Golden Phoenix Joint Venture Partner Scorpio Gold Appoints Mine Manager for the Mineral Ridge Gold Deposit in Nevada

SPARKS, NV -- (Marketwire) -- 04/19/11 -- Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. (the 'Company') (OTCBB: GPXM) is pleased to announce that its joint venture partner Scorpio Gold Corp. ('Scorpio Gold') has appointed James (Jim) W. Ashton, PEng, as mine manager at the Mineral Ridge gold deposit, Nevada, where the Company maintains a thirty percent (30%) interest via its membership interest in Mineral Ridge Gold, LLC; the joint venture entity that owns and operates the Mineral Ridge property with Scorpio Gold, effective immediately.

Mr. Ashton holds a Bachelor of Science in Mine Engineering from the Mackay School of Mines, University of Nevada, and is a Registered Professional Engineer with the State of Nevada.

Peter J. Hawley, President & CEO of Scorpio Gold, reports, 'Jim brings more than 26 years of experience in open pit mining, pit design, optimization and reserve estimation to the Mineral Ridge gold project, where he will oversee all mining operations and future planning, development and extraction of mineralization beyond the existing open-pits. Jim is an excellent addition to the Scorpio Gold team as we enter into production at Mineral Ridge and advance through the next significant stage of growth for the Company.'

Mr. Ashton began his career in 1984 as an engineer with Tenneco Minerals Company at the 40,000 tons per day (TPD) Borealis open-pit, heap leach gold mining operation in Nevada, where in 1986 he became the Senior Engineer under Echo Bay Mines Ltd. In 1990, he took a position as Senior Mine Engineer/Compliance Specialist for Meridian Gold's 60,000 TPD open-pit operation at the Royal Mountain King Mine, California. In 1993, Jim joined Phelps Dodge Corporation as Mine Planning Engineer at the 325,000 TPD open-pit Chino copper mine in New Mexico. Late in 1994, Jim became Mine Superintendent at Kinross Candelaria Mining Co.'s 100,000 TPD heap leach Candelaria silver mine in Nevada. In 1996 he joined Fronteer Gold/New West Gold/Western States Minerals as a project engineer in Reno, Nevada, and in 2010 he became Chief Engineer for Fronteer Gold's Northumberland Project, Nevada, where he was responsible for all engineering and construction, bulk sampling and set up for underground mining until the April 6, 2011 acquisition of Fronteer Gold by Newmont Mining Corp.

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.

Please visit the Golden Phoenix website at: www.golden-phoenix.com.


About Golden Phoenix:

Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. is a Nevada-based mining company whose focus is Royalty Mining in the Americas. Golden Phoenix is committed to delivering shareholder value by identifying, acquiring, developing and joint venturing gold, silver and strategic metal deposits throughout North, South and Central America. Golden Phoenix owns, has an interest in, or has entered into agreements with respect to mineral properties located in the United States, Canada and Peru including its 30% interest in the Mineral Ridge gold project near Silver Peak, Nevada.


Forward Looking Statements: Information contained herein regarding optimism related to the business, expanding exploration, development activities and other such statements are 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and are subject to the safe harbors created thereby. While Golden Phoenix believes such statements are reasonable, they are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the Company's business and 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, domestic and international business and economic conditions, and other risk factors listed in the Company's Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings under 'risk factors' and elsewhere. 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.



For More Information Contact:

Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc.
Robert Ian, Director of Corporate Communications
(775) 453-474
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