Dubenski Gold Property

FSC / Press Release

NI 43-101 Mineral Resource Estimate Received for Houston Lake Mining's Dubenski Gold Property

Increase in Width and Gold Grade Positively Impact Shaft Zone Resource

WGM Recommends $1,268,300 Work Plan for Property

Sudbury, Ontario CANADA, January 16, 2009 /FSC/ - Houston Lake Mining Inc. (HLM - TSX Venture, HLKMF - OTCBB_Pink_Sheets), an advanced exploration company seeking gold, platinum group and rare metal deposits in Ontario, is pleased to announce that a National Instrument 43-101(NI 43-101) compliant Mineral Resource estimate on the Dubenski Shaft Zone has been received from Watts, Griffis and McOuat Limited (WGM), an independent geological and engineering consulting firm based in Toronto.

"The drilling of the Dubenski Shaft Zone has exceeded our expectations," said E. Grayme Anthony, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The historic resource encompassed three gold zones, yet our initial drill program targeting just one of these three gold zones has already found 87% of the ounces contained in the historic resource."

Mr. Anthony further stated: "Given that the gold resource is high grade and near surface, I believe we have only just started to reveal the potential at Dubenski. With drill results and IP surveys both validating this theory, we recently completed Phase II drilling on the Shaft Zone (SZ). I am encouraged that the key features that distinguished the Shaft Zone have been intersected in the Phase II drill core."

WGM was contracted to carry out a technical review of the Dubenski Property and design and supervise a definition drilling program in order to prepare a NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource estimate for the Dubenski Shaft Zone portion of the historic gold resource. The categorized Mineral Resources at a 1.0 g Au/t cutoff are:

TABLE 1. Summary of Shaft Zone Mineral Resource Estimate
(Cutoff of 1.0 g Au/t)

-***-
Category   Tonnes   Au (g/t)    Ounces    Au (g/t)   Ounces
                   (uncapped) (uncapped)  (capped)  (capped)

Indicated  177,400    7.32      41,750      5.97     34,050
Inferred   118,700    5.63      21,500      5.02     19,150
-****-

Notes: Au is capped at 50 g/t, assumed gold price was US$650/ounce

Excerpts from WGM NI 43-101 Technical Report

The majority of the previous exploration and diamond drilling programs have focused on defining an economic resource of the SZ where gold mineralization has been confirmed within surface trenches. The gold potential of this deposit, as well as other known deposits along the Dubenski Shear Zone (DSZ), at the Central Zone and Peninsula East Zone, remain under-explored, especially at depths below 100 m from surface. It should be noted that gold mineralization within the Central Zone (Deep East Zone portion) and the Peninsula East Zone do not outcrop at surface and were discovered by diamond drilling. Therefore, it is conceivable that other significant gold deposits may occur elsewhere along the DSZ or within similar parallel structures on the Property.

The recent diamond drill program of the SZ has confirmed previous historical gold assay results and improved the geological understanding of the deposit for a strike length of 60 m and to a vertical depth of 90 m. Gold mineralization remains open at depth and has not been fully closed off along strike. The gold grades are most concentrated within the central portion of the SZ. Split core samples returned assays values ranging from trace to 763.10 g Au/t. Hole DB08-07 returned the second best assay result intersecting 21.36 g Au/t over a core length of 18.0 m (111.0 to 129.0 m) on Section 0+18E. Most silver values ranged from 1 to 10 g Ag/t, however, it should be noted that gold is not always present with silver.

Seventeen of the holes intersected significant gold mineralization grades. All samples were assayed by an ISO certified laboratories by the 50 g fire assay method with some limited Metallic Screen fire assaying completed for comparative analyses. The best intersection was hole DB-08-15 on Section 0+43E that returned 20.44 g Au/t over a core length of 38.9 m (including 401.89 g Au/t over a core length of 1.9 m). A total of 97 pulp samples were dispatched to a second laboratory for assay verification. The check assay results between the laboratories were found to be in very close agreement. Visible gold, with grains ranging in size from 0.01 to 0.5 mm, was observed in the core of five drill holes. Gold occurs within foliation planes and quartz-carbonate veins hosted within silica flooded sericite schist with elevated pyrite and occasional fuchsite.

WGM prepared a NI 43-101 Mineral Resource estimate of the Dubenski SZ based on the results of the recent diamond drilling program. The 18 hole diamond drilling program totaling 1,798.61 metres (5,899.44 feet) was conducted in January and February of 2008. Four closely spaced (11-18 metres or 36-59 feet) drill sections were completed to a vertical depth of about 100 metres (428 feet). A nominal 0.50 g Au/t cutoff was used to determine the zone outlines for continuity purposes and to build 3-D wireframe models of the mineralization. The grade interpolation was done using capped 2 m composites and an Inverse Distance Cubed (ID3) estimation technique.

The close proximity of Flint Lake to the SZ mineralization merits consideration and may create a problem for a normal open pit mining scenario. The open pit scenario may also raise environmental issues that need to be addressed.

WGM concludes that the Property is one of merit and recommends a $1,268,300 work plan, developed in collaboration with HLM.

Previous tonnages, grades, assays and other technical data are taken from historical records prior to the implementation of NI 43-101. While the data are believed to have been acquired, processed and disclosed by persons believed to be technically competent, it is unverifiable at present. A Qualified Person ("QP") as defined under NI 43-101 has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as current Mineral Resources or Mineral Reserves. Houston Lake is not treating the historical estimates as current Mineral Resources or Mineral Reserves as defined in NI 43-101 and the historical estimates should not be relied upon.

Program design, management, Quality Assurance / Quality Control and interpretation of results were under the control of Paul Dunbar, M.Sc., P.Geo. The Independent QP for the NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resource estimate is Michael W. Kociumbas, B.Sc., P.Geo., of WGM. The NI 43-101 Technical Report on the Mineral Resource estimate will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this news release.

This news release was reviewed by Houston Lake's President and CEO and QP, E. Grayme Anthony, P. Geo.

About the Dubenski Property

The Dubenski Property is one of eight contiguous properties comprising the Company's 100% owned and optioned 1,674 hectare (4,135 acre) West Cedartree Gold Project located near Kenora, Ontario. The project area encompasses three zones hosting gold resources at Angel Hill (NI 43-101 compliant), Dogpaw Lake No. 1 Vein (historic) and Dubenski (historic). The Dubenski historic gold resource of 355,286 tonnes grading 6.32 g/mt gold (391,636 tons averaging 0.184 oz/st gold) encompasses the Shaft (SZ), Central (CZ) and East (EZ) Zones to a maximum depth of 150 metres (492 feet).

A Phase II 22 hole, 2,232m (7,321 ft.) diamond drill program has been completed in the vicinity of the Shaft Zone. The current drill program aims to expand the Shaft Zone Mineral Resource from the Phase I drilling carried out last year by WGM. A total of 205 core samples have been shipped thus far. Results are expected in 6 to 8 weeks and will be announced as soon as they are received.

About Houston Lake Mining Inc.

Houston Lake is an advanced, vertically integrated resource exploration company. The Company is actively exploring for gold, platinum group metal and rare metal deposits in northwestern Ontario with a strategic focus on the West Cedartree gold project. Houston Lake's objective is to become a gold producer by surface mining its West Cedartree gold project and developing its 100% owned and optioned properties. The Company has a total of 32,716,213 common shares issued and outstanding. For additional information, please visit us at www.houstonlakemining.com.

Company Contacts

Houston Lake Mining

E. Grayme Anthony  P.Geo., MBA     In Canada: Linx Partners Ltd.
President and CEO                  Wanda Cutler Tel: 416-303-6460 
Tel: 705-897-7622                  In United States:  ICS 
Fax: 705-897-7618                  George Duggan Tel: 818-542-6880