Cross Lake Minerals Ltd.: QR Gold Property Optioned.

Business Editors

Cross Lake Minerals Ltd. ("the Company") (TSX:CRN) is pleased to announce that, subject to all necessary approvals and execution of a formal agreement, a letter of intent has been signed with Kinross Gold Corporation ("Kinross") whereby the Company has acquired an option to purchase a 100% interest in the QR Gold Property (the "Property"), located 58 kilometres southeast of Quesnel, BC. The Company's recently optioned Cariboo Property (see the Company's news release #02-03 dated May 15, 2002) is located adjacent to the east of the QR Property.

The Property includes the shutdown QR Mine which operated from May 1995 until April 1998 when mining was suspended and the property placed on care and maintenance due to low gold prices. While in operation, the mine produced 3,672,767 grams (118,084 ounces) of gold from open pits and underground stopes. According to Kinross' QR Mine Status Report dated January 25, 1999, the mineral reserves and resources remaining on site are summarized in the following table:

Category                                    Tonnes          Gold Grade
                                                               (g/t)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Proven Reserve                              84,696             5.10
Probable Reserve                           235,182             5.07
Possible Reserve                            19,485             7.41
Resource (Measured, Indicated, Inferred)   463,221             5.03
----------------------------------------------------------------------
    (a) Reserve estimate calculated using gold @ US$350/oz,
        Can$=0.74US$, 93% recovery and specific gravity=2.96t/cubic
        metre.

The reserve and resource calculations, using Gemcom modeling software, were completed by Kinross before the implementation of National Instrument 43-101 and CIM Guidelines for ore definitions and, therefore, do not meet the current regulatory requirements. Until the Company has completed an independent reserve and resource calculation, which will conform with the regulatory requirements as outlined in National Instrument 43-101, all of the above categories should be considered a mineral resource.

According to Kinross' QR Mine Status Report dated January 25, 1999, the QR mine is located in the Quesnel Terrane, a Triassic and Jurassic-aged island-arc/marginal basin tectonic assemblage, a region also referred to as the Quesnel Trough. The assemblage has been intruded by a Jurassic-aged pyroxene-bearing diorite stock. The gold mineralization is spatially associated with the diorite stock, usually within 300 metres, in propylitized, carbonate-rich basaltic epiclastic unit dominated by a garnet/epidote/chlorite/calcite alteration assemblage. The gold is associated with sulphide mineralization varying in amounts from 1-15% and consisting of pyrite, chalcopyrite and pyrrhotite with minor amounts of galena and sphalerite.

There are six zones of known gold mineralization: Main, West, Midwest, North, East and Northwest zones, of which two (Main and West) were mined by open pit and one (Midwest) was mined using underground methods. The Company's main exploration focus will be to expand on the unmined zones, especially the north and east zones which are "open" along strike to the east and down dip. These zones are trending towards another diorite stock, an important gold mineralization geological control, which is located 1,500 metres east of the QR mine.

Facilities, including a complete 800 tonne per day mill utilizing a whole ore cyandation with carbon-in-pulp recovery circuit, crushers, generators, compressors, complete assay lab, engineering offices, various warehouses, buildings and the tailings impoundment area remain on site and appear to have been well maintained since orderly shutdown in 1998.

The Company may acquire a 100% interest in the Property by paying Kinross an aggregate of $800,000 on or before May 1, 2004. A $5,000 payment, in cash and/or shares, at the Company's discretion, is due upon signing of the letter of intent with the remaining $795,000 to be paid in cash and/or shares, at Kinross' discretion, upon exercise of the option by the Company. The Company is required to fund the first year's holding costs up to $220,000, in quarterly installments in arrears, which are deductible from the final payment. Should a deposit of more than 1,000,000 proven and recoverable ounces be discovered on the Property, Kinross retains a back-in right to acquire 50% of the Property by reimbursing the Company for twice the amount of expenditures incurred and by completing a bankable feasibility report.

Over the next three to four months, the Company intends to complete data compilation, conduct field examinations and surveys and carry out the independent reserve and resource study, referred to previously, in order to prepare for the first phase exploration program. Details will be released in due course.

This news release may contain forward looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of exploration or other risk factors beyond its control. Actual results may differ materially from the expected results.