| Wed 17 Dec 2008, 9:13 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold Closes US$51.5 Million In Senior Secured Notes |
|
GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold Closes US$51.5 Million In Senior Secured Notes
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 Gold" or the "Company")
GREAT BASIN GOLD CLOSES US$51.5 MILLION IN SENIOR SECURED NOTES
December 16, 2008, Vancouver, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd. (TSX: GBG; AMEX: GBN;
JSE: GBG) announces it has closed a Senior Secured Notes financing (the
"Financing"), issuing a total of 51,500 Units and raising gross proceeds of
US$51,500,000.
Each Unit consists of a Senior Secured Notes (the "Notes") in the principal
amount of US$1,000 and 350 share purchase warrants ("Warrants"). Each Warrant
entitles the holder to purchase one common share (an "Underlying Common Share")
in the capital of the Company at a price of CDN$1.80 per share on or before
December 12, 2011.
Each Note matures at 120% of principal on the earlier of December 12, 2011 and
certain stated events including a change of control. The Notes will bear
interest of 14% per annum with the first 24 months of interest to be prepaid.
The Notes will be guaranteed on a joint and several basis by all the Company`s
Nevada subsidiaries and secured by their assets. The Notes will also be
repayable at the election of the holder on 30 days notice after November 12,
2010.
The proceeds of the financing will be used to acquire and refurbish the
Esmeralda mine and mill, with $15 million of the proceeds to be used to fund the
Burnstone project in South Africa while the Company is negotiating its project
funding facility for that project.
The Company has also entered into an equity line agreement with an affiliate of
Investec Limited. The Investec agreement provides that up to 4 million Great
Basin Gold shares will be sold in tranches by the Company to Investec over the
next 30 days at a 5% discount to average market and subject to a CDN$1.00 floor
price and TSX approval. In connection with the Notes financing the Company will
pay the agent, Casimir Capital LP, a 4% commission plus 721,000 Warrants and has
also paid investor due diligence costs of 4% of proceeds.
The Notes and Warrants will be transferable, subject to compliance with United
States and Canadian applicable securities laws. The Notes, Warrants, underlying
common shares and equity line shares have not been and will not be registered
under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or
applicable state securities laws, and may not be offered or sold within the
United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, "U.S. persons" as such
term is defined in Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act, absent
registration there under or in transactions exempt from such registration
requirements. The Notes, Warrants, underlying shares and equity line shares are
subject to a four month resale restriction in Canada.
Ferdi Dippenaar CEO and President commented; "Great Basin Gold is in the
fortunate position of having a quality, previously unencumbered asset in Nevada,
the Hollister property, that we could leverage to raise capital even under the
current difficult market conditions. The proceeds from this financing will allow
us to conclude the purchase agreement on the Esmeralda property and mill, which
will significantly benefit the Company by having control over its processing
facility in Nevada. The development of our Burnstone project will also continue
at the planned rate of the development with a portion of the proceeds being
allocated to that project."
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
Michael Curlook in North America 1 888 633 9332
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.
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 for metals,
exploration and test-mining 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.
Date: 17/12/2008 09:13:20 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the
JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or
implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or
completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers,
employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct,
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature,
howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
information disseminated through SENS.
