Baker Lake (Apr 14/03) - Cumberland Resources reports that drilling is now underway as part of its $10.5 million work program for 2003.

The Vancouver company owns 100 per cent of the Meadowbank gold project, located 70 kilometres north of Baker Lake.

A total of four drill rigs are scheduled to complete Phase 1 of the program, consisting of about 12,000 metres of drilling.

Three rigs will focus on deposit definition and further exploration in the vicinity of the six known gold deposits at Meadowbank.

The fourth rig will concentrate on an overburden drilling program to detect further exploration targets to the northeast of the Vault deposit.

Resource evaluations incorporating the 2002 drill programs at the Vault deposit and the new PDF deposit have now been completed.

The company reports 531,008 ounces of gold measured and indicated in the Vault deposit, and 620,062 ounces inferred.

"Vault is an integral part of the early stage mine plan for Meadowbank," said Cumberland president Kerry Curtis in a prepared release.

"We are very pleased to see conversion of approximately 50 per cent of the resource into the combined measured and indicated category and a 20 per cent increase in net ounces.

"We are well underway towards achieving the 10-year mine life target for the mine."

The PDF deposit is at the early stages of exploration and remains open for expansion. The inferred resource to date is 57,511 ounces of gold, Cumberland reports.

Further resource estimation of the Connector and North Portage deposit are underway.

A preliminary assessment was completed in early 2002.

It indicated the Meadowbank project could support a production rate of about 250,000 ounces a year at an estimated cash cost of $168 (US) per ounce over an eight year mine life.

About 85 per cent of the production would be from open pit mining.