DENVER, CO--(Marketwire - January 16, 2013) - Golden Star Resources Ltd. (NYSE MKT: GSS) (TSX: GSC) (GHANA: GSR)

• BSDD 181 - 75.6m (meters) grading 10.6g/t (grams per tonne) gold including 22.1m grading 29.8g/t
• BSDD 200 - 25.5m grading 15.4g/t
• BSDD 197 - 39.9m grading 9.8g/t
• BSDD 186 - 26.6m grading 6.4g/t
• BSDD 198 - 17.3m grading 7.2g/t

Golden Star Resources Ltd. (NYSE MKT: GSS) (TSX: GSC) (GHANA: GSR) ("Golden Star" or the "Company") today provided an update on exploration activities at its Wassa mine in Ghana. Full drill results, plans and sections are available at the Company's website at www.gsr.com or by clicking the following link: http://www.gsr.com/Operations/Wassa.asp.

Drilling at Wassa Main continues to successfully delineate and extend high grade mineralization intersected earlier in 2012. Due to the success of these drilling programs, an additional drill rig was added to the Wassa drilling fleet at the end of 2012, bringing the total to six rigs. Results continue to delineate the geometry of these deposits, which show good continuity along the apparent fold plunge direction. The Company completed an additional 69 drill holes for 26,844m in the fourth quarter, bringing the 2012 full year total to 175 holes for 58,670m. 

Drilling of the high grade intersections at B Shoot has extended the previous known mineralization as well as delineated other shoots. BSDD181, located on section 19825N, intersected a new high grade shoot of mineralization with an estimated true width of 75.6m grading 10.6g/t, including 22.1m grading 29.8g/t from 384m depth. This mineralization appears to be related to a fold closure that is different from the high grade zones the Company intersected with earlier drilling programs. Importantly, this hole extends the known mineralization beneath the $1500 gold price pit shell that has been used to guide and target this drill program. Additional drilling of the zone intersected by BSDD181 has been prioritized to enable the Company to better understand the controls and extents of this new high grade zone.

Three new holes testing the B Shoot high grade fold hinge returned significant results extending the strike and dip of the zone intersected in hole BSDD137, located on section 19925N (54.3m grading 4.8g/t, including 27.5m at 8.8g/t, as disclosed in the Company's Press Release 12-24 dated October 15 2012). New hole BSDD163B, located approximately 20m up dip and 25m along strike from hole BSDD137 and along section 19950N, intersected a true width of 18m grading 6.0g/t. New hole BSDD200 drilled on the same section as BSDD163B, 25m along strike and approximately 25m down dip of BSDD137, intersected a true width of 25.5m grading 15.4g/t. New hole BSDD197, which targeted the same high grade shoot on section 19975N and located an additional 25m along strike from BSDD163B and BSDD200, also intersected the core of the high grade shoot returning a true width of 39.9m grading 9.8g/t.

The B Shoot high grade zone of mineralization has now been defined over 200m strike length in ten Diamond core drill holes. The table below shows the drill intercepts that have been interpreted to be associated with the high-grade structure running from 19800N to 20000N. This structure remains open in all directions and drilling is continuing to further delineate the extent of the high-grade zone.

Table 1: B Shoot High-Grade Intersections

The core of the B Shoot high-grade zone of mineralization has been interpreted to be associated with a folded zone of mineralization that plunges approximately 30 degrees to the southwest. The wider, higher grades intersected in the above table are thought to be located in the hinge of the fold structure. Although this high grade mineralization continues to be the main focus of the drilling, the Company also is drilling off the extents of the preliminary optimized pit shells and continues to intersect zones of mineralization above the current reserve grades. Significant intersections for the fourth quarter of 2012 are summarized in the table below.

 Table 2: B Shoot Q4 2012 Significant Drill Intersections

The year-end resource and reserves estimates are currently being updated for the Wassa Main pits using an interim model which utilized new drill results up to August 2012 but did not include most of the drilling that occurred during the second half of 2012. The Company expects a substantial increase in the Wassa Main resources and reserves for 2012 and ongoing drilling during 2013 should continue this trend as more of the drilling program results are generated.

Sam Coetzer, President and CEO, commented, "The continued drilling success at Wassa Main has prompted the addition of another drill rig to fully assess the potential of this growing deposit. This new drilling strongly suggests that Wassa Main's overall average grade should increase and contained gold should grow significantly from where we are today. As the target area remains open in all directions we will prioritize our drilling program to define the boundaries of the Wassa resource so we can then focus on in-fill drilling to improve our confidence and convert resources to a growing reserve base. "

COMPANY PROFILE

Golden Star Resources holds the largest land package in one of the world's largest and most prolific gold producing regions. The Company holds a 90% equity interest in Golden Star (Bogoso/Prestea) Limited and Golden Star (Wassa) Limited, which respectively own the Bogoso/Prestea and Wassa/HBB open-pit gold mines in Ghana, West Africa. In addition, Golden Star has an 81% interest in the Prestea Underground mine in Ghana, as well as gold exploration interests elsewhere in Ghana, in other parts of West Africa and in Brazil in South America. Golden Star has approximately 259 million shares outstanding. Additional information is available at www.gsr.com.

Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Information: Some statements contained in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other applicable securities laws. Such statements include: the Company's expectations regarding its planned drilling and exploration activities for 2013 and the timing thereof; the Company's ability to evaluate expansion potential; the interpretation of drilling results; expected increases in resources and reserves at Wassa Main for 2012; and the impact of 2013 drilling on resources and reserves including grade increases and contained gold growth. Investors are cautioned that forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include timing of and unexpected events during exploration; variations in ore grade; variations in relative amounts of refractory, non-refractory and transition ores; technical or permitting issues, and fluctuations in gold price and costs. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management. Please refer to the discussion of these risks and other factors in the Company's Form 10-K for 2011 and subsequent Form 10-Qs for 2012 and other filings of the Company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and the applicable Canadian securities regulatory authorities. The forecasts contained in this press release constitute management's current estimates, as of the date of this press release, with respect to the matters covered thereby. We expect that these estimates will change as new information is received. While we may elect to update these estimates at any time, we do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event.

QA/QC:
The technical contents of this press release have been reviewed and approved by S. Mitchel Wasel, BSc Geology, a Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Wasel is Vice President of Exploration for Golden Star and an active member and Registered Chartered Professional of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

The results for Wassa quoted herein are based on the analysis of saw-split HQ/NQ Diamond half core or a three kilogram single stage riffle split of a nominal 25 to 30 kg Reverse Circulation chip sample which has been sampled over nominal one meter intervals (adjusted where necessary for mineralized structures). Sample preparation and analyses have been carried out at SGS Laboratories in Tarkwa using a 1,000 gram slurry of sample and tap water which is prepared and subjected to an accelerated cyanide leach (LEACHWELL). The sample is then rolled for twelve hours before being allowed to settle. An aliquot of solution is then taken, gold extracted into Di-iso Butyl Keytone (DiBK), and determined by flame Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry (AAS). Detection Limit is 0.01ppm.

All analytical work is subject to a systematic and rigorous Quality Assurance-Quality Control (QA-QC). At least 5% of samples are certified standards and the accuracy of the analysis is confirmed to be acceptable from comparison of the recommended and actual "standards" results. The remaining half core is stored on site for future inspection and detailed logging, to provide valuable information on mineralogy, structure, alteration patterns and the controls on gold mineralization.

Additional information on earlier drilling results at Wassa are available in the Company's February 7, 2012, May 2, 2012 and October 15, 2012 press releases.