VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/01/09 -- Rainy River Resources Ltd. (TSX VENTURE: RR) -

Highlights:

- Discovery of high grade gold in the ODM Zone Deeps - including 4.5 metres of 25.33 g/t gold

- New gold discovery in the Beaver Pond area creates new high priority target for future drilling

- Infill drilling validates inferred mineralization for updated 43-101

Rainy River Resources Ltd. announces the discovery of additional high grade gold in the ODM Zone "Deeps" as well as an important gold discovery in the Beaver Pond Area on its Rainy River property in the southwest corner of northern Ontario. Noteworthy results include 34.6 metres grading 5.31 g/t gold, including 4.6 metres of 12.76 g/t gold and 4.5 metres of 25.33 g/t gold in NR09-399 and 1.34 g/t gold over 49.5 metres (including 3.41 g/t gold over 4.5 metres) and 3.37 g/t gold over 12.0 metres (including 5.64 g/t gold over 4.5 metres) in NR09-402.

All significant drill results and a location map with section lines for reference are posted on the Rainy River website www.rainyriverresources.com. Table 1, Summary of Results, is to be read in conjunction with the text, below.

High Grade Gold in ODM "Deeps" Continues to Expand Zone

Drill Hole NR 09-399 returned a very wide intersection of 34.6 metres grading 5.31 g/t gold, including 4.6 metres of 12.76 g/t gold and 4.5 metres of 25.33 g/t gold (all composites uncut). The intersections occur approximately 165 metres west of existing mineralized blocks from the NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate prepared by SRK Consulting Ltd in July 2009 and at a vertical depth of 560 metres below surface. Further drilling will be conducted to infill down plunge mineralization and results will be included in a first quarter, 2010 updated resource analysis.

Drill hole NR09-399 was collared to the south of the newly discovered South Zone and also intersected 14.9 metres of 0.67 g/t gold at a vertical depth of 260 metres below surface. This new intersection in a previously untested area has now extended the strike length of the South and CAP Zones to 530 metres.

Beaver Pond Area Drilling - NR09-402 Discovery Generates New Exploration Potential

NR09-402 intersected two significant new intervals in a previously untested corridor down plunge of the known Beaver Pond mineralization grading 1.34 g/t gold over 49.5 metres including 3.41 g/t gold over 4.5 metres and 3.37 g/t gold over 12 metres (which further included 5.64 g/t gold over 4.5 metres). The intercepts occur 200 to 230 metres vertically below surface and are 65 metres down plunge of an existing mineralized block, thus extending the potential resource in the Beaver Pond area. The Beaver Pond down plunge mineralization remains completely open below NR 09-402 and represents considerable exploration potential.

A total of five holes (NR09-393, NR09-395, NR09-396, NR09-401 and NR09-402) were drilled in the Beaver Pond area based on an earlier deep intersection in Hole 329 of 29.2 metres grading 2.35 g/t gold including 7.5 metres grading 5.46 g/t and 3.7 metres grading 5.69 g/t gold. Three of the holes intersected low grade gold mineralization that is a "halo" to the strong gold intersected in NR09-402 (please see assays in attached table) and 329. The drilling appears to define the Beaver Pond Zone geometry, suggesting a southwest plunging oval mineralized zone similar to the high grade 433 Zone (north of the main ODM17 Zone).

Infill Drilling

Holes NR09-397 and NR09-400 were drilled in the upper portion of the ODM17 Zone and confirmed existing inferred mineralized blocks near the surface.

Drill holes NR09-398 and NR09-403 were drilled below the limits of the conceptual pit. Both holes validated the geologic model and existence of mineralization extending to depth below the conceptual pit. Drill hole NR 09-398 intersected 3.87 g/t gold over 3.0 metres.

Commentary

"Our drilling program continues to expand the potential resources at Rainy River," commented Raymond Threlkeld, President and CEO. "We currently have 5 drill rigs working: one drilling step out holes 500-600 metres west of the current resource, two rigs working on infill to convert Inferred resources to Indicated, one rig exploring the new extensions of the Beaver Pond down plunge mineralization and one rig exploring our newly discovered South Zone. We will have approximately 120 new drill holes to put into an updated 43-101 resource, to be completed by SRK Consulting Ltd. in the first quarter of 2010."

Qualified persons

Rainy River's exploration program in Richardson Township is being supervised by Stuart Averill, P.Geo. Vice-President Exploration and is being managed by Wally Rayner, P.Geo., Project Manager, both Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The Company's regional exploration manager, C.J. Baker, M.Sc., is managing the Company's Off Lake exploration program 15 km to the northeast. Nelson W. Baker, P.Eng. is the Qualified Person for the project and Raymond Threlkeld and Stuart Averill are the persons responsible for the contents of this news release. The Company continues to implement a rigorous QA/QC program to ensure best practices in sampling and analysis of drill core. The procedures of the QA/QC program are detailed on Rainy River's website at www.rainyriverresources.com.

About Rainy River Resources Ltd.

Rainy River Resources is a Canadian precious metals exploration company whose key asset is the Rainy River gold project. With CAN$24 million in its treasury, the Company is well funded to conduct a dual-focused drilling program consisting of: 1) definition diamond drilling of the main gold resources in preparation for scoping and pre-feasibility studies, and 2) selective diamond drill testing of high-priority gold targets defined primarily by RC drilling within the large gold system centered in Richardson Township. The Company's property is extremely well located in the southwestern corner of northern Ontario near the U.S. border. It is accessed by a network of roads and is close to hydro-electric infrastructure. The Rainy River district has a skilled labour force and is one of the lowest-cost areas for mineral exploration and development. Ontario has low political risk and, according to the annual Fraser Institute global survey of the mining industry, has consistently ranked as one of the top jurisdictions embracing mineral development.

RAINY RIVER RESOURCES LTD.

Raymond W. Threlkeld, President and CEO

Table 1 - Summary of Significant Gold Intercepts
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         GOLD
                                        GRADE
                  FROM     TO  LENGTH    (G/T)
SECTION HOLE        (M)    (M)  (M)(i)    (ii) COMMENTS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
424,750 NR09393                         TRACE  BP ZONE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
424,739 NR09395  371.0  413.0    42.0    0.40  BP ZONE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
424,760 NR09396  353.0  356.0     3.0    1.45  BP ZONE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
425,975 NR09397   70.5   81.5    11.0    0.98  17 ZONE INFILL/CATEGORY
                                               CONVERSION
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
425,771 NR09398  572.0  575.0     3.0    3.87  17 ZONE BELOW CONCEPTUAL PIT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
425,099 NR09399  298.2  313.0    14.8    0.67  SOUTH ZONE
425,132   AND    638.4  673.0    34.6    5.31  ODM "DEEPS"
425,132  INCL    638.4  643.0     4.6   12.76
425,132  INCL    671.5  676.0     4.5   25.33
425,924 NR09400  101.0  149.5    48.5    0.66  17 ZONE INFILL/CATEGORY
                                               CONVERSION
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
424,885 NR09401  239.0  246.5     7.3    0.81  BP ZONE
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
424,881 NR09402  245.0  294.5    49.5    1.34  BP ZONE NEW DOWN DIP
                                               EXTENSION
424,881  INCL    245.0  249.5     4.5    3.41
424,881   AND    282.5  294.5    12.0    3.37
424,881  INCL    284.0  288.5     4.5    5.64
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
425,813 NR09403  581.0  629.0    48.0    0.67  17 ZONE BELOW CONCEPTUAL PIT
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(i)  approximately equal to true thickness
(ii) uncut

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical fact, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward looking statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. 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 may differ materially from those in forward looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include gold prices, results of exploration and development activities, regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of materials and equipment, timeliness of government approvals, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions. The Company cautions that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. Investors and others who base themselves on the Company's forward-looking statements should carefully consider the above factors as well as the uncertainties they represent and the risk they entail. The Company believes that the expectations reflected in those forward-looking statements are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct. Please see the public filings of the Company at www.sedar.com for further information.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept the responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.