Golden Minerals Reports 2009 Year-End Results

GOLDEN, CO--(Marketwire - February 22, 2010) - Golden Minerals Company ("Golden Minerals" or the "Company") (TSX: AUM) (PINKSHEETS: GDMN) today announced 2009 year-end results.

2009 Financial Results

For the period March 25, 2009 through December 31, 2009, Golden Minerals recorded a total net loss of $20.3 million, which included among other items, $7.3 million in revenue net of associated costs for management services; interest, royalties and other income of $1.4 million; and a net gain on the disposal of assets of $0.3 million. These items were offset during the period by an impairment of long lived assets of $1.7 million, $8.4 million of administrative expense, $1.0 million of reorganization costs, $12.6 million of exploration expense, and a loss of $2.2 million on the sale of the Company's remaining ARS investments.

At December 31, 2009 Golden Minerals' aggregate cash and short-term investments totaled $9.0 million, including $8.6 million of cash and cash equivalents and $0.4 million of short term investments. During the period March 25, 2009 through December 31, 2009, Golden Minerals received $3.7 million in proceeds from the sale of assets, including the sale of an office building in Bolivia for $0.7 million and the sale of three mining claims and a 49% joint venture interest in Mexico for $3.0 million. During this period the Company also received $3.4 million from the sale of investments, including the sale of the Company's remaining ARS investments for $3.0 million.

Recent Developments

In January 2010, the Company completed a transaction with MH Argentina S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Hochschild, pursuant to which Golden Minerals acquired Hochschild's 35% interest in Minera El Quevar, an Argentine company in which the Company held the other 65% interest. Minera El Quevar controls approximately 10,000 hectares of the 64,000 hectare El Quevar project, including the Yaxtché target area. The Company issued 400,000 shares of common stock, and warrants to acquire an additional 300,000 shares exercisable for three years at an exercise price of $15.00 per share.

In January 2010, Golden Minerals completed a private placement with The Sentient Group, an independent private equity firm in the global resources industry with approximately $1.3 billion under management. In the private placement, the Company sold to Sentient a total of 844,694 shares of its common stock at a price of Cdn$7.06 per share, resulting in gross proceeds to the Company of approximately $5.75 million. Sentient became Golden Minerals largest stockholder, holding 19.9% of the outstanding common stock, not including restricted stock held by employees.

About Golden Minerals

Golden Minerals is a Delaware corporation based in Golden, Colorado, primarily engaged in the advancement of its exploration projects and in providing mine management services. The Company has a portfolio of 30 exploration projects, primarily located in Argentina, Mexico and Peru, including the advanced stage El Quevar project in the Salta Province of northwestern Argentina. The Company's experienced management team has proven in house ability to explore, develop and operate mining projects. Golden Minerals operates the San Cristobal mine in Bolivia for Sumitomo Corporation under a Management Services Agreement...

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