Cardero Closes Non-Brokered Flow-Through Private Placement

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 12/31/12 -- Cardero Resource Corp. ("Cardero" or the "Company") (TSX: CDU) (NYSE MKT: CDY) (NYSE Amex: CDY) (FRANKFURT: CR5) announces that it has closed its non-brokered flow-through private placement announced December 20, 2012.

Flow-through Private Placement Closed

On December 28, 2012, the Company closed the non-brokered private placement of flow-through common shares announced December 20, 2012 (the "FT Offering"). The Company issued 6,000,800 flow-through common shares at a price of $0.50 per share to raise gross proceeds of $3,000,400. All common shares issued in the FT Offering will have a hold period in Canada expiring on April 28, 2013. The Company paid aggregate finder's fees of $175,824.00 in cash plus 351,648 finder's warrants. Each finder's warrant is exercisable to purchase one non-flow-through common share at $0.55 per share until December 28, 2013.

The gross proceeds of the FT Offering will be used by the Company and one or more subsidiary entities of the Company to incur Canadian Exploration Expenses in connection with the Carbon Creek Metallurgical Coal project in north-eastern BC.

The common shares issued in the FT Offering have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any applicable securities laws of any state of the United States and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements.

ABOUT CARDERO RESOURCE CORP.

The common shares of the Company are currently listed on the TSX (symbol CDU), the NYSE-MKT (symbol CDY) and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (symbol CR5). For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's web site (www.cardero.com), Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and United States regulatory filings on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

CARDERO RESOURCE CORP.

Michael Hunter, CEO and President

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the proposed use of the proceeds of the FT Offering by the Company, business and financing plans and business trends, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, risks associated with variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, the Company's inability to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's 2012 Annual Information Form filed with certain securities commissions in Canada and the Company's annual report on Form 40-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and other information released by the Company and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and its United States public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sec.gov, and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.

Contacts:

Cardero Resource Corp.

604 408-7488 or Toll Free: 1-888-770-7488

604 408-7499 (FAX)
info@cardero.com
www.cardero.com