Emgold Mining Corporation **** NEWS ****

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Emgold Mining Corporation **** NEWS ****


Emgold Prepares to Go Underground at the Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine

VANCOUVER, BC, Dec. 14, 2004 (MARKET WIRE via COMTEX) --
Following an extensive review
of the NI 43-101 Preliminary Assessment Technical Report
prepared by AMEC Americas Limited (see News Release dated November 23, 2004) management and the board of directors of
Emgold Mining Corporation (TSX-V: EMR) ("Emgold&qu
ot;) have developed a business plan aimed specifically at accelerating underground exploration and development
of the Company's Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine,
California's second largest historical underground gold producer.

In order to initiate underground exploration and development,
the Company is applying for a Conditional Mine Use Permit
that will include the dewatering of
the existing Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine workings
and the construction of an access ramp for underground
exploration and possible future staged mine production.

Should sufficient gold be discovered during the initial
exploration stage, Emgold would consider toll milling to
recover gold at an earlier stage of development.

The additional cost of toll milling would be offset by the significantly lower capital requirements of an integrated
processing facility than building a stand alone gold plant.

The Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine,
discovered in 1851, produced gold from 1862 through 1956
with recorded production of 2,383,000 ounces of gold
from 5,546,000 short tons for a recovered grade
of 0.43 ounces of gold per short ton (opt).

The maximum annual production rate at the mine
was 138,000 ounces of gold per year with a
five-year output (1937-1941) that averaged 119,000 ounces
of gold per year.

Based on the extensive data available about the mine
and using modern computer modeling, Emgold believes
that the Idaho-Maryland still has the potential to
exceed the production of its famous neighbor,
Newmont's Empire Mine which produced 6 million
ounces of gold.

The Idaho-Maryland is located in the Grass Valley
Mining District, which bears structural and historic
gold production similarities to the prolific
Red Lake District of Ontario, Canada.

Both districts host large, high-grade gold deposits
dominating district production and important high-grade
targets which are blind and do not outcrop, requiring
exploration and development from underground locations.

Grass Valley District gold production (1851-1956) was
over 13 million ounces from 25 million tons with a
recovered grade of 0.52 opt, compared with
Red Lake District production (1930s - present)
of 18 million ounces from 27.7 million tons
at 0.65 opt.

The gold deposits of Grass Valley and Red Lake
are strikingly similar on a district-scale and
the importance of the geologic features in identifying
major gold deposits is only now being recognized
by the gold mining industry.

The three largest, bonanza-grade greenstone-hosted
oreshoots known are the historic Idaho-Maryland's
No. 1 Vein oreshoot in the Grass Valley District,
the Main Shoot in the High Grade Zone of
the Red Lake District, and the Oroya Oreshoot at
the Golden Mile, Kalgoorlie.

These contained 1 million, 1.5 million, and
3 million ounces gold respectively, from continuous
bodies exceeding 1 opt in grade.

Emgold has identified 26 conceptual exploration targets
at the Idaho-Maryland that have similar potential
to these oreshoots and is therefore planning
systematic underground exploration of these targets.

Emgold is also planning to explore the extension
of the Idaho-Maryland to greater depths once there
is access underground.

Most of the conceptual exploration targets are
between the 600 and 3,280 levels and the historic
information indicates that the Idaho-Maryland
can be extended from the existing 3,280 level
to below the 5,000 level.

In addition, the Company has significant information
about 55 production targets identified at the time
the mine closed in 1956 that make up part of 200
"step out" resource blocks available for additional
underground exploration that are separate
from the 26 targets.

Currently the Idaho-Maryland has Measured and
Indicated Gold Resources of 1,666,000 tons
grading 0.28 opt containing 472,000 ounces of gold
and an Inferred Gold Resource of 2,526,000 tons
grading 0.38 opt containing 952,000 ounces of gold.

These gold resources were presented in the recent
NI 43-101 Preliminary Assessment Technical Report
and are based on the historic Mine Call Factor of
1.44 as defined in the report.

Development of the Ceramext(TM) Process by Emgold's
wholly owned subsidiary, Golden Bear Ceramics Company
will continue, as it is viewed as having the potential
to significantly reduce the effective cost of gold
production at the Idaho-Maryland and to mitigate
the environmental impact of the operation.

The current NI 43-101 Preliminary Assessment Technical
Report defines the Measured and Indicated Ceramic
Feedstock Resources at 171.5 million tons for
the Idaho-Maryland which could provide adequate
ceramic feedstock for the anticipated life
of the gold mine.

While there can be no assurance that commercial
exploitation of the Ceramext(TM) technology will
be feasible (see Emgold news release of November 23, 2004),
if the Company's efforts are successful this technology
could contribute to make the Idaho-Maryland Gold Mine
one of the lowest cost gold producers in the world.

For more information about Emgold,
the Idaho-Maryland Project,
the Ceramext(TM) Process,
the Stewart,
Rozan and Jazz Properties in British Columbia,

please visit
www.emgold.com

or
www.sedar.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors

William J. Witte, P.Eng.

President and Chief Executive Officer

Emgold Mining Corporation
Suite 1400 - 570 Granville Street
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 3P1

www.emgoldmining.com

TSX Venture Exchange Symbol:
EMR SEC 12g3-2(b): 82-3003

No regulatory authority has approved or
disapproved the information contained
in this news release.

For further information please contact:

Mark Feeney Investor Relations
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE: Emgold Mining Corporation


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