Thorunn Howatt
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 30/01) - Hope Bay's third phase program will start in August despite low gold prices.

The Hope Bay joint venture, made up of Hope Bay Gold Corporation and Miramar Mining Corporation confirmed its plans to move ahead with drilling in the first week of August. It expects first results by that month's end.

"We're in advanced stage exploration," said Nicole Copley from Miramar's investor relations.

"When we first got the project we were looking at production at under $200 an ounce in about four years."

Miramar's Con and Giant mines in Yellowknife are producing gold at a cost of about $260 an ounce and receiving only about $268 - a profit of only $8 - at current gold prices said Miramar's Brian Labadie.

The joint venture purchased the property from BHP after BHP spent about $85 million in 1999.

The phase three expenditures increase the 2001 total approved for Hope Bay to $16.4 million compared to $12.9 million approved in the first two phases.

The program includes funding exploration activities for the preparation of new resource estimates and scoping studies targeted for the completion at the end of 2001.

The Hope Bay project has had up to 150 people working out of its two camps.

It is located in Northern Nunavut, 120 kilometres south of Cambridge Bay in Bathurst Inlet.