8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report: January 18, 2018

(Date of earliest event reported)

Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Commission File Number: 001-21777

British Columbia, Canada	Not Applicable
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

#2300 – 1066 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V6E 3X2

(Address of principal executive offices, including zip code)

(778) 373-1557

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Not Applicable

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

¨ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

¨ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

¨ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).

Emerging growth company o

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. o

Item 8.01 Other Events.

On January 18, 2018, the Company issued a press release entitled “Golden Queen Announces December Operational Results and Positive Reconciliation of Ore Tonnage and Grade in the East Pit”. A copy of the press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1 and incorporated herein by reference.

The information in this Item 8.01 is hereby incorporated by reference into the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-221969).

Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.

(d) Exhibits

Exhibit No.	Description
99.1	Press Release of Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. dated January 18, 2018

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	GOLDEN QUEEN MINING CO. LTD.
Date: January 18, 2018	By:	/s/ Brenda Dayton
		Brenda Dayton
		Corporate Secretary

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit No.	Description
99.1	Press Release dated January 18, 2018

EX-99.1

Exhibit 99.1

NEWS RELEASE

Golden Queen ANNOUNCES December operational results

and positive reconciliation of ore tonnage and grade in the East pit

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – January 18, 2018 - Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd. (TSX:GQM | OTCQX:GQMNF) (“Golden Queen” or “the Company”) today announces its operating results for December 2017, including total gold production of 2,939 ounces and revenue of US$4.1 m from its Soledad Mountain gold-silver mine (the “Mine”) located south of Mojave, California. All amounts herein are in US dollars and reflect 100% of the operating results of Golden Queen Mining Company, LLC (“GQM LLC”), the Company’s 50%-owned subsidiary that holds the Mine, unless otherwise stated.

Golden Queen advised in its third quarter Form 10-Q that management was accelerating the East Pit development to seek to access higher-grade ore tons as soon as possible to compensate for the shortfall in the ore supplied and the lower than expected gold ore grades from the North-West and Main (Phase 1) Pits. Since November 2017, five benches have been mined out in the East Pit and the Company is pleased to report the following positive reconciliation between Ore Control (production) and Reserves:

Ore Control v. Reserves
	Ore tons			Au oz/ton			Au oz			Ag oz/ton			Ag oz
Bench 3800
Reserves		57,517			0.016			941			0.318			18,309
Ore Control		114,237			0.012			1,372			0.319			36,437
Variance OC-Reserves Reserves		99	%		-27	%		46	%		0	%		99	%
Bench 3780
Reserves		81,333			0.015			1,225			0.287			23,253
Ore Control		160,373			0.016			2,638			0.329			52,748
Variance OC-Reserves Reserves		97	%		9	%		115	%		15	%		126	%
Bench 3760
Reserves		126,065			0.015			1,887			0.279			35,121
Ore Control		171,551			0.018			3,071			0.227			38,977
Variance OC-Reserves Reserves		36	%		20	%		63	%		-18	%		11	%

Bench 3740
Reserves	167,306		0.014		2,413		0.249		41,614
Ore Control	199,890		0.018		3,664		0.295		58,963
Variance OC-Reserves Reserves	19	%	27	%	52	%	19	%	42	%
Bench 3720
Reserves	203,053		0.015		3,141		0.252		51,200
Ore Control	254,828		0.018		4,644		0.288		73,423
Variance OC-Reserves Reserves	25	%	18	%	48	%	14	%	43	%
Cumulative
Reserves	635,274		0.015		9,607		0.267		169,598
Ore Control	900,879		0.017		15,388		0.289		260,548
Variance OC-Reserves Reserves	42	%	13	%	60	%	8	%	54	%

To date, the tonnage produced in the East Pit has consistently been better than expected due to the presence of ore blocks in the Patience vein structure area that had been classified as possible or simply un-modeled. In addition, the gold grade was 13% higher than estimated for a total of 1.6 times the expected gold ounces. The silver grade was 8% higher than estimated for a total of 1.5 times the predicted number of silver ounces.

On January 22^nd, the Company’s drill program comprising up to 20 holes and approximately 20,000 feet of reverse circulation drilling at a projected cost of US$1.0 m will commence. This drilling is designed to increase confidence in the currently modelled ore grades and tonnage associated with the Golden Queen vein structure, to improve the Company’s understanding of the Patience vein structure with the objective of adding additional ounces to the reserves with immediate impact to the mine plan, and to investigate the Silver Queen vein structure in the South-East section where historical underground development appears on historic maps but has not been evidenced in historic extraction reports.

Upcoming Event

Mr. Thomas M. Clay, Chairman and CEO will be a speaker at the 2018 Vancouver Resource Investment Conference. The presentation will take place on Sunday, January 21st at 11:20am in the Vancouver Convention Centre West.

About Golden Queen Mining Co. Ltd.:

Golden Queen is a gold and silver producer holding a 50% interest in an open pit, heap leach mining operation on the Soledad Mountain property, located just outside the town of Mojave in Kern County in southern California. The mine also produces aggregate rock.

Technical Information:

The scientific and technical content of this news release was reviewed, verified, and approved by Tim Mazanek, SME; a qualified person as defined by Canadian Securities Administrators National Instrument 43-101 “Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects and the Mine Manager of Golden Queen Mining Company, LLC.

For further information, please contact:

Brenda Dayton

Telephone: 778.373.1557

Email: bdayton@goldenqueen.com

Caution With Respect To Forward-looking Statements: This news release contains forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws (herein referred to as "forward-looking statements") that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All information and statements in this news release that are not statements of historical fact may be forward-looking statements, including references to the mining operation and future production results, grade and quantities or ore, planned drilling programs and the impact of such programs on mineral resources and reserves and mine plans, planned exploration and development activities, operating costs, and plant capacity. Such statements or information are only intentions and expectations of management and reflect the current beliefs of management and are based on information currently available to management. In addition, results of operations can vary significantly and past results may not necessarily be consistent with future results. Actual results and events may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements due to these statements being subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. Undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature forward-looking statements involve assumptions and known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions and other forward-looking statements will not occur. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, unexpected regulatory issues, and changes in the general economic and business conditions pertaining to Golden Queen’s operations. Should any risks or uncertainties that face Golden Queen and its subsidiaries materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results or achievements could vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this news release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of risks is not exhaustive. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect the operations or financial results of Golden Queen and its subsidiaries are included in, Golden Queen’s short form prospectus, and Golden Queen's annual report on Form 10-K, annual financial statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2016, and subsequent quarterly periods, each of which has been filed under the Company’s profile on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) or with the SEC (www.sec.gov). Any forward-looking statement herein contained is made as of the date of this news release and Golden Queen does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new information, events or circumstances, except as required by law.