GREAT WESTERN MINERALS GROUP AND GQD MAKING SUBSTANTIAL PROGRESS ON STEENKAMPSKRAAL RARE EARTH SEPARATION PLANT ------------------------------------------- September 29, 2011 - Saskatoon, Canada: Great Western Minerals Group ("GWMG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that substantial progress is being achieved, with the active participation of Ganzhou Qiandong Rare Earth Group Ltd.

("GQD") of China, in the development work on the rare earth separation plant in the vicinity of Steenkampskraal in South Africa. On July 25, 2011, GWMG and GQD signed a Heads of Terms that will form the basis of the final agreement (the "Agreement") between the two companies.

A new joint venture company, Great Western GQD Rare Earth Materials Co.

Ltd., is to be created with GWMG holding 75% ownership and GQD holding 25%. In the upcoming week, GQD will send a team of six engineers to South Africa to continue detailed discussions with GWMG personnel on the design and construction of the separation plant.

GWMG will be represented by two Company Directors, the Chairman of Rare Earth Extraction Co.

Ltd., the Steenkampskraal Project Director, and GWMGs metallurgical and technical staff. GWMG will also host a Steenkampskraal site visit for GQD followed by meetings with Steenkampskraal region government officials to discuss arrangements for utilities and labour requirements for the project.

Concurrently, GWMG and GQD representatives will be working on the finalization of the Agreement between the two companies. Jim Engdahl, President and Chief Officer of GWMG said, "We continue to work our way through the development process for the separation plant with the active participation of GQD.

Thanks to the long standing business relationship between GWMGs Less Common Metals and GQD, the minor delay we have experienced in finalizing the Agreement is not preventing GQD from being fully involved in the work on the separation plant, as evidenced by the upcoming meetings and site visit." Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.

is an integrated Rare Earths processor.

Its specialty alloys are used in the battery, magnet and aerospace industries.

Produced at the Companys wholly owned subsidiaries Less Common Metals Limited in Birkenhead, U.K.

and Great Western Technologies Inc.

in Troy, Michigan, these alloys contain aluminium, nickel, cobalt and Rare Earth Elements.

As part of the Companys vertical integration strategy, GWMG also holds 100% equity ownership in Rare Earth Extraction Co.

Limited, which owns a 74% equity interest in the Steenkampskraal Mine.

In addition to an exploration program at Steenkampskraal, GWMG also holds interests in four active Rare Earth exploration and development properties in North America. For further information, please contact Dwight Percy, Manager of Investor Relations at (306) 659-4500.

Email inquiries should be made to and the company website is located at www.gwmg.ca.

Inquiries by direct mail should be addressed to Great Western Minerals Group Ltd., 219 Robin Crescent, Saskatoon, SK S7L 6M8. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain information set out in this News Release constitutes forward-looking information.

Forward-looking statements (often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "expect", "may", "could", "anticipate" or "will" and similar expressions) may describe expectations, opinions or guidance that are not statements of fact and which may be based upon information provided by third parties.

Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions, expectations and estimates of management of GWMG as at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or outcomes to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Those factors include, but are not limited to refurbishment activities and reliance on third parties to meet projected timelines, the results of the exploration program, a resource estimate and commencement of production at Steenkampskraal, satisfaction of the conditions precedent with respect to GWMGs offtake agreement, receipt of all required approvals (including those relating to the commencement of production at the Steenkampskraal mine) and risks, uncertainties and other factors that are beyond the control of GWMG, risks associated with the industry in general, commodity prices and exchange rate changes, operational risks associated with exploration, development and production operations, delays or changes in plans, risks associated with the uncertainty of reserve or resource estimates, health and safety risks and the uncertainty of estimates and projections of production, costs and expenses.

In light of the risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking information.

Although GWMG believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements set out in this press release or incorporated herein by reference are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct.

The forward-looking statements of GWMG contained in this News Release, or incorporated herein by reference, are expressly qualified, in their entirety, by this cautionary statement and the risk factors contained in GWMGs current annual information form available at www.sedar.com.