Gold Canyon Commences Winter 2011 Drill Program at Springpole Gold Project

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 11, 2011) - Gold Canyon Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:GCU)(PINK SHEETS:GDCRF) ("Gold Canyon" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that its Winter 2011 Diamond Drill Program is underway at the Company's 100% controlled Springpole Gold Project located in the Red Lake Mining District of Ontario, Canada. Three diamond core rigs will be drilling a planned 10,000 meters by early April, weather permitting. Objectives of this drill program include:

1. Testing shallow portions of the Portage Zone that could not be tested during last year's drill program. A series of 150-250 meter holes will be drilled from the ice on 50 meter sections so that near surface mineralization can be included in future resource calculations.

2. Infilling the mid-section of the Portage Zone. By drilling larger diameter, HQ core, the Company hopes to encounter better grades and continuity in this part of the zone which was drilled with smaller diameter, NQ core, approximately 20 years ago. 

3. Testing for the strike continuation of the Portage Zone to the southeast where mineralization remains open. The furthest southeast hole drilled by the Company during the current 2010 & 2011 phased program is SP10-024 which encountered 225 meters at 1.48 grams per tonne Au (see news release dated November 23, 2010). One drill rig will be dedicated to testing the continuation of the Portage Zone on 50 meter sections for a distance of up to 500 meters southeast of hole SP10-024.

4. Testing a possible new zone of mineralization that lies southwest of the Portage Zone and appears to trend parallel to it. This new zone was encountered at the bottom of hole SP10-024 and is evident in several historic holes in this area.

5. Testing for continuation of the Portage Zone underneath the Main Zone. Hole SP10-025 encountered 38 meters at 1.53 grams per tonne Au (see news release dated December 15, 2010) of Portage-style mineralization suggesting the Portage Zone plunges to the northwest underneath the Main Zone.

"Our objectives this winter are really two-fold; infill, and exploration," comments Dr. Quinton Hennigh, technical advisor to Gold Canyon. "We are intent on bringing at least one kilometer of strike on the Portage Zone into a resource. Most of the deeper drilling, to around 300 meters true depth, was completed last year. Now, we must drill some shallow holes from the ice to show continuity of this zone to surface."

"While two rigs undertake infill drilling, we are going to set one rig loose on exploration," continues Hennigh. "We feel quite confident that we can demonstrate an extension of the Portage Zone to the southeast."

Presently, the strike length of the northwesterly-striking Portage Zone stands at approximately 950 meters. This zone remains open at depths in excess of 300 meters along its entire length. True widths of the zone generally range from 90 to 150 meters, but locally widen to as much as 250 meters. The zone remains open at depth, to the southeast and northwest where it appears to plunge underneath the Main Zone - a zone comprised of a series of high grade veins.

The Winter 2011 Diamond Drill Program is part on an ongoing program of drilling and remodelling of the Springpole deposit to move it towards prefeasibility. Drilling is planned through early April 2011, at which time work will begin on revising the resource estimate for the deposit.

Remaining silver assays from holes drilled in 2010 are expected back within a week.

Springpole is an alkaline intrusion hosting a gold system that represents a potentially new style of Canadian Archean Shield gold deposit. Springpole shares many similarities with deposits such as the Cripple Creek Gold deposit in Colorado. The Portage Zone is hosted by a trachytic porphyry intrusion displaying polyphase autolithic breccias that contain gold mineralization of remarkably uniform grade. Other zones including East Extension, Camp and Main consist of high grade veins and pods hosted in diatreme breccias composed of intrusive and country rocks. These diatreme breccias surround the northwest and northern margins of the Portage Zone. The known mineralized zones underlie a total known area of about 4 square kilometers representing only about 15 percent of the greater alkaline intrusive complex which remains yet to be explored.

Quinton Hennigh, Ph.D., P.Geo. and Alan Roberts, M.Sc., P.Geo. are the Qualified Persons pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 responsible for, and have reviewed and approved, the technical information contained in this news release. Dr. Hennigh is acting as a technical adviser to Gold Canyon and Alan Roberts is the Senior Geologist of Alaska Earth Sciences, Inc. and Project Manager at Springpole.

About Gold Canyon Resources Inc.:

Gold Canyon is engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mineral and precious metals properties. The Company controls a 100% interest in the Springpole Gold - Horseshoe Island Gold, Platinum, Palladium Project and Favourable Lake Poly-metallic property currently under option to Shoreham Resources Inc. pursuant to an option and joint venture agreement entered into in December 2005 - all in the Red Lake Mining District of Ontario, Canada. 

Through its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Gold Canyon Resources USA Inc., the Company controls a 100% interest in the Cordero Gallium Project situated in Humboldt County, Nevada, U.S.A.

Gold Canyon entered into a Joint Exploration Agreement with the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) in January 2009.

Additional information can be found on the Company's website: www.goldcanyon.ca.

Akiko Levinson, President & Director

Certain statements contained in this news release using the terms "may", "expects to", "project", "estimate", "plans", and other terms denoting future possibilities, are forward-looking statements in respect to various issues including upcoming events based upon current expectations which involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially. The future conduct of the Company's business and the feasibility of its mineral exploration properties are dependent upon a number of factors and there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to conduct its operations as contemplated and the accuracy of these statements cannot be guaranteed as they are subject to a variety of risks that are beyond our ability to predict or control and which may cause actual results to differ materially from the projections or estimates contained herein. The risks include, but are not limited to, the risks described in the above press release; those risks set out in the company's disclosure documents and its annual, quarterly and current reports; the fact that exploration activities seldom result in the discovery of a commercially viable mineral resource and are also significant amounts of capital to undertake and the other risks associated with start-up mineral exploration operations with insufficient liquidity, and no historical profitability. The Company disclaims any obligation to revise any forward looking statements as a result of information received after the fact or regarding future events.