CIO Increases Iron Ore Land Package by 250%

ABN: 32 072 871 133

Central Iron Ore Ltd.

#1641 Lonsdale Ave, Suite 869, North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2J5 Canada Tel. 604.988.8186 Fax. 604.357.5353

NEWS RELEASE Symbol: CIO-TSXV January 24, 2012 For Immediate Dissemination

CIO INCREASES IRON ORE LAND PACKAGE BY 250%

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – (Marketwire – January 24, 2012), Central Iron Ore Ltd. (CIO – TSX.V) (“CIO” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has applied for six new exploration licences at its Perinvale South Iron Ore Hub.

The Company now has a total of 15 iron ore tenements covering 1,588km² (refer table below) that are located within the Yilgarn Iron Ore Province (“Yilgarn IOP”) in Western Australia, of which nine tenements are granted and six tenements are pending applications. The Yilgarn IOP is considered highly prospective, given its history of large-scale iron ore production, with the Cliffs Natural Resources-owned Koolyanobbing operation (formerly operated by Portman Limited) currently producing at a rate of approximately 8Mtpa of Direct Shipping Ore (“DSO”). The Yilgarn IOP is increasingly being recognised as an attractive location for the development of iron ore, given its proximity to rail and access to ports.

Yilgarn Iron Ore Project Area

The Company believes its expanded Perinvale South Iron Ore Hub provides a significant continuous platform for the exploration of iron ore and will provide a new future phase of growth for the Company.

The initial strategy and objective of the company is to evaluate the occurrence of both magnetite ore and direct shipping ore within the Perinvale South Iron Ore Hub and to gain an initial understanding of their respective resource potential. Work is currently underway on the Perinvale South Iron Ore Hub and it is expected that future announcements regarding both the project status and their resource potential will follow as exploration activities are completed. It is expected that rock chip sample analysis from recent field mapping activities will be available in the coming weeks.

Mr Brett Hodgins, President and CEO, said “These new tenements have formed a significant land package at our Perinvale South Iron Ore Hub which is now 1,150km². The additional new tenements have joined our two existing Perinvale South Iron Ore Hub tenements together resulting in a continuous land holding package in the region. This combined with our funding reinforces CIO strategy to focus on future exploration programs to identify sufficient DSO resources to support a start up project.

CIO will have a booth at PDAC 2012 (Booth number 2842) and we are pleased to invite shareholders and potential investors to attend.”

The Company is pleased to announce that Ms Katherine Garvey has accepted a position as CIO’s Company Secretary. Mr Peter Treston has resigned from the role of Company Secretary.

The board wishes to thank Peter for his contributions to CIO over many years.

Katherine is an experienced corporate lawyer with a focus on the Energy & Resources sector, including advising public companies on capital raisings, mergers and acquisitions, corporate matters, sale and purchase agreements, company secretarial, farm ins and joint ventures.

QUALIFIED PERSON

Mr. Andrew Spinks B.App.Sc, Grad.Dip (Mining), a member of AusIMM, and a consultant geologist, is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101").

On behalf of the Board of Directors CENTRAL IRON ORE LTD.

“Brett Hodgins”

____________________________ Brett Hodgins, President/CEO

For further information, please contact:

www.centralironorelimited.com

Investor and Media Inquiries:

Capital Street Group 1641 Lonsdale Ave, Suite 869 North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2J5 TOLL Free IR Line: 1-888-684-1183 Direct: (604) 988-8186 Email:[email protected]

Neither the 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 IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Such information includes, without limitation, information regarding “CIO INCREASES IRON ORE LAND PACKAGE BY 250%”. Although the Company believes that such information is reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking information is typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking information provided by the Company is not a guarantee of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking information as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company’s equity securities, the state of the market for iron ore or other minerals that may be produced generally, recent market volatility; variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies and other risks associated with the exploration and development of mineral properties. The reader is referred to the Company's disclosure documents for a more complete discussion of such risk factors and their potential effects, copies of which may be accessed through the Company’s page on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.