NewLead Holdings Ltd. Regains Compliance with
NASDAQ Minimum Bid Price Requirement

Piraeus, Greece, Jan. 6, 2014

NewLead Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: NEWL) ("NewLead" or the "Company") today announced that on Friday, January 3, 2014 it received written notification from the Listing Qualifications Staff of the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC ("NASDAQ") indicating that the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel ("Panel") determined the Company had regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement of $1.00 per share for continued listing on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

Under NASDAQ Listing Rule 5815 (d)(4)(a), the Panel will monitor the Company for a six-month period, ending June 30, 2014, to see if it experiences a closing bid price under $1.00 for a period of 30 consecutive trading days.

About NewLead Holdings Ltd.
NewLead Holdings Ltd. is an international, vertically integrated shipping and commodity company that manages product tankers and dry bulk vessels. NewLead currently owns three dry bulk vessels, which includes one newbuilding. NewLead owns a wash plant and a mine, the Viking mine in Kentucky, USA. NewLead's common shares are traded under the symbol "NEWL" on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. To learn more about NewLead Holdings Ltd., please visit the new website at www.newleadholdings.com.

Source: NewLead Holdings Ltd. press release