| Thu 15 Nov 2007, 9:36 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold Limited - Great Basin Gold |
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GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold Limited - Great Basin Gold makes good progress in
operationalizing its projects
GREAT BASIN GOLD LIMITED
(INCORPORATED IN CANADA AND REGISTERED AS AN EXTERNAL COMPANY IN SOUTH
AFRICA)
(REGISTRATION NO. 2006/021304/10)
SHARE CODE: GBG & ISIN NUMBER: CA3901241057
("GREAT BASIN" OR "THE COMPANY")
GREAT BASIN GOLD MAKES GOOD PROGRESS IN
OPERATIONALIZING ITS PROJECTS
November 14, 2007, Vancouver, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd ("Great Basin" or the
"Company") (TSX:GBG; AMEX GBN; JSE: GBGold) continues to make good progress
with the development of its two gold projects, the Hollister Project in
Nevada, USA and the Burnstone Project in South Africa.
For the quarter ended September 30, 2007, the Company incurred a loss of
$14.4 million before tax compared to a loss of $13.8 million for the quarter
ended June 30, 2007. The 4% increase resulted mainly from an increase in
exchange losses, which was partially offset by the $1.0 million received from
the disposal of the Casino Property Option.
Operational and exploration costs decreased marginally, from $9.9 million in
the June quarter to $9.4 million during the quarter under review. Of these
costs, excluding stock-based compensation, $3.6 million was spent at
Burnstone (June - $2.7 million) and $5.3 million (June - $7.0 million) was
spent at Hollister. Stock-based compensation increased marginally to $1.9
million compared to $1.8 million recorded in the June quarter.
The Burnstone Project in South Africa is progressing well with development in
the decline advancing to beyond 1,230 meters from the portal entrance. Total
costs increased from $2.7 million in the June quarter to $3.6 million in the
September quarter with the decline development, bulk sampling activities and
construction of surface infrastructure still being the main focus. The raise
boring of the vertical shaft, at a cost of $0.3 million, commenced in
September and was subsequently completed in October.
At Hollister, $5.3 million was expensed on exploration and related costs
during the September quarter. As part of the continued Stage II development,
costs of $4.8 million were incurred in the September quarter (June - $3.7
million). The increase is mainly attributable to equipment rental and
services of $1.2 million (June - $0.6 million) and operational costs of $1.7
million (June - $0.4 million). In line with activities to operationalise the
project, environmental, socio-economic and land costs increased in the
September quarter to $0.7 million compared to $0.08 million in the June
quarter.
In addition to activities at Burnstone and Hollister, $0.5 million was
incurred on exploration on new properties adjacent to Burnstone, and in
Mozambique and Alaska (Ganes Creek). As these exploration activities were
mainly early stage in nature, expenditure is expected to increase over the
next few months as drilling gets underway in Mozambique and Alaska. Great
Basin Gold recently announced a new $15 million exploration program planned
to be spread over a 12 month period at its Hollister Property in Nevada.
As at 30 September 2007, the Company had cash resources of $69 million. In
line, investment income increased from $0.8 million in June to $1.0 million
in September, mainly due to interest earned on the increased cash in the
bank. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company received $38 million upon
conclusion of its BEE transaction with Tranter Burnstone Pty Ltd., increasing
cash resources to approximately $100 million.
Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO commented: "Great Basin Gold is making
good progress with the operationalization of its two projects. Our
management teams at the two projects are preparing for what we believe will
be an exciting and rewarding 2008. All the necessary activities which will
allow for production at Hollister next year are well underway and at
Burnstone development is on track to initiate bulk mining activities in the
second half of the year."
Ferdi Dippenaar
President and CEO
Further information on the period ending September 30, 2007 is available in
the Company`s Management Discussion and Analysis and Financial Statements
filed on www.sedar.com.
For additional details on Great Basin Gold and its properties, please visit
the Company`s website at www.grtbasin.com or contact Investor Services:
Tsholo Serunye in South Africa 27 11 301 1800
Melanee Henderson in North America 1 800 667-2114
Barbara Cano at Breakstone Group in the USA (646) 452-2334
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained
in this news release.
Cautionary and Forward Looking Statement Information
This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking
statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of
historical facts, that address possible future commercial production,
reserve potential, exploration drilling results, development, feasibility or
exploitation activities and events or developments that Great Basin expects
to occur are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the
expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on
reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from
those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include
market prices, exploitation and exploration successes, effect of and changes
to government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration and
exploitation, availability of capital and financing, geopolitical uncertainty
and political and economic instability, and general economic, market or
business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not
guarantees of future performance and those actual results or developments may
differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For
more information on the Company, Investors should review the Company`s annual
Form 20-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
Date: 15/11/2007 09:36:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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