High River Gold Mines Ltd HRIVF

Prognoz

[production05]

HIGH RIVER GOLD ANNOUNCES THE BEGINNING OF THE BANKRUPTCY

PROCEDURES OF PROGNOZ SILVER LLC

Toronto, June 8, 2010 – High River Gold Mines Ltd. (“High River” or the “Company”) was

informed yesterday that the Arbitration Court of the City of Moscow has approved the

application of OJSC Buryatzoloto (“Buryatzoloto”) for official bankruptcy procedures for

Prognoz Silver LLC, which operates the Prognoz silver project in the Republic of Sakha

(Yakutia), Russia, which the Company has an interest in. The commencement of the procedures

will result in the preservation of Prognoz Silver LLC’s assets, an analysis of its financial

condition, the preparation of the list of creditors and the holding of the first creditors’ meeting. It

is anticipated that the bankruptcy procedures may last at least seven months and may permit

Buryatzoloto to collect or restructure the indebtedness of Prognoz.

Buryatzoloto is 85% owned by High River. High River holds a 50% indirect interest in Prognoz

Silver LLC. In October 2009, Buryatzoloto filed a claim to the Arbitration Court of the City of

Moscow against Prognoz Silver LLC to recover an outstanding debt due under the contract for

exploration work on the Prognoz silver project. The amount of claim including interest and other

expenses was approximately US$18 million. The outstanding debt of Prognoz Silver LLC

originated from the inability of the shareholders other than High River to finance their share of

expenditures at Prognoz Silver LLC. In December 2009, the court ruled in favour of

Buryatzoloto. Later, in March 2010, the ruling was confirmed by the appellate court. The court

awarded Buryatzoloto the claimed amount; however Buryatzoloto did not succeed in collecting

it.

About High River

High River is unhedged gold company with interests in producing mines and advanced

exploration projects in Russia and Burkina Faso. Two underground mines, Zun-Holba and

Irokinda, are situated in the Lake Baikal region of Russia. Two open pit gold mines, Berezitovy

in Russia and Taparko-Bouroum in Burkina Faso, are also in production. Finally, High River has

two advanced exploration projects with NI 43-101 compliant resource estimates, the Bissa gold

project in Burkina Faso and 50% interest in the Prognoz silver project in Russia.

For more information: Igor Klimanov, CEO

High River Gold Mines Ltd.

Tel: [phone] ext. 6678

Email: [e-mail] • Web site: www.hrg.ca