Golden Dawn Receives Excellent Gold and Copper Values from Initial Drilling on Greenwood Targets, British Columbia, Canada

Vancouver, January 12, 2011 – Golden Dawn Minerals Inc. (TSXV: GOM, Frankfurt: 3G8) (the “Company”) is pleased to announce the first batch of assay results from its November and December 2010 16-hole drilling program on the Wild Rose Property, near Greenwood, B.C. which targeted the potential for high grade veins in association with open-pit bulk tonnage low grade gold-copper zones on the Wild Rose and Tam O’Shanter properties. The initial 6 diamond drill holes, totaling 723.0 m, were completed by Vicore Mining Developments Ltd. before Christmas. Drilling was supervised by APEX Geosciences Ltd. The Company expects that drilling will resume towards the latter part of January after all the assay results are received for the first six drill holes.

Assay results received are for the first three drill holes 10WR01 to 10WR03. All three holes were drilled to test the whether the Wild Cat and/or the Wild Rose vein systems, both located on the Wild Rose property, could be tracked as northwest plunging shoots rather than flat sheets. Quartz-sulphide zones were intersected in drill holes 10WR01 and 10WR02 at the position that is likely representative of the Wild Cat vein system. The Wild Cat zone yielded 1.47 grams per ton (g/t) gold (Au) and 0.62% copper (Cu) over 2.55 m in drill hole 10WR01 with core recovery in the range of 30% over a 10.0 m interval Drill hole 10WR02 yielded 3.42 g/t Au and 0.1% Cu over 5.0 m, with a high grade zone of 9.57 g/t Au and 0.21% Cu over 1.7 m and 22.06g/t Au with 0.58% Cu over 0.5 meter for the Wild Cat zone with core recovery nearly 100%.

This intersection in diamond drill hole 10WR02 is within the Wild Cat vein system which along with the nearby parallel Wild Rose vein system is part of an extensive Au-Cu mineralized zone, named Deadwood Zone, that is up to 200 m in width that extends over a distance of more than 2000 m from the Wild Rose/Wild Cat vein area on the Wild Rose property northwest onto the Tam O’Shanter property. Results are not yet available for drill holes 10WR04 and 10WR05 which targeted the Wild Rose and Wild Cat Vein systems. Hole 10WR06 was collared approximately 50 m northwest of the historic diamond drill hole DDH 92-27 in the Deadwood Zone, which intersected widespread low grade gold with close to 1 g/t Au and 0.4% Cu over 63m. Hole 10WR06 was drilled about 400 m northwest of drill holes 10WR01 to 10WR05.

Multiple historic intersections of widespread low grade Au at the Deadwood Zone in conjunction with the intercepts obtained to-date from on the Wild Rose and Wild Cat veins systems reinforce the potential for a bulk-tonnage open-pitable Au-Cu exploration target. Drilling within the current program is designed to confirm and extend a zone of mineralization encountered in historical drilling on the properties, as illustrated in a PowerPoint presentation on the Company’s website (www.goldendawnminerals.com).

TABLE 1. Summary assay results for drill holes 10WR01, 10WR02 and 10WR03.

As shown in the summary table, diamond drill holes 10WR01, 10WR02, and 10WR03 encountered high grade Au in the main vein systems and widespread low grade Au associated with alteration zones that surround and include the high grade vein systems. Much of the widespread alteration zones were not assayed due to a much lower price of gold during earlier drilling campaigns.

The Company anticipates drilling an additional 10 holes on the Wild Rose and Tam O’Shanter properties, once drilling has resumed. This drilling will be used to confirm and extend historical Au-Cu results along a mineralized corridor from the Wild Rose to the Deadwood Zone. Drilling of multiple holes during the 1980’s, 1990’s and early 2000’s in several drilling campaigns encountered significant Au values in the Deadwood Gold Zone at the boundary between the recently acquired Tam O’Shanter property and the Wild Rose property northwest along strike from the known Wild Rose and Wild Cat vein systems. At least 14 historic diamond drill holes along a northwest trending magnetic feature at the Deadwood Gold Zone have yielded widespread, low grade (<1g/t) gold mineralization. One of the better holes, DDH 92-27 encountered 63 meters averaging 0.95 g/t Au and 0.40% Cu. These 14 holes define a northwest trend that is an exploration target area exceeding 200 m by 2000 m in extent that will be the subject of the ongoing exploration program.

The reader is cautioned that except for the currently reported assays, the information on this zone is historical in nature, and has been confirmed only to a limited extent by the current program. There are no known mineral resources on the property, and it is not known if any such mineral resources will be discovered, and if discovered whether any such resources may be economically mined.

The material in this press release has been reviewed by Dr. Stewart Jackson, P.Geol., a Qualified Person, and by Mike Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., President of Apex Geoscience Ltd..

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF

GOLDEN DAWN MINERALS INC.

“Wolf Wiese”

_____________________________

Wolf Wiese

President/CEO

For further information:

GOLDEN DAWN MINERALS INC.

575, 1111 WEST HASTINGS STREET,

VANCOUVER, BC, V6E 2J3

Telephone: (604) 221-8936

Facsimile: (604) 685-2360

THIS PRESS RELEASE WAS PREPARED BY MANAGEMENT WHO TAKES FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS CONTENTS. NEITHER TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS CERTAIN FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS WHICH INVOLVE KNOWN AND UNKNOWN RISKS, DELAYS, AND UNCERTAINTIES NOT UNDER THE COMPANY’S CONTROL WHICH MAY CAUSE ACTUAL RESULTS, PERFORMANCE OR ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COMPANY TO BE MATERIALLY DIFFERENT FROM THE RESULTS, PERFORMANCE, OR ACHIEVEMENTS IMPLIED BY THESE FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS. WE SEEK SAFE HARBOR.

For more information, please visit the website: www. goldendawnminerals.com