acquired a 50% interest in and operatorship of the project (press released dated June 21, 2006).
While the acquisition was being reviewed by the Anti-Monopoly Authorities of the Russian Federation (approval received in June, 2006), Buryatzoloto chose to mobilize and transport the required exploration equipment to the project site utilizing winter road access. By the end of April, the on-site equipment included three company-owned diamond drill rigs, bulldozer and other all-terrain vehicles, drill tools, technological materials and diesel fuel. The drilling equipment consists of two Russian diamond drill rigs, capable of drilling NQ diameter holes to a depth of 400 metres, and one Diamec-262 rig. Boart Longyear drill tools are being used with all three rigs.
During the May-June period, Buryatzoloto established an exploration camp with digital satellite communication and installed a maintenance shop and a sample preparation facility. There are currently 33 people on-site. All permits and approvals from the State authorities are in place for the exploration programme including the land lease, environmental and other required approvals.
Drilling has already started using two of the rigs and the third rig is scheduled to begin drilling in October. A US $6 million "phase one" exploration programme has been established for 2006, which includes 13,000 metres of diamond drilling and 10,000 cubic metres of trenching. Results of the exploration programme will be disseminated periodically throughout 2006, as they become available. The objective of this initial programme is to confirm, upgrade and expand the historical Russian reserves based on extensive exploration by the Russian State exploration company during the period 1987-2000, which included 17,805 metres of diamond drilling and 17,756 metres of trenching.
Based on the results of the previous exploration and using the Russian Classification System for calculating mineral reserves and resources, the Prognoz deposit contains published:
Historical Prognoz Reserves and Resources
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Tonnes (t) Grade (g/t) Contained Silver (oz)
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Historical C2 Reserves 4,989,000 875.5 141,000,000
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Historical P1 Resource 2,346,399 708.3 53,000,000
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These estimates have been calculated according to standard Russian industry practice and do not conform to the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) standards and definitions for resource estimates, as set out in Canadian National Instrument 43-101 (NI43-101).
Independent Assessment of the Exploration Programme
High River and Buryatzoloto retained Micon International Limited ("Micon") to provide a review of the Prognoz silver project. The review was performed in support of an exploration programme with a budget of approximately US $15 million. The objective of the two-phase exploration programme is to increase the total resource to 275 - 325 million ounces of silver. Based on the extensive amount of work conducted on the project and the methods of estimating and classifying reserves and resources in Russia, Micon considers that the historical estimates remain relevant today and it is reasonable to rely on them as justification for the proposed programme of compilation work and further exploration.
The Micon NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Prognoz Deposit is now available on SEDAR.
Valery Dmitriev and Mounko Dampilov, Buryatzoloto Director General and Buryatzoloto Chief Geologist respectively, will be updating the investment community on the Prognoz Project in Toronto on Thursday, July 13th, 2006 from 12 noon to 2:00 p.m. The presentation will be available via webcast on the Company's website -- www.hrg.ca.
About High River
High River is currently constructing two open pit gold mines which are scheduled to commence production in the first half of 2007, the Taparko-Bouroum Project in Burkina Faso and the Berezitovy Project in Russia. Annual gold production from Taparko-Bouroum is planned at 100,000 ounces in year one increasing to over 140,000 ounces in the third year of operation, with annual production from Berezitovy averaging more than 100,000 ounces. Combined with gold production from High River's 85%-owned Russian subsidiary, OJSC Buryatzoloto, High River's attributable annualized gold production rate is expected to exceed 325,000 ounces by mid-2007, establishing the Company as a mid-tier gold producer.
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release 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 in the Annual Information Form.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
High River Gold Mines Ltd.
Don Whalen
Executive Chairman
(416) 947-1440
(416) 360-0010 (FAX)
or
High River Gold Mines Ltd.
David Mosher
President & CEO
(416) 947-1440
(416) 360-0010 (FAX)
info@hrg.ca
www.hrg.ca
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