Golden Queen Announces Private Placement.

Business Editors

MOJAVE, CALIFORNIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 19, 2001

Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. (OTCBB:GQMNF)(TSE:GQM.TO) announced today that it has completed arrangements for a private placement under which the Company has agreed to issue to two shareholders of the Company, Landon Clay and Harris Clay, promissory notes in the aggregate principal amount of U.S.$65,000, an aggregate of 1,538,462 common shares at a price of U.S.$0.13 per share and an aggregate of 1,656,250 common share purchase warrants.

The promissory notes are convertible into an aggregate of 406,250 common shares in the capital of the Company at a price of U.S.$0.16 per share. Each warrant is exercisable at a price of U.S.$0.16 per share for a period of two years to purchase one common share. In the event that certain conditions are met, the Company can compel the holders of the warrants to exercise a total of 1,249,900 warrants (for an aggregate exercise price of U.S.$200,000) after one year after their date of issuance.

Landon Clay and Harris Clay may be considered to own 6,629,122 common shares and 7,149,785 common shares in the capital of the Company, respectively, representing 13.8% and 14.9% of the number of common shares outstanding.

The proceeds of the private placement will be used to fund the ongoing expenditures at the Company's Soledad Mountain Project and for general corporate purposes.

The completion of the arrangements for the private placement followed the recent settlement of the terms of the transaction to enable the funds to be provided to the Company on an expedited basis to meet its financial requirements.

The Company's common shares trade on The Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol GQM.

This news release contains forward-looking information as described in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The statements herein involve a degree of risk and uncertainty due to various factors, including, but not limited to, precious metal price volatility and management's expectations regarding ore grade and recovery rates, precious metal production, and operating and capital costs. For a more detailed discussion of these and other factors that can be expected to affect the Company's future operations, and by, implication, the accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, please consult Golden Queen's period reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, particularly its annual reports on Form 10-KSB and its quarterly reports on Form 10-QSB. These reports may be obtained from the SEC, electronically, through its website at www.sec.gov.