Emgold Mining Corporation Takes New Direction

Emgold Mining Corporation ("Emgold") (EMR - TSX.V) announces a number of initiatives designed to reinforce its commitment to the permitting, exploration and development of its Idaho-Maryland Project in Grass Valley, California (the "IMM"), historically the second largest underground gold mine in California and presently one of the largest gold exploration targets in North America. The Company's goal is to complete the Environmental Impact Review for the IMM and obtain the required Conditional Use Permit by mid-2008.

The Company will also pursue the ongoing exploration of its three prospective gold exploration projects near the community of Nelson in southeastern British Columbia and the acquisition of other mineral properties of merit. A total of CDN $850,000 has been committed for expenditure on the British Columbia properties in 2007.

In connection with the spin-off of the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Golden Bear Ceramics Company ("Golden Bear"), Emgold has curtailed further expenditures on the development of the Ceramext™ process, other than those required to preserve the Company's investment. As well, Emgold has reduced its overhead and administrative expenses by eliminating costs not considered essential to its ongoing permitting and exploration activities.

Kenneth Yurichuk, the newly-appointed Co-Chairman of Emgold commented: "With the restructuring described below, we have reaffirmed and revitalized Emgold's focus on permitting the Idaho-Maryland mining operation. We also are pleased to have the commitment of Bill Witte and his engineering group to continue the financing and development of Golden Bear independently of Emgold. We believe we are well-positioned to secure the additional financing Emgold presently requires and to develop significant value for all our shareholders. We remain very confident of the potential value in the Idaho-Maryland Project and in the Company's future prospects."

Board and Management Restructuring

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Stephen J. Wilkinson as an additional independent director, effective immediately. Mr. Wilkinson is President and Chief Executive Officer of ValGold Resources Ltd. and Chairman of NovaDX Ventures Corp., a publicly traded junior merchant banking company specializing in raising capital and providing advisory services to early-stage junior resource companies. Mr. Wilkinson was President, Chief Executive Officer and Director of Northern Orion Explorations Ltd. during its successful restructuring over the period from 1999 to 2002 and from 1996 to 1999, he was the Vancouver based mining analyst for RBC Dominion Securities Inc., responsible for small capitalization and gold and base metal companies. Mr. Wilkinson holds an MBA from Clarkson University, Potsdam New York, a M.Sc.(Geology) from Carleton University and B.Sc. (Geology) from the University of Western Ontario.

The Company has accepted the resignation of William J. Witte, P.Eng., as President and Chief Executive Officer of Emgold. Mr. Witte will continue to serve, however, as a director of Emgold and President of the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Golden Bear, with responsibility for financing and the further development of Golden Bear, independently of Emgold, to create value for Emgold and its shareholders. John K. Burns has resigned as a director and Chairman of Emgold. Ian Chang, P.Eng., Vice-President, Project Development and David Sinitsin, P.Eng., have also resigned from Emgold. Once funding is secured for Golden Bear, Messrs. Chang and Sinitsin plan to continue with their respective roles in that company to develop and commercialize the Ceramext™ process. Other than providing any funding necessary to maintain its patents and intellectual property portfolio and to preserve its investment in the proprietary Ceramext™ technology held by Golden Bear, Emgold ceased all activities associated with the further development of the Ceramext™ technology in early 2007, but will retain the right to employ this technology in connection with the operation of the IMM.

The Board has appointed an Executive Committee comprised of Sargent Berner and Kenneth Yurichuk to carry out the duties and assume the responsibilities of the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Company. David Watkinson, P.Eng., has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of Emgold and will also serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Idaho-Maryland Mining Company, with primary responsibility for pursuing the ongoing permitting process for the IMM.

Mr. Berner is a businessman who practiced corporate, securities, and natural resources law as a partner in the Vancouver law firm of DuMoulin Black from 1976 until 2004, after eight years as a full time faculty member of the University of British Columbia Law School. Mr. Berner is also a director of a number of other companies trading on the TSX Venture Exchange, the TSX and the American Stock Exchange.

Mr. Yurichuk is a Chartered Accountant and senior partner in the public accounting firm Bobot & Yurichuk LLP, Chartered Accountants, Toronto. Mr. Yurichuk has been in public practice for over 30 years and has served as both director and officer of private and publicly-traded corporations involved in a wide range of businesses including mining, real estate development, investment and manufacturing. In addition, Mr. Yurichuk is a director of Mavrix Resource Fund Management Inc. and served as a director and officer of the General Partners for several Contrarian Resource Fund Limited Partnerships and Mavrix Fund Limited Partnerships. He is also a director of ValGold Resources Ltd., and Chief Financial Officer of NovaDX Venture Corp. Mr. Yurichuk holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree as well as the CA designation.

Mr. Watkinson is a registered professional engineer with over 20 years of professional experience in underground and open pit mine development, including mine permitting, engineering, feasibility, construction, and operations. In addition, he has extensive experience in project management, having taken projects from grass roots start-up to successful operating status. Mr. Watkinson has been responsible for management of large capital projects and operations in Canada, the United States and the Philippines. He has held progressively senior positions with Placer Dome Inc., Kinross Gold Corporation, Thyssen Mining Construction and Vulcan Materials Company. Mr. Watkinson holds a B.Sc. in Applied Science, Mining Engineering, from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario (1985).

Other key management personnel who will be retained in pursuing the permitting process for the IMM are:

• Shannon Ross, CA - Chief Financial Officer of Emgold and its subsidiary companies.

• Robert Pease, P.Geo. - Chief Geologist. Mr. Pease is a Professional Geologist in California with B.S. (1976) and M.S. degrees (1979) in Geology from the University of Nevada, Reno Nevada. He has 30 years of experience in mineral development and engineering geology in the mining industry. Mr. Pease has an extensive background in Mother Lode, Sierra Nevada, and Basin-Range geology. His experience includes surface and underground geologic mapping, drilling and sampling, resource and reserve modeling, and engineering geology.

• William Watters, P.E. - Chief Mining Engineer. Mr. Watters is a registered Professional Engineer (Civil, CA; Mining, WY). He has a B.S. in Mining Engineering from the University of Nevada-Reno, MacKay School of Mines (1978). Mr. Watters has 30 years experience in mine operations and engineering including several operating gold mines in California. Mr. Watters is a Mine Rescue Team Trainer, has a California Safety Representative License, and is a MSHA Trainer (blue card).

• Patricia Nelson, REA - Director of Environmental Permitting. Ms. Nelson manages the permitting and environmental compliance programs for the company. She has over 30 years of experience managing and directing multidisciplinary environmental projects for government, industry, and utility organizations that involved regulatory compliance, natural resource development and hazardous waste management. In addition, she has experience directing field work and construction projects; developing and implementing public participation programs; and conducting project specific environmental negotiations among government and industry stakeholders. She has a Bachelor of Science from the University of California at Berkeley, a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco, and is a Certified Mediator from John F. Kennedy University. Ms. Nelson is also a Registered Environmental Assessor (REA) in California and has extensive hazmat training.

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

This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future production, reserve potential, exploration drilling, exploitation activities and events or developments that the Company expects are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company's filings that are available at www.sedar.com or the Company's website at www.emgold.com.