Overview

Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. 

Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX-GQM).

The Soledad Mountain Project 

The company is proposing to develop a gold-silver, open pit, heap leach operation on its Soledad Mountain property, located just outside the town of Mojave in Kern County in southern California. Every element of the Soledad Mountain Project (the “Project”) has been rethought and reengineered since 2003 in an effort to find sound technical and cost-effective solutions that would see the Project proceed with a robust internal rate of return or IRR. This phase of the technical work was completed toward the end of 2007. 

Independent Technical Report & Mineral Resource Estimates

The company engaged SRK Consulting (U.S.), Inc. in 2005 to prepare a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Technical Report to validate and confirm mineral resource estimates. The Technical Report was released on March 6, 2006. The mineral resources confirmed in the Technical Report are estimated to contain 2,162,000 oz of gold and 37,628,000 oz of silver in the Measured and Indicated categories and a further 511,000 oz gold and 11,154,000 oz silver in the Inferred category, both calculated with a gold-equivalent cut-off grade of 0.274g/t (0.008oz/ton). 

Independent Feasibility Study & Mineral Reserve Estimates 

The company engaged Norwest Corporation of Vancouver in January 2007 to prepare a National Instrument 43-101 compliant Technical Report to assess mineral reserves for the Project as part of an independent feasibility study. The results of the study were made public in a press release dated December 14, 2007. The Technical Report was filed with the applicable Canadian securities commissions in January 2008.

The open pit design done by Norwest Corporation is considered to be both detailed and complete. The mineral reserve estimates are set out in the table below: 

Proven and Probable Mineral Reserve Estimates

Allowance has been made for ore loss and dilution in determining the detailed mining schedule. Dilution has been assigned a zero grade for calculation of reserves. The planned average ore mining rate is 4.1 million tonnes per year (4.5 million tons per year) once in full production with an average stripping ratio of 2.12:1 and this includes the waste rock mined during the pre-production period. 

Only approximately 50% of the mineral resource estimates have been included in the planned open pit, heap leach operation and the potential for an extended operation remains good. .

Capital Requirements

The company will need significant additional financing to develop a mine on the property once a production decision is made. Capital costs for mining projects have increased in recent years and the Company is currently re-estimating both capital and operating costs.

Permitting Update

The Company's consulting engineers did extensive studies to confirm the feasibility of backfilling mined-out phases of the open pit in early 2009. The studies were presented to the Kern County Planning Department in a meeting in Bakersfield on March 11, 2009. The Company subsequently revised the Project Description to include the backfilling studies and the Application for the revised Surface Mining and Reclamation Plan. A final revision of the Application was in the hands of the Planning Department on May 25, 2009. The Company recognizes that the reviews by the Planning Department have added to the overall quality of the Application.

The Kern County Planning Department requested that the Air Quality and Health Risk Assessment for the Project be redone in February 2009 to provide current information for the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report ( the "SEIR"). This study was completed and in the hands of the Planning Department and the Air Pollution Control District on July 21, 2009.

Edits and reviews were completed and the draft SEIR was distributed by the Kern County Planning Department as lead agency under the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act on January 11, 2010. This has officially started the 45-day review period for the SEIR.

The following are a number of key dates provided by the Kern County Planning Department:

• Public comments on the draft SEIR may be submitted until 5.00 pm on February 25, 2010;
• Consideration of the draft SEIR and the Project by the Kern County Planning Commission is tentatively scheduled for April 8, 2010, and
• Consideration of the SEIR and the Project by the Kern County Board of Supervisors shortly thereafter.

The draft SEIR may be accessed online at http://www.co.kern.ca.us/planning/eirs.asp.

Other

The production and sale of aggregate and construction materials is expected to commence fairly early in the mine life and continue for up to 30 years or until the stockpile of quality waste rock has been exhausted as more fully described under the heading – AGGREGATE.

A technical update with information on recoveries for gold and silver obtained in the column leach tests is available under the heading - TECHNICAL.

Environmental issues are described and the status of approvals and permits is summarized under the heading – ENVIRONMENTAL.

Mr. H. Lutz Klingmann, P.Eng., the president of the Company, is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information of this website.

Further information on Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. is available on the SEDAR web site at www.sedar.com. 

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last updated: February 02, 2010

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