| Wed 18 Jun 2008, 14:30 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold`s Hollister Project Increases Measured And Indicated |
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GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold`s Hollister Project Increases Measured And Indicated
Resources By 60% To 1.6 Million Ounces
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`S HOLLISTER PROJECT INCREASES MEASURED AND INDICATED
RESOURCES BY 60% TO 1.6 MILLION OUNCES
June 18, 2008, Vancouver, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd. (TSX: GBG; AMEX: GBN;
JSE: GBG) announced today that underground drilling has expanded and upgraded
the mineral resources in the measured and indicated category at the Company`s
Hollister Project on the Carlin Trend in Nevada, USA by 60% from 1 million to
1.6 million ounces. Overall the mineral resources increased by 15% from 2
million to 2.3 million ounces.
Further exploration and infill drilling, totaling approximately 30,000 feet
and adding to the 55,000 feet completed for the Feasibility Study, was
completed in the period from March 2007 to January 2008 to fill in gaps and to
explore the deeper parts of the deposit. Results of the resource estimates
based on this drilling at a range of cut-offs are tabulated below. At a 0.25
oz/ton cut-off, approximately 1.6 million gold equivalent ounces are contained
in estimated measured and indicated resources of 1,615,000 tons at a grade of
0.87 oz/ton. A further 680,000 gold equivalent ounces are contained in
inferred resources of 1,252,000 tons at a grade of 0.51 oz/ton.
HOLLISTER MINERAL RESOURCES JUNE 2008
RESOURCE Cut-Off TONS TONNES GRADE GRADE OUNCES
CATEGORY oz/ton Au oz/ton Au g/t Au
MEASURED 0.25 1,121,000 1,017,000 0.91 31.29 1,023,000
0.28 1,027,000 931,000 0.97 33.33 998,000
0.35 867,000 786,000 1.09 37.50 948,000
INDICATED 0.25 494,000 448,000 0.76 26.13 376,000
0.28 442,000 401,000 0.82 28.11 363,000
0.35 361,000 328,000 0.93 32.00 337,000
TOTAL 0.25 1,615,000 1,465,000 0.87 29.71 1,399,000
MEASURED
&
INDICATED
0.28 1,469,000 1,333,000 0.93 31.76 1,360,000
0.35 1,228,000 1,114,000 1.05 35.88 1,285,000
INFERRED 0.25 1,252,000 1,136,000 0.51 17.40 635,000
0.28 1,149,000 1,043,000 0.53 18.14 608,000
0.35 848,000 770,000 0.61 20.80 515,000
RESOURCE GRADE GRADE OUNCES OUNCES Au
CATEGORY Ag oz/ton Ag g/t Ag Equivalent
MEASURED 5.55 190.45 6,227,000 1,167,000
5.92 202.99 6,078,000 1,138,000
6.61 226.56 5,725,000 1,080,000
INDICATED 2.33 80.00 1,152,000 403,000
2.48 84.93 1,095,000 388,000
2.69 92.39 974,000 360,000
TOTAL 4.57 156.68 7,379,000 1,569,000
MEASURED
&
INDICATED
4.88 167.45 7,173,000 1,526,000
5.46 187.07 6,699,000 1,440,000
INFERRED 1.43 49.10 1,793,000 677,000
1.39 47.74 1,600,000 645,000
0.99 33.81 837,000 534,000
Gold equivalent was calculated by using the following metal prices: US$650/oz
for Au and US$15/oz for Ag.
Metallurgical recoveries assumed to be 100% for contained metal values.
The short term focus of the exploration program was directed at converting
previous inferred resources to measured and indicated categories. To date
significant success has been achieved. The longer term focus of the ongoing
program is to explore the deposit along strike and at depth, with good
progress overall.
The Company currently has two drill rigs in operation underground with a third
expected to be mobilised shortly. Surface exploration is focused on the
Hatter Graben area, the East Clementine structure and the South Velvet area.
Four surface core drills are on site and 13 holes have been completed so far
on these targets. The results of this program will be released as soon as
sufficient information is available.
Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO, commented: "A total of 868,500 tons at an
average grade of 1.01 oz/ton gold and 4.3 oz/ton silver at a cut-off grade of
0.28 oz/ton, yielding 876,000 oz of gold and 4,300,000 oz of silver was used
for the current mine plan in the July 2007 Feasibility Study (see Great Basin
Gold News Release July 12 2007), resulting in a recovery of 956,000 equivalent
ounces of gold over a 6 year life-of-mine. With the increased size of the
measured and indicated resource, the life-of-mine plan for Hollister could
change, possibly extending the life of the operations considerably.
The results from drilling at Hollister support the Company`s decision to
invest US$14 million in ongoing exploration. Only a portion of the assays are
available and our stated objectives are being achieved, which bodes well for
the remainder of the program."
The mineral resources were estimated by using a combination of ordinary
kriging and inverse distance. The estimates were completed by Deon van den
Heever, Pr.Sci.Nat., of Geologix Mineral Resource Consultants (Pty) Ltd., an
independent Qualified Person as defined by Canadian Securities Regulations in
National Instrument 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the information.
Details of the estimate will be included in a technical report in 45 days.
Ferdi Dippenaar
President and CEO
For additional details on Great Basin Gold Ltd. and its gold properties,
please visit the Company`s website at www.grtbasin.com or contact Investor
Services:
Tsholo Serunye in South Africa 27 (0)11 301 1800
Melanee Henderson in North America 1 800 667-2114
Barbara Cano at Breakstone Group in the USA (646) 452-2334
Samples collected from the Hollister Development Block Project are stored in a
secure facility until picked up by Inspectorate America Corporation
(Inspectorate) of Sparks, Nevada. Vein samples are analyzed by either
metallic screen or standard fire assay procedures. For metallic screen
analyses, vein sample preparation consists of drying and jaw-crushing the
entire sample to 90% passing 10-mesh, taking a 500 g sub-sample using a rotary
splitter, and then pulverizing the 500 g sub-sample to 90% passing 150-mesh
using a large capacity ring and puck pulverizer. Gold and silver
determinations are by metallic screen analysis, with two 1 assay-ton (30 g)
fire assays completed on the fine fraction; the coarse fraction is fire
assayed in its entirety. For standard fire assay, vein sample preparation
consists of drying and jaw-crushing the entire sample to 90% passing 10-mesh,
taking a 300 g sub-sample using a Jones splitter, and then pulverizing the 300
g sub-sample to 90% passing 150-mesh using a large capacity ring and puck
pulverizer. A 30 g charge is fire assayed. All metal determinations are by
gravimetric finish. Vein samples analyzed by standard fire assay will be re-
assayed using metallic screen procedures. Laboratory Quality Assurance/Quality
Control (QA/QC) is monitored using coarse reject blanks and assay standards,
duplicate fire assays, and Inspectorate`s internal standards and blanks.
Coarse blanks (barren rhyolite or landscape marble) and assay standards are
inserted into the sample sequence as blind samples prior to submitting the
samples to the laboratory. Inspectorate also inserts assay standards and
blanks into the sample stream. QA/QC results are within acceptable limits.
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained
in this news release.
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 Gold
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, continuity of
mineralization, uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary
permits, licenses and title and delays due to third party opposition,
geopolitical uncertainty, changes in government policies regarding mining and
natural resource exploration and exploitation, and continued availability of
capital and financing, 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 40-F filing
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and its home
jurisdiction filings that are available at www.sedar.com.
Information Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Resources
This news release also uses the terms "measured resources", "indicated
resources" and "inferred resources". The Company advises investors that
although these terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations
(under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize
them. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of the
mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted into reserves. In
addition, `inferred resources` have a great amount of uncertainty as to their
existence, and economic and legal feasibility. It cannot be assumed that all
or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher
category. Under Canadian rules, estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources may
not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, or economic
studies except for Preliminary Assessment as defined under 43-101. Investors
are cautioned not to assume that part or all of an inferred resource exists,
or is economically or legally mineable.
Date: 18/06/2008 14:30:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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