High River Gold, Somita Mine

High River Gold Mines Ltd. (High River) is a Canada-based gold mining company with mines and exploration projects in Burkina Faso (West Africa) and Russia. The Company operates the Zun-Holba and Irokinda mines and a small placer operation in Russia, through its 84.94% owned subsidiary, OJSC Buryatzoloto (Buryatzoloto), which produced approximately 124,000 ounces of gold attributable to High River during the year ended December 31, 2008. The Company also operates the Taparko-Bouroum Mine in Burkina Faso, through its 90% owned subsidiary, Societe des Mines de Taparko S.A. (Somita), which produced approximately 28,000 ounces attributable to High River in 2008. As of December 31, 2008, High River produced approximately 167,000 attributable ounces of gold. During 2008, OAO Severstal (Severstal) acquired indirect ownership of approximately 53% of High River.