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.

    Drill Hole   Zone    From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Au (g/t) Ag (g/t) Cu %

    10WR01     Deadwood    21.5   52.15     30.65       0.19      -     0.06
               Wild Cat   28.95    31.5      2.55       1.47     2.5    0.62
    10WR02     Deadwood1   4.27    26.0     21.73       0.17      -     0.01
               Unknown     9.75    10.5      0.75       2.88      -     0.01
               Deadwood2   43.0    61.0      18.0       0.98      -     0.03
               Wild Cat    43.0    48.0      5.00       3.43      -      0.1
               Includes    44.4    46.1       1.7       9.57      -     0.21
               Includes    45.0    45.5       0.5      22.06     7.8    0.58
    10WR03     Deadwood2  20.75    39.5     18.75       0.08      -     0.01
               Wild Rose  35.66    38.4      2.74       0.21      -     0.04-
    10WR04     Wild Rose                   Awaiting Assays
    10WR05     Wild Rose                   Awaiting Assays
    10WR06     Deadwood                    Awaiting Assays

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

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 further information:

    GOLDEN DAWN MINERALS INC.
    575, 1111 WEST HASTINGS STREET,
    VANCOUVER, BC, V6E 2J3
    Telephone: +1-604-221-8936
    Facsimile: +1-604-685-2360

For further information: GOLDEN DAWN MINERALS INC., 575, 1111 WEST HASTINGS STREET, VANCOUVER, BC, V6E 2J3, Telephone: +1-604-221-8936, Facsimile: +1-604-685-2360