Great Western Minerals Group Appoints Mohamed Madhi as Rareco President

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN -- (Marketwire) -- 02/09/11 -- Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ('GWMG' or the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: GWG) (OTCQX: GWMGF) announces that it has appointed Mohamed Madhi as President of Rare Earths Extraction Company Limited ('Rareco') effective immediately.

Mr. Madhi has served as a member of GWMG's Advisory Board and on October 27, 2010 was appointed by Great Western Minerals Group to the Rareco Board of Directors.

He has been Chairman of Areva South Africa and the Chief Executive of Safika Resources, a South African company focused on mineral exploration and mining. Mr. Madhi has also held executive positions at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, the largest research organization in Africa, at Eskom, the largest electricity utility in Africa, and at Harmony Gold, one of the world's largest gold mining companies.

The appointment was announced during the annual 2011 Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa, a key global mining event that was attended by Great Western Minerals Group officials.

GWMG President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Engdahl said 'It was clearly the appropriate time to further elevate our level of leadership commitment to Rareco and the Steenkampskraal project. To be able to do so with someone with Mohamed Madhi's experience and expertise in the African resource sector is yet another important step forward in the timely execution of GWMG's corporate strategy of becoming a fully integrated Rare Earths producer.'

Jim Engdahl, President and CEO

Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. is an integrated Rare Earths processor. Its specialty alloys are used in the battery, magnet and aerospace industries. Produced at the Company's wholly owned subsidiaries Less Common Metals Limited in Birkenhead, U.K. and Great Western Technologies Inc. in Troy, Michigan, these alloys contain aluminium, nickel, cobalt and Rare Earth Elements. As part of the Company's vertical integration strategy, GWMG has signed an Off-take Agreement for 100% of the Rare Earth Elements produced at the former producing Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa and holds 70.2% ownership in Rare Earth Extraction Co. Limited, the owner of the Steenkampskraal mine. GWMG also holds interests in seven Rare Earth exploration and development properties in North America.

Email inquiries should be made to info@gwmg.ca and the company website is located at www.gwmg.ca. Inquiries by direct mail should be addressed to Great Western Minerals Group Ltd., 219 Robin Crescent, Saskatoon, SK S7L 6M8.

Certain information set out in this News Release constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements (often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as 'expect', 'may', 'could', 'anticipate' or 'will' and similar expressions) may describe expectations, opinions or guidance that are not statements of fact and which may be based upon information provided by third parties. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions, expectations and estimates of management of GWMG as at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or outcomes to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Those factors include, but are not limited to, entering into a binding agreement with EEC, satisfaction of the conditions precedent with respect to GWMG's offtake agreement, receipt of all required approvals (including those relating to the commencement of production at the Steenkampskraal mine) and risks, uncertainties and other factors that are beyond the control of GWMG, risks associated with the industry in general, commodity prices and exchange rate changes, operational risks associated with exploration, development and production operations, delays or changes in plans, risks associated with the uncertainty of reserve or resource estimates, health and safety risks and the uncertainty of estimates and projections of production, costs and expenses. In light of the risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking information. Although GWMG believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements set out in this press release or incorporated herein by reference are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. The forward-looking statements of GWMG contained in this News Release, or incorporated herein by reference, are expressly qualified, in their entirety, by this cautionary statement and the risk factors contained in GWMG's current annual information form available at www.sedar.com.

CUSIP: 39141Y 10 3

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Contacts:

Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.

Dwight Percy

Manager of Investor Relations

(306) 659-4500


Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.

219 Robin Crescent

Saskatoon, SK S7L 6M8
info@gwmg.ca
www.gwmg.ca