Mr. Mike Bandrowski reports

BIG RIDGE GOLD CORP UPSIZES PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED PRIVATE PLACEMENT

Big Ridge Gold Corp. has increased the size of its previously announced best efforts private placement from aggregate gross proceeds of up to $5-million to aggregate gross proceeds of $5.25-million. The upsized offering comprises the sale of 42 million units of the company at a price of 12.5 cents per unit.

Each unit shall consist of one common share and one-half of a common share purchase warrant. Each warrant is exercisable into one share of the company at a price of 20 cents per share for a period of 24 months from the closing date of the offering.

The company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to finance the purchase of the remaining 20 per cent of the Hope Brook gold project it does not currently own, and for general working capital purposes.

The transaction is subject to receipt of regulatory approvals, including the acceptance of the transaction by the TSX Venture Exchange.

About Hope Brook

The Hope Brook gold project is an advanced stage, high-grade gold project that produced 752,162 ounces of gold from 1987 to 1997. Initial production consisted of an open pit before moving to underground mining. Hope Brook operated using both heap leach (1987 to 1990) and conventional cyanidation milling methods (1989 to 1997) with a later inclusion of flotation concentration to recover copper (1991). Government records indicate that gold recoveries from milling ranged between a low of 78.8 per cent in 1987 and a high of 85.9 per cent in 1989. Government and company annual reports indicate that gold recoveries ranged between a low of 82.1 per cent in 1994 and a high of 89.83 per cent in 1996 following a change of ownership. Copper flotation produced a concentrate at approximately 22 per cent Cu (copper) and 34.3 g/t Au for shipment in 1992.

Hope Brook hosts an indicated gold resource totalling 16.19 million tonnes grading 2.32 grams per tonne gold for 1.2 million ounces and inferred resources totalling 2,215,000 tonnes grading 3.25 grams per tonne gold for 231,000 ounces based on a 0.4- and 2.0-gram-per-tonne cut-off grades for open pit and underground resources respectively using a long-term gold price of $1,750 (U.S.).

The Hope Brook gold deposit is a high-sulphidation epithermal gold deposit hosted in the Proterozoic-aged Whittle Hill Sandstone and is intruded by a Late Proterozoic quartz-feldspar porphyry sill-dike complex of the Roti intrusive suite. The deposit is located adjacent to and within an extensive advanced argillic alteration envelope which includes pyrophyllite, kaolinite, andalusite and alunite. The principal gold mineralization occurs in a buff-coloured massive, vuggy silicic alteration with an associated, less developed grey silicic alteration with pyrite, chalcopyrite and lesser bornite accessory minerals. Gold mineralization is also found with pyrite in units of advanced argillic alteration adjacent to or near silicic alteration horizons. The altered and mineralized zone is cut by mafic dikes whose contacts are often mineralized. All the altered and mineralized sequences and the intruded dikes have been folded.

Hope Brook is located 85 kilometres east of Port aux Basques, Nfld. The project has well maintained infrastructure on site, including an operational 28-person camp, an 1,100-metre airstrip, ice-free docking facility and, importantly, connection to the provincial electrical power grid via an on-site substation.

About Big Ridge Gold Corp.

Big Ridge Gold is an exploration and development company managed by a disciplined and experienced team of officers and directors. The company is committed to the development of advanced stage mining projects using industry-best practices combined with strong social licence from the company's local communities. Big Ridge owns an 80-per-cent interest in the Hope Brook gold project, located in Newfoundland and Labrador. Big Ridge also owns a 100-per-cent interest in the highly prospective Oxford gold project located in Manitoba and the Destiny gold project in Quebec.

We seek Safe Harbor.