Golden Phoenix Reports 35-Foot Gold Intercept Grading More Than One Ounce/Ton at Mineral Ridge Mine

SPARKS, Nev., Jan. 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: GPXM) is pleased to report additional surface reverse circulation ("RC") drill results from the Mineral Ridge Gold Property, Nevada, performed by Scorpio Gold Corporation (TSX-V: SGN) as part of its due diligence during the formalization of a joint venture between the two companies designed to restart gold production at the property.

Peter J. Hawley, CEO of Scorpio Gold, has reported to Golden Phoenix, "We are very pleased with drill results to date, which exceed expected grades and widths and offer the potential for quickly expanding the resource base with an aggressive surface drill program this summer. Any mineralization reporting 0.3 g/t gold or greater is considered of potential economic interest to the Company. Of particular interest is drill hole MR-09-024, which targeted the central portion of the Mary Liz pit and returned a high-grade intersection of 31.39 g/t gold over 10.67 metres. The presence of high-grade lenses within widespread, lower-grade mineralization could allow for selective mining should gold prices warrant. All information collected to date from surface sampling, mapping and RC and core drilling, as well as re-evaluation of the previous operator's data, supports Scorpio Gold's theory that the majority of the mineralization is confined to the Mary Limestone unit. Management believes there is considerable potential for discovering other mineralized bodies within the Mary unit outside of the known deposit areas."

The RC drill holes presented in Table 1 were drilled to confirm the existing Golden Phoenix resource block model and test existing boundaries for potential extension of the known mineralization. Holes MR-09-23, 25 and 26 (not reported) were drilled to confirm sterile ground for the location of future pit waste rock. Assay results from core diamond drilling of holes MR-09-31 to 34 have just been received and will be released once compiled into the drill database.

Of particular note are the exploration drill holes designed to determine if mineralization extends outside of the current defined pits. Hole MR-09-021, drilled at the south pit wall of the Mary LC deposit, returned 6.10 metres grading 1.45 g/t gold and will be followed up this summer to potentially expand the pit in a southerly direction. Hole MR-09-28 targeted the northwest pit wall of the Drinkwater deposit and reported 10.67 metres grading 0.51 g/t gold. This will also be followed up to potentially expand the northwest mineral trend of the pit. Hole MR-09-030, targeting the mineralization trend of the Brodie pit, returned an impressive 13.71 metres grading 2.98 g/t gold. Follow up drilling as well as a compilation of drill results by previous operators in this area will also be conducted in summer 2010 for possible expansion of the overall resource base. The Company notes that the exploration holes drilled only represent a small portion of the mineralized unit and as such the actual mineralized unit appears greater in extent than intersected.

All RC holes presented in the above table were drilled at 90 degree vertical dip; true width is estimated at ~90% downhole width. Analytical results were performed by American Assay Laboratory Inc., an ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory, in Sparks, Nevada, USA. Samples were fire assayed with an AA finish at one assay ton (30 grams). Results of 0.29 opt (10 ppm) and greater were repeated with a gravimetric (weighed) finish. Standard Quality control procedures were followed which included random insertion of certified standards and blanks in the sample stream as well as routine duplicate sample analysis. Check assays were completed by ALS Chemex, an ISO 9001:2000 accredited laboratory, on ~5% of the gold bearing assays.

All reported findings fall within the area of interest defined within the joint venture agreement currently being finalized between Golden Phoenix Minerals and Scorpio Gold.  Scorpio Gold reports its results under Canadian mining and TSX Venture guidelines, which report mineral reserve and resource estimates differently than in the U.S., and may not meet the standards of "proven" and "probable" reserves set forth in SEC Industry Guide 7. Currently, there are no mineral reserves reported under the Guide 7 definition.  Mr. Peter J. Hawley, PGeo, is Scorpio Gold's Qualified Person and CEO for the various Scorpio Gold projects. Mr. Hawley is responsible for the current exploration and development program at Mineral Ridge and has reviewed the content of this release. Golden Phoenix Minerals intends to conduct further exploration on the property in the future in an effort to convert mineralized material into mineral reserves, in accordance with SEC Industry Guide 7 standards and definitions.

For more information on Golden Phoenix Minerals, please visit their corporate website at http://www.Golden-Phoenix.com/.

Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. is a Nevada-based mining company committed to deliver value to its shareholders by acquiring, developing and mining superior precious and strategic metal deposits in North America using competitive business practices balanced by principles of ethical stewardship. Golden Phoenix owns the Adams Mine located near Denio, Nevada, the Northern Champion molybdenum mine in Ontario, Canada, and the Mineral Ridge gold and silver property near Silver Peak, Nevada, which it is in process of joint venturing with Scorpio Gold Corporation.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements by officers of the Company, and other statements regarding optimism related to the business, expanding exploration and development activities and other statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's business. Words such as expects, anticipates, intends, plans, believes, sees, estimates and variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict. Actual results could vary materially from the description contained herein due to many factors including continued market prices for the Company's mineral products. In addition, actual results could vary materially based on changes or slower growth in the molybdenum and gold markets; the potential inability to realize expected benefits and synergies in the Company's mining operations; domestic and international business and economic conditions; changes in the mining industry for base and precious minerals, especially molybdenum; unexpected difficulties in expanding production at the Company's mines;  the need for additional capital and other risk factors listed from time to time in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings under "risk  factors" and elsewhere. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they are made, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

SOURCE Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc.