Canarc Resource Corp.: Additional Porphyry Gold Drill Intercepts from JQA Prospect, Benzdorp Property, Suriname.

Business Editors

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 20, 2003

Canarc Resource Corp. (OTCBB:CRCUF) (TSX:CCM) announced today additional drill intercepts of porphyry gold mineralization from the JQA prospect area of the Benzdorp property in Suriname.

Drill holes BZ03-13, 15 and 16 each returned significant gold grades over their entire lengths and holes BZ03-14 and 17 both intersected the margins of the mineralized zone. Assays are as follows:

Hole (No.)    From (m)        To (m)    Length (m)    Gold (gpt)
---------------------------------------------------------------

BZ03-13          0.00        100.58        100.58         0.822
 Including:     36.58         83.82         47.24         1.130

BZ03-14         88.70         91.44          2.74         0.485

BZ03-15          0.00         81.49         81.49         0.481
 Including:     39.62         54.86         15.24         0.725

BZ03-16          0.00         88.39         88.39         0.510
 Including:     42.67         56.39         13.72         0.818
 And:           70.10         88.39         18.29         0.739

BZ03-17          0.00         10.67         10.67         0.586

Core recoveries in the saprolite continue to average approximately 76% in holes BZ03-13 to 17 and bedrock was only reached in hole BZ03-14. Core losses in the mineralized zone imply gold losses as well, so the assays reported herein may understate the actual gold grades in saprolite.

Holes BZ03-9, 10, 11 and 12 were drilled to the south of JQA diorite intrusion and porphyry mineralization in the JQS prospect area. These drill holes intersected narrow widths of low grade, vein-type mineralization hosted by andesite volcanic rocks.

Hole BZ03-13 is located 100 m south of any previous drill holes and returned the best results to date. The mineralized zone appears to shift west in hole 14, perhaps by faulting, as only the bottom of the hole returned gold porphyry-type mineralization.

Holes BZ03-15 and 16 tested the mineralized zone some 100 m north of the previous drilling and returned results typical of the JQA prospect. The top of hole BZ03-17 also clipped good gold values in the mineralized zone before entering into less mineralized material toward the west.

A review of gold-rich porphyry deposits worldwide shows that typical gold grades run from 0.4 to 0.7 gpt gold. Although it is still very early in the drilling program at Benzdorp, the JQA prospect gold grades certainly appear to fit the gold-rich porphyry model.

The Phase 1 drilling program has now wrapped up with the completion of 28 drill holes, of which 17 have been reported. The remaining 11 holes are currently being assayed and results will be released over the next three weeks.

Canarc owns 40% and holds an option to earn up to 80% of the voting shares of Benzdorp Gold N.V., the local company that holds the Benzdorp concession titles. Our partner, Grassalco, a state mining company, will ultimately own 20% of the voting shares which gives it the right to receive either a floating net revenue interest (NSR) of 1.5% to 6% based on the price of gold or a 20% net profits interest (NPI) after Canarc recovers all of its capital investment with interest.

Richard Williams, MSc, PGeo, is the Qualified Person supervising the Phase 1 drilling program on the Benzdorp property. He has instituted a Quality Control program of blanks and duplicates to ensure the integrity of all assay results.

All drill core is split by Canarc personnel at the Benzdorp camp, and then flown to Parimaribo for shipment to FILAB, a large, European commercial lab company operating in Cayenne, French Guyana. The core samples are then dried, crushed, split and a 30-gram subsample is taken for analysis. Gold is determined by fire assay with an atomic absorption finish and copper is analyzed by atomic absorption. FILAB is using its own standards for quality control checks. Canarc will also be sending reject samples from FILAB to other laboratories for additional quality assurance checks.

Canarc Resource Corp. is a growth-oriented, gold exploration and mining company listed on the TSX (symbol CCM) and the OTC-BB (symbol CRCUF). The Company's principal assets are its 100% interest in the 1.3 million oz New Polaris gold deposit located in northwestern British Columbia and its option on the huge Benzdorp gold property in Suriname. Major shareholders include Barrick Gold Corp. and Kinross Gold Corp.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

CANARC RESOURCE CORP.

Bradford J. Cooke, President and C.E.O.

The TSX Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.