GOLD EXPLORATION NEWS Resources Double at Cortez Hills in Nevada

ELKO, Nevada Six drills are working in an attempt to delineate the new Cortez Hills discovery, which remains open along strike and to the west. Measured and indicated mineral resources are now 38.5 million tonnes at 3.63 g/t Au, double the tonnage estimated when the discovery was first announced at the end of April 2003. Measured and indicated resources are believed to contain 4.5 million oz of gold, and inferred resources are pegged at another million ounces.

Cortez Hills is a joint venture of PLACER DOME (60%) and KENNECOTT EXPLORATION (AUSTRALIA). The nearby Cortez mine produced over 1.0 million oz of gold in 2002.

"Cortez Hills is shaping up to be the most significant Nevada discovery in recent years," says Placer Dome president and CEO Jay Taylor. "It holds the potential to sustain and extend production at Cortez well into the next decade. The discovery continues to validate our strategy of gaining large land positions in known gold camps and focusing our exploration efforts close to existing facilities."

News from the Cortez mine just keeps getting better. Cash and total cost projections for this year have been lowered to US$130/oz and US$170/oz, respectively. Everything you ever wanted to know about the operation is available at www.placerdome.com by clicking on Operations.