High River Gold Announces Agreement to Acquire the Remaining 50% of the Prognoz Silver Project

TORONTO, ONTARIO, Jul 31 (MARKET WIRE) --
High River Gold Mines Ltd. ("High River" or "the Company") (TSX: HRG) is
pleased to announce that it has entered into an arms length agreement,
dated July 30, 2008, to acquire the remaining 50% interest in the Prognoz
Silver Project ("Prognoz").

Under the agreement, High River will issue 34,100,000 common shares,
representing 9.9% of the issued capital of the Company and will assume
debt obligations related to past exploration expenditures on the Prognoz
property totaling approximately US $16 million. Closing is scheduled to
occur on or before September 30, 2008. The transaction is subject to
regulatory approvals in Canada and Russia.

High River currently owns an indirect 50% interest in the Prognoz Silver
Project, one of the largest and highest grade undeveloped silver projects
in the world. Located in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) of the Russian
Federation, the property covers 56 square kilometres and hosts over 30
high grade epithermal veins.

New NI 43-101 Resource Estimate:

On June 26, 2008, High River released an updated Canadian Institute of
Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101")
compliant silver mineral resource estimate on the Prognoz Silver Project,
completed by MICON International Limited ("MICON") (see press release
dated June 26, 2008).

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Indica
ted Resources
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnage (t) Silver grade (g/t) Contained Silver (oz)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
4,490,000 704 102 million
---------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Inferred Resources
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Tonnage (t) Silver grade (g/t) Contained Silver (oz)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
4,870,000 659 103 million
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The Qualified Persons responsible for the calculation of this NI
43-101 compliant Resource Estimate are William J. Lewis, B.Sc., P. Geo.
(APEGB # 20333, APEGM #20480, NAPEGG #1450, APGO #1522), a senior
geologist with MICON based in Toronto, Canada, and Dibya Kanti
Mukhopadhyay (MAusIMM), a senior mineral resource geologist with MICON
based in Norwich, England.

David Mosher, President & CEO of High River stated: "We are very pleased
that we have been able to successfully negotiate an agreement to own 100%
of the Prognoz Silver Project. After the previous spin-out transaction
was terminated, management decided to focus efforts on consolidating 100%
of the project in High River. We plan to further expand the Prognoz
resource base with the objective of adding significant silver ounces to
our production profile. We are confident that this acquisition will
significantly increase High River's profile and add substantial value for
our shareholders."

About High River

High River is an unhedged gold company with producing mines, mines under
development, and advanced exploration projects in Burkina Faso and
Russia. High River is bringing two new open-pit gold mines into
production. The Taparko-Bouroum Gold Mine in Burkina Faso achieved
commercial production in October 2007, and the Berezitovy Gold Mine in
Russia is expected to achieve commercial production shortly. At full
production, annual gold production is planned at 100,000 ounces at
Taparko-Bouroum and is expected to exceed 100,000 ounces at Berezitovy.
Combined with gold production from two underground mines in Russia,
Zun-Holba and Irokinda, High River's attributable unhedged annual gold
production is expected to exceed 300,000 ounces. In addition, the Company
has three advanced exploration projects, the Bissa Gold Project in
Burkina Faso, the Prognoz Silver Project and the Chaya Nickel Project in
Russia. These projects are expected to significantly add to the Company's
shareholder value in the future.

Forward Looking Statements - This press release contains forward-looking
statements based on current expectations. These forward-looking
statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those reflected. Risk and uncertainties
about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Management's
Discussion and Analysis published in the Company's Annual Report and in
the Annual Information Form.

Contacts:
High River Gold Mines Ltd.
Dan Hrushewsky
Vice President Investor Relations
(416) 947-1440
(416) 360-0010 (FAX)
Email: info@hrg.ca
Website: www.hrg.ca

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