CUMBERLAND RESOURCES LTD. - EXPLORATION PROGRAM COMMENCES ON MELIADINE GOLD PROJECT CUMBERLAND RESOURCES LTD. - EXPLORATION PROGRAM COMMENCES ON MELIADINE GOLD PROJECT.

RICHMOND, B.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 14, 1995--CUMBERLAND RESOURCES (VSE:CBD) (VSE:CBD) CUMBERLAND RESOURCES LTD. (CBD-VSE) announces that it has begun a $1.2 million exploration program on the eastern portion of the Meliadine Gold Property located on the west coast of Hudson Bay, 16 miles north of Rankin Inlet, NWT. The project is a 50-50 joint venture with Comaplex Minerals Corp.

Cumberland and Comaplex recently concluded an option agreement on the western portion of the property with WMC International Limited. Under terms of the agreement, detailed in the Company's June 9th News Release, WMC can earn a 56 percent interest by funding all expenditures to the start of commercial production of all mines including any mine expansions and making escalating annual payments to Cumberland and Comaplex aggregating up to $3.7 million over the next 6 years. WMC can purchase an additional 4 percent thereby increasing its interest to 60 percent. This agreement underlines the outstanding potential of this project.

On Meliadine east, the company has begun a $1.2 million exploration program which includes 16,000 feet of diamond drilling. Two diamond drills will focus on expanding the current resource of 740,000 tons averaging 0.29 oz Au/ton at the Discovery deposit and will explore several high potential zones within a 1.5 km radius of the Discovery deposit including the large Pisces and Sinnuk targets. At the Pisces target a single drill hole intersected 0.75 oz/t Au over 4.9 feet and 2.68 oz/t Au over 4.9 feet. At the Sinnuk target, which has never been drilled, surface grab samples have yielded up to 0.46 oz/t gold.

The joint venture recently commissioned the engineering firm of H.A. Simons Ltd. to evaluate the conceptual economic thresholds required at the Discovery deposit. This scoping study concluded an underground mine based on a resource totalling 1.8 million tons at similar grade (0.29 oz./t Au), would be economically viable if mined at a rate of 1000 tons per day. The cash-flow parameters utilize a gold price of $US 375. The study estimates capital costs at $59.2 million with a payback period of 2.9 years and an after tax DCF Rate of Return of 19.3 percent. The rate of return depends on mining dilution which has yet to be determined. The Meliadine project's favorable location has a significant positive impact on estimated capital cost and operating costs.

Drilling on the Discovery deposit will now focus on increasing the inventory below the -400 foot level. Several widely spaced holes, drilled below this level in 1991, indicate that strong mineralization persists to depth:

Hole      Gold (oz/ton)     True Width (feet)     Depth (feet)

91-17        0.55              12.0                 -410

91-19        0.29              11.2                 -541

91-47        0.29              16.2                 -656

Management is optimistic that, building on the current resource of 0.74 million tons, the threshold tonnage of 1.8 million tons can be achieved on the eastern Meliadine Project over the course of the 1995 drill program.

CUMBERLAND RESOURCES LTD. Per: Glen Dickson, President

For copy of the location map, please contact the Company at the number listed above.

CONTACT: Mr. Glen Dickson

President

or

Mr. Kerry Curtis

Vice President, Corporate Development

at

Tel: [phone]

Fax: [phone]