Rusoro Reports Record Gold Production and Record Low Cash Costs for Q4 2008

PRESS RELEASE:

Rusoro Mining Ltd. is pleased to report that it has reached record quarterly gold production (38,868 ounces) in Q4 2008 and record low cash costs (US$358 per ounce) for the same period at the Choco 10 operations which the Company acquired as of November 30, 2007. In addition, the Company is delighted to confirm that the Ministry of Basic Industries and Mining (MIBAM) has approved the technical, financial, and environmental study for the Company's Increible 6 Gold Project. This approval is a further step in implementing the Company's strategy where it expects to expand the Choco 10 operations by processing ore from the Increible 6 deposit at the Choco 10 mill, which are 6 km away from each other.

Rusoro's December monthly results cap a record quarter at the Company's Choco 10 operations. December was the third consecutive month in which the Choco 10 mill achieved record gold production at historically low cash costs. The mill processes ore from the Company's Choco 10 and Isidora mines located near the town of El Callao in Bolivar State, Venezuela. Recent production highlights and related (unaudited) costs include:

- Record Quarterly Operations in Q4 2008. In Q4 2008, the Choco 10 mill produced 38,868 ounces of gold at a cost of US$358 per ounce marking the best quarter in the history of the Choco 10 mill. This also marks the first full quarter of positive cash flow from operations at the Choco 10 mill.

- Record December Monthly Production. The Choco 10 mill produced 14,261 ounces of gold in December 2008. This marks the third consecutive month of record gold production and can be attributed to high volumes of ore processed from the Choco 10 mine which produced 9,234 ounces of gold with the other 5,027 ounces of gold coming from ore processed from the near-by Isidora gold mine.

- Record December Monthly Cash Costs. Cash costs at the Choco 10 mill were a record low for December at US$347 per ounce of gold. The vast improvement is the culmination of a number of initiatives which include improvements made to the haulage fleet availabilities, mill availabilities, modifications made to the primary mine haulage contract and optimization of the mine plan.

- Rusoro Advances Environmental Permit for Increible 6 Deposit. This is Rusoro's second major mining related approval as the Company has now been approved to move forward on its second new mining operation in less than a year. Ore from the Company's Increible 6 deposit is expected to be processed at the Choco 10 mill commencing in Q4 2009.

Rusoro's President, George Salamis noted, "Our stated goal was to be cash positive at the Choco 10 mill in 2008 and to do that for the full quarter at year end is both exciting and a tribute to Rusoro's operations team whose diligence has resulted in the operations reaching these milestones. To have achieved these results is a testament to the Company's ability to successfully consolidate gold assets in Venezuela and successfully turn them around by increasing efficiency and dealing with issues that plagued the operations under previous management. We will continue with a number of initiatives that are on-going and the Company believes that it can maintain and even further reduce some operational cash costs at the mines."

Rusoro CEO, Andre Agapov stated, "We are delighted with both our operational results and with the receipt of the Increible 6 approval. With the Choco 10 mill reaching these operational milestones and our plan to bring the Increible 6 and San Rafael / El Placer mines on-stream over the next year we intend to continue to execute our production growth strategy to the benefit of our shareholders."

Increible 6 Permits

The Company is pleased to report that MIBAM has approved the study on the technical, financial, and environmental merits for the Company's Increible 6 Gold Project. The approval for the Certificate of Exploitation was published in Venezuela's Official Gazette on December 23, 2008. The Exploitation Certificate is expected by the Company prior to January 23, 2009 at which time the application will be made for the Permit to Affect Natural Resources. The permitting process remains on track for production from Increible 6 in 2009. Rusoro's 100% owned Increible 6 gold mine is located 6 km from the Choco 10 mill. It is the Company's intention to process ore from Increible 6 at the Choco mill commercially in mid to late 2009. The Increible 6 mine is host to 1,587,000 ounces indicated (23.5 Mt @ 2.11g/t Au) and 1,100,000 ounces inferred (17.5 Mt @ 1.95g/t Au) (see News Release - Nov. 15, 2007), which Rusoro has advanced through discovery, delineation and now development. Increible 6, along with Choco 10, is currently the subject of a scoping study (PEA), looking at production expansion alternatives for the future.

This marks the second time in the last year that Rusoro successfully advanced the permitting process for a new mining operation. Rusoro announced the receipt of its permit for the development of its 100% owned SREP ore body in January 2008.

Q4: Mining and Milling

Total ore processed at the Choco 10 mill in Q4 was 600,774 tonnes. The total gold produced at the mill was 38,868 ounces during Q4. This is a record amount of gold poured in any quarter at the Choco 10 mill. Of the 38,868 ounces produced for the quarter, 11,903 ounces were produced from Isidora gold ore processed at the Choco 10 mill and 26,965 ounces came from the Choco 10 mine. Significant ore development has now been completed at the Isidora mine which the Company believes will allow it to sustain Isidora's current production levels moving forward. Additionally, the Company will continue to optimize efficiency and conduct exploration for the purpose of converting gold resources to minable reserves at Isidora.

For Q4 2008, the operational cash costs (unaudited) at the Choco 10 mill for the combined gold produced from the Choco 10 and Isidora mines was US$358 per ounce.

Bid for Gold Reserve

Rusoro commenced a take-over bid (the "Bid") for 100% of the shares of Gold Reserve Inc. ("Gold Reserve") on December 15, 2008. It offers Gold Reserve shareholders 3 Rusoro shares for each Gold Reserve share held, and Gold Reserve shareholders are free to tender their shares to the Bid at any time prior to the Bid expiry time of midnight at the end of January 21, 2009.

Based on the closing price of Rusoro shares on January 13, 2009 on the TSX
Venture Exchange, the Bid on that date represented a value to Gold Reserve
shareholders of C$1.80 per Gold Reserve share.

On January 5, 2009, Rusoro issued a press release confirming, among other things, that its technical consultants had worked diligently in preparing the Bid. Rusoro is pleased to confirm that the involvement of its technical consultants (Micon International and Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle, the "Rusoro Technical Consultants") with the Bid was limited to the provision of signed consent letters by the Qualified Persons who prepared independent Technical Reports on behalf of Rusoro under the requirements of National Instrument 43-101 of the Canadian securities regulatory authorities and in connection with Rusoro's Offer and Circular and Annual Information Form and the provision of consents required by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with Rusoro's Form F-10 registration statement. These consents are a matter of public record and can be reviewed under the Gold Reserve public filing record with both the Canadian and U.S. securities regulatory authorities at www.SEDAR.com and www.sec.gov, respectively. Rusoro has not requested any advice or information regarding Gold Reserve from the Rusoro Technical Consultants and the Rusoro Technical Consultants have not provided any advice or confidential information relating to Gold Reserve to Rusoro, or vice versa.

Qualified Person: Mr. Gregory Smith, P.Geo, the Vice-President Exploration of the Company, is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, and is responsible for the accuracy of the scientific and technical aspects of this news release.

About Rusoro Mining

Rusoro is a junior gold producer with a large land position in the prolific Bolivar State region of Venezuela. The Company operates the Choco 10 and Isidora Mines, processing the ore through the Choco 10 mill facility near the town of El Callao. The Company produced over 100,000 ounces of gold in 2008 and is on schedule to have two additional mines (Increible 6 and SREP) in production by Q4 2009 and Q1 2010, respectively.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

George Salamis, President