Design Study for the Oracle Ridge Copper Mine

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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 18, 2011) - Gold Hawk Resources Inc. ("Gold Hawk" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:GHK) is pleased to announce that the Company's U.S. subsidiary, Oracle Ridge Mining LLC, has contracted Lyntek Inc. to produce an engineering, design and capital cost study for a 2,000 tons-per-day flotation plant and related processing facilities in order to facilitate the re-opening of the underground Oracle Ridge Copper Mine located in rural Pima County, Arizona. Lyntek is an internationally respected provider of mineral processing engineering, design and construction services.


Engineering and design work will be undertaken at a +/-15% cost estimation level consistent with industry standards for project debt financing should the company elect to utilize this method for construction financing. The study will be based on a 2,000 tons-per-day processing facility and related facilities including the tailings impoundment. Preliminary production estimates indicate that approximately 140 tons of high-grade copper concentrate could be produced on a daily basis. Both the underground mine and tailings facility are located on private land.


The Oracle Ridge Copper Mine will seek to use state-of-the-art environmental engineering practices, including dry-stack tailings, water reclamation techniques and backfilling of stopes with tailings. Environmental monitoring systems will be a key part of the engineering design study in order to insure that the facility is a zero discharge operation. Should permitting agencies allow, water storage facilities will include wildlife watering stations and a dipping tank that can be made available to the U.S. Forest Service for their use in fire suppression activities in the region.The company intends to work with all stakeholders in the area in order to achieve environmentally friendly, sustainable development of Arizona's natural resource endowment.


The engineering study is being developed in conjunction with the recently announced drilling program that is designed to validate the historic data base. This data base contains the results of more than 163,000 feet of drilling in 534 drill holes. The Company is pleased to announce that the drill rig has arrived on site and drilling is expected to commence shortly. This phase one drill program is to consist of an initial 15,000 feet and will facilitate the planning of additional drill holes. Initial assay results from the drill program are expected to be released in the first quarter.


The Oracle Ridge Copper Mine hosts at least 12 known zones containing multiple beds of primary copper skarn mineralization. Copper grades as high as 22% are reported in the historic drill hole data. During previous operations gold and silver were produced as by-products. Given current precious metal prices a silver/gold credit could potentially enhance project economics. Past ore produced by the mine were not consistently tested for the presence of other minerals, such as magnetite, and the Company plans to undertake detailed metallurgy studies as part of the Lyntek studies.


Historically there have been a number of resource and reserve estimates available that were made by reliable, knowledgeable professionals. As part of a 1995 feasibility study for a 2,000 tons-per-day processing plant, the former operator developed a mine plan containing 8.8 million tons grading 2.3% copper diluted, in all categories. This mine plan conformed to United States Securities and Exchange Commission mining reserve definitions in place at that time. The reader is cautioned that the foregoing estimate is not in compliance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") and is cited for historical purposes only and should not be relied upon until further work is carried out. Gold Hawk believes, however, that the historical resource estimates reported above are material and should be disclosed. Gold Hawk believes these historical results provide an indication of the potential of the property and are relevant to future exploration.


For additional information on the Oracle Ridge Copper Mine, please see the August 20, 2010 Technical Report, Review of the Oracle Ridge Mine Project, available on SEDAR and on the Company's website .


Glenn R. Clark, P.Eng. of Glenn R. Clark & Associates Limited, a consultant for Gold Hawk, and a Qualified Person under NI 43-101, has reviewed the technical material contained in this media release and is responsible for the technical information reported herein.



About Gold Hawk Resources Inc.



Gold Hawk (TSX VENTURE:GHK) is a Vancouver, Canada-based company with a focus on uncovering overlooked deep-value projects to achieve superior shareholder returns. The Company is the sole owner and operator of Oracle Ridge Mining LLC and copper mine located 24 km northeast of Tucson, Arizona. Gold Hawk has cash on hand of approximately $24 million, minimal long-term debt and is managed by an experienced team of mining professionals with extensive operating and financial experience.