Golden Phoenix Joint Venture Partner Scorpio Gold Makes First Shipment of Loaded Gold Carbon to Refinery From the Mineral Ridge Gold Deposit, Nevada

SPARKS, NV -- (Marketwire) -- 04/26/11 -- Golden Phoenix Minerals, Inc. (the 'Company') (OTCBB: GPXM) joint venture partner Scorpio Gold announces that on April 18, 2011, Mineral Ridge Gold LLC shipped its first production batch of gold and silver in loaded gold carbon produced from the Mineral Ridge gold deposit, Nevada, in which 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.

Peter J. Hawley, President & CEO of Scorpio Gold, reports, 'This shipment marks the start of precious metal production following just 13 months from completion of the purchase of the Mineral Ridge property. At today's metal prices, each ton of loaded carbon has an estimated value of approximately US$100,000. Scorpio Gold would like to thank the operations team for its dedication and hard work during the past year to make this happen, and extends its gratitude to its investors for their continued support.'

Tom Klein, CEO of Golden Phoenix, states, 'Precious metal production of both gold and silver in just over one year is a significant milestone for our joint venture. Peter Hawley and his operations team have established what we believe is a solid foundation for continued growth.'

Approximately 10,000 pounds or 5 tons of loaded wet carbon from the heap leach carbon columns 1 & 2 were placed into carbon bags and shipped to Metals Research in Kimberley, Idaho for processing into dore. Scorpio Gold has contracted Metals Research to custom strip its carbon and produce dore bars by April 27, 2011. The dore bars will then be delivered to Johnson Matthey's refinery in Salt Lake City for further refining of the precious metals into separate 99.9% pure gold and silver bars. Carbon columns 3, 4 and 5 continue to be loaded and columns 1 and 2 are being restarted.

Scorpio Gold expects to make a substantially larger second shipment of loaded gold carbon in early May 2011, as the activated leach pads at Mineral Ridge become more mature in the leaching cycle.

Details of the initial loaded gold carbon shipment are presented in Table 1.


Table 1. Loaded Gold Carbon Shipment to Refinery

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  Wet     Gold    Gold   Silver   Silver   Shipped  Shipped  Shipped Shipped
 Carbon Loading Loading  Loading  Loading   Gold     Gold    Silver   Silver
 (Tons)  (OPT)   (g/t)    (OPT)    (g/t)  (ounces)  (grams) (ounces) (grams)
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   0.75    93.6 2,653.4     44.5  1,260.9     71.1  2,016.6     33.8   958.3
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   0.74    96.8 2,744.1     46.7  1,322.6     71.6  2,030.6     34.5   978.8
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   0.82    97.8 2,773.8     47.8  1,356.1     80.2  2,274.5     39.2 1,112.0
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   0.25    93.9 2,663.3     45.0  1,276.5     23.5    665.8     11.3   319.1
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   0.87    42.8 1,214.4     35.8  1,013.6     37.3  1,056.5     31.1   881.9
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   0.89    45.7 1,295.1     35.7  1,012.7     40.7  1,152.7     31.8   901.3
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   0.72    47.9 1,359.1     38.4  1,088.9     34.3    971.7     27.5   778.6
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 Total    Avg.    Avg.     Avg.      Avg.    Total    Total    Total   Total
   5.04    74.1 2,100.5     42.0  1,190.2    358.7 10,168.4    209.2 5,930.0
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Metal estimates remain subject to final assays at refinery. Analytical results were performed by American Assay Laboratory Inc. (AAL) in Sparks, Nevada, USA. AAL does not have ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation but implements a quality management system following ISO/IEC 17025 standards and maintains a paperwork trail for ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation. AAL participates in a number of testing and certification programs, details of which are presented in Scorpio Gold's quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) program for the Mineral Ridge project at: www.scorpiogold.com/Documents/QAQC-MR.pdf. External check assays to verify lab accuracy are routinely completed by ALS Chemex, an ISO 9001:2000 certified and ISO/IEC 17025:2005 accredited laboratory.

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.

Scorpio Gold reports its results under Canadian mining and TSX Venture Exchange 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.

Scorpio Gold can earn an additional 10% interest in the Mineral Ridge gold project after it achieves two consecutive quarters of commercial production. Scorpio Gold will then have a 24 month option to purchase Golden Phoenix's remaining 20% interest.

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) 453-4741
Email Contact