Cambior Inc.: Closing of the Zinc Asset Sale.

Business Editors

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 23, 2000

All amounts are expressed in US dollars

Cambior Inc. (TSE:CBJ.) (AMEX:CBJ) announces today the closing of the sale of the Bouchard-Hebert and Langlois zinc mines, located in northwestern Quebec, to Breakwater Resources Ltd. with an effective date of May 1st, 2000.

An amount of $45 million will be allocated to the partial repayment of the credit facility. Consequently, Cambior's total debt due to its creditors will be reduced from $225 million to $167 million, including the $13 million payment made after the closing of the Glamis Gold and Jipangu transactions. In addition, the obligation to pay $75 million before June 30, 2000 will be partially met with these payments to creditors totaling $58 million, leaving a balance of $17 million to be paid before June 30, 2000. Cambior's cash position, after giving effect to the above debt repayment, will be approximately $10 million.

The evaluation process and preparation of offers by third parties for each of Cambior's other non-gold assets are well underway. Certain transactions are at an advanced stage of negotiation and should be announced at the beginning of June 2000.

While there can be no assurance to that effect, Cambior is confident to meet its financial obligations.

Assuming the success of this strategy, Cambior will focus on gold mining in the future, having retained all of its core gold assets, and will be better able to develop its gold properties and participate in the consolidation process expected in the gold sector, to the greater benefit of its shareholders.

Cambior Inc. is a diversified international gold producer with operations, development projects and exploration activities throughout the Americas. Cambior's shares trade on the Toronto and American (AMEX) stock exchanges under the symbol "CBJ".

This press release contains certain "forward-looking statements", as defined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.

Such risks and uncertainties include those disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Cambior's Annual Information Form (AIF) filed with the Ontario Securities Commission, the Quebec Securities Commission, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (Form 40-F) and other regulatory authorities.