(Not for Distribution to the United States Newswire Services or for Dissemination in the United States)
GREAT WESTERN MINERALS GROUP ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF $35 MILLION OFFERING -------------------------------------------------------------------------- October 19, 2010 - Saskatoon, Canada.

Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.

("GWMG" or the "Company") announces that it has closed its previously announced short form prospectus offering, raising gross proceeds of approximately $35,000,000 for the Company. Byron Securities Limited of Toronto, as lead agent and Salman Partners Inc, as syndicate agent (collectively, the "Agents"), acted as agents for the Company with respect to the sale of 106,060,606 units ("Units") of GWMG at a price of $0.33 per Unit (the "Unit Offering"). Each Unit consists of one common share (a "Common Share") of GWMG and one-half of one Common Share purchase warrant (each whole warrant, a "Unit Warrant").

Each Unit Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share for a price of $0.45 per Common Share until 4:00 p.m.

(Saskatoon time) on October 19, 2012. The agents were paid an aggregate cash commission of $2,100,000 in connection with the Unit Offering and received an aggregate of 6,363,636 broker warrants to acquire up to 6,363,636 Common Shares at a price of $0.45 per Common Share until October 19, 2012. Jim Engdahl President and CEO 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 has signed an Off-take Agreement for 100% of the Rare Earth Elements produced at the former producing Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa and holds 20.8% ownership in Rare Earth Extraction Co.

Ltd., the owner of the Steenkampskraal mine.

GWMG also holds interests in seven 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. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities of the Company in any jurisdiction.

The securities to be issued pursuant to the Unit Offering by the Company have not and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act"), or the securities laws of any state of the United States, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption therefrom under the 1933 Act and the securities laws of all applicable states. Certain information set out in this News Release constitutes forward-looking information, which may include information relating to estimates of sales and revenue of GWMG.

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 the Company 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 risks, uncertainties and other factors that are beyond the control of the Company, 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 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 the Company 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 the Company contained in this press release, or incorporated herein by reference, are expressly qualified, in their entirety, by this cautionary statement.