Aurizon's Casa Berardi Zone 113 Yields High Grade Gold Intercepts Below 700 Metres.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- Aurizon Mines Ltd. (AMEX:AZK) (TSX:ARZ) is pleased to report additional favourable results from its ongoing definition drill program, between 700 metres and 850 metres depth, on its Casa Berardi Project, Quebec. Results confirm the continuity of grade and thickness of Zone 113 to a depth of 850 metres. The deepest definition hole drilled to date, U248, returned 15.7 grams of gold per tonne over a true width of 10.7 metres, approximately 830 metres below surface.

Definition drilling completed to a depth of 700 metres will be incorporated in Phase One of the Casa Berardi Mine plan, which will be detailed in the feasibility study expected late in the fourth quarter. Definition drilling below 700 metres will be included in a post-feasibility Phase Two mine plan to be completed during the first half of 2005. The purpose of the two phase approach to the mine plan is to get the Project into production sooner, at a lower pre-production cost.

Results from the current drilling are listed below:

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                        Gold               Length
                 grams/tonne              (metres               True
                     (assays                along          Thickness
Hole ID                uncut)            the hole)           (metres)
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U245                    12.6                 15.5               10.7
U246                    13.8                 15.3                7.6
U247                    14.9                 11.1                6.4
U248                    15.7                 20.3               10.7
U249                     5.8                 17.1               10.3
U250A                    2.3                  1.7                1.1
U251                    26.9                  9.0                4.8
U371                    12.6                 11.6                4.4

"Zone 113 has a high grade core that is continuous to a depth of at least 850 metres. The current definition drill results confirm our belief that Casa Berardi will be a long life mining project." said David Hall, Aurizon's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Aurizon will continue to expand its resource base by extending its underground exploration drifts to drill Zone 113 to a depth of at least 1,100 metres; and to definition drill Zones 118 through 122."

The Underground Definition Drill Program

Drilling of Zone 113 at 25 metre centres, from a depth of 450 metres to 700 metres, is complete. Three drills are currently operating from the track drift on the 550 metre level, providing detailed information on the grade and continuity of the lower portion of Zone 113 below 700 metres. An updated mine plan (Phase Two) using year end mineral resources will be completed in the first half of 2005.

Drilling indicates that Zone 113 is a 20 to 70 metre wide mineralized corridor adjacent to the Casa Berardi fault. Gold mineralization is found within narrow to large folded quartz veins and associated wall rock. Mineralization and quartz veins are oblique to the Casa Berardi fault, which is 0.1 to 2.0 metres wide in the drilled area. The best grades are found in quartz veins that are folded and possibly faulted. The veins are usually contained within a wider and lower grade mineralized envelope. Within the mineralized zone, higher grade ore shoots steeply plunge to the east.

Quality Control

Core assays are performed on split or core sawed in half, with standard fire assay procedures and gravimetric finition. However, some of the infill drilling core assays were performed on whole core. Certified reference material is inserted in the sample sequence for quality control. Assay checking on the pulp and reject samples are carried out systematically. Primary assaying is performed by SGS Geochemical Laboratories of Rouyn-Noranda and check assays are carried out by Chimitec of Val D'Or.

Drill hole planning, implementation and the quality control program is supervised by Robert Crepeau, P.Geol., Technical Services Superintendent, who is an appropriately qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

Additional Information

A sketch indicating the area covered by the current underground exploration drilling program described herein is attached to this news release. If you are unable to view this information, please download this news release from Aurizon's website at www.aurizon.com or contact the Company at the numbers listed below. All other information previously released on the Casa Berardi project is also available on the Aurizon website.

Aurizon is a Canadian-based gold producer with operations and exploration activities in the Abitibi region of north-western Quebec, one of the world's most prolific gold and base metal regions. Aurizon owns one hundred percent (100%) of the Casa Berardi property, which is accessible by road, has all necessary mining permits in place and is on the Hydro Quebec power grid. Aurizon also owns 50% of the Sleeping Giant Mine. Aurizon shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "ARZ" and on the American Stock Exchange under the symbol "AZK".

This News Release contains "forward-looking statements", including, but not limited to, statements regarding the Company's expectations as to the market price of gold, strategic plans, future commercial production, production targets and timetables, mine operating costs, capital expenditures, work programs, exploration budgets and mineral reserve and resource estimates. Forward-looking statements express, as at the date of this report, the Company's plans, estimates, forecasts, projections, expectations, or beliefs as to future events or results. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties, and there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate. Therefore, actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Factors that could cause results or events to differ materially from current expectations expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to, factors associated with fluctuations in the market price of precious metals, mining industry risks and hazards, environmental risks and hazards, uncertainty as to calculation of mineral reserves and resources, requirement of additional financing, risks of delays in construction and other risks more fully described in Aurizon's Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on SEDAR as an alternative form of AIF with the Securities Commissions of the provinces of British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec and with the Toronto Stock Exchange; and on EDGAR, with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.

U.S. Registration: (File #0-22672) Form 20-F