VANCOUVER, BC - Emgold Mining Corporation reported that the City of Grass Valley has published the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Idaho-Maryland Project. This is another major milestone in the permitting process necessary to reopen the historic Idaho-Maryland Mine, located in Grass Valley, CA. The City of Grass Valley is the Lead Agency overseeing review of the Project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA).

The Idaho-Maryland Mine was historically California's second largest underground gold mine producing 2.4 million ounces of gold from 1862 to 1956 at an average grade of 0.43 ounces per ton grade. It is adjacent to the historic Empire Mine, which was Newmont Mining Corporation's first operating mine. The Empire Mine produced 5.8 million ounces of gold from 1850 to 1956. Newmont retains the mineral rights to this property. The Grass Valley Mining District produced over 17 million ounces of gold and is historically one of the richest gold districts in North America.

Emgold's plans are to permit, dewater, rehabilitate, explore, and reopen the Idaho-Maryland Mine. Current NI 43-101 compliant resources, based on historic data from previous mine operations, include 472,000 ounces of measured and indicated resources (1.67 million tons at 0.28 opt gold) and 1,002,000 ounces of inferred resources (2.57 million tons at 0.39 opt gold).

Emgold believes the exploration potential at the Idaho-Maryland Mine is significant and could be comparable to gold resources and reserves found at the similar mines in the Red Lake gold district of Ontario, subject to additional exploration activities that will occur at the Idaho-Maryland Mine once dewatering of the mine workings is complete.

Emgold is pleased to announce that the DEIR indicates that, in all areas except air quality, the Company has been able to successfully mitigate potential impacts of the Project so they have no impact, less than a significant impact, or less than a significant impact with mitigation measures in place.

These areas include aesthetics; biological resources; cultural resources; geology, soil, seismicity, and mineral resources; hazards and hazardous materials; hydrology and water quality; land use planning; noise; population and housing; public services; recreation; transportation and traffic; utilities and services systems; and energy. This is a major accomplishment for any mining and/or industrial project, regardless of the jurisdiction.

In the area of air quality, significant and unavoidable impacts were determined for oxides of nitrogen only. Potentially significant impacts were determined for reactive organic gases and respirable particulate matter.

Emgold has worked with the City and their consultants to reduce these potential impacts through mitigation measures and potential project alternatives, but impacts would remain significant and unavoidable for oxides of nitrogen during construction and operation of the mine. An Offsite Air Emission Reduction Plan will be implemented to mitigate onsite emissions.

The company's address is Suite 1400, 570 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 3P1, 604.687.4622, fax: 604. 687.4212, www.emgold.com.