| Tue 3 Feb 2009, 15:30 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold - Results Of Trial Mining And Ongoing Metallurgical Test |
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GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold - Results Of Trial Mining And Ongoing Metallurgical Test
Work At Hollister
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")
RESULTS OF TRIAL MINING AND ONGOING METALLURGICAL TEST WORK AT HOLLISTER
February 3, 2009, Vancouver, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd ("Great Basin Gold" or
the "Company") (TSX: GBG; NYSE Alternext: GBG; JSE: GBG) announces the results
of its ongoing underground exploration and development (inclusive of trial
mining and metallurgical test work) at Hollister for the year ended December 31,
2008.
During the period under review, the Company continued with infrastructure
establishment which included the completion of an expanded waste rock disposal
facility, a third rapid infiltration basin and commissioning of the water
desilting facility. Different stoping methods were also under trial at Hollister
during 2008. The results of the shrinkage and cut/fill methods yielded an
average gold equivalent grade of 1.6 oz/ton1. The average minimum mining widths
for both the shrinkage and cut and fill stopes was 42 inches (3.5 feet). Vein
recovery in the surveyed shrinkage and cut/fill stopes was 99%. A third stoping
method, thermal fragmentation, is being tested at Hollister as a research and
development project.
HOLLISTER RESULTS AND RELATED COSTS
for bulk sampling and trial mining to December 31, 2008
ACTUAL COMMENTS
Ore extracted (tons) 50,161
Ore treated (tons) 33,830 Under Processing Agreements
Extracted equivalent ounces 80,305 In line with management
forecast of 80,000
equivalent ounces
Average grade extracted 1.60 Higher than management
(gold equivalent oz/ton) forecast of
1.1 gold equivalent oz/ton
Recovered equivalent ounces 38,465
for the year from processing
agreements
Average grade recovered 1.14 Gold recovery percentage in
(gold equivalent oz/ton) the ore purchase agreement
with Midas negatively
impacted on the ounces
recovered
Cash cost per equivalent gold 300 Milling and haulage costs
ounce, excl. milling and are excluded due to various
haulage charges options evaluated
(US$ per equivalent gold
ounce)
Milling and haulage costs 215 Costs were mainly affected
(US$ per equivalent gold by the terms of the Midas
ounce) ore purchase agreement
1Material processed contains gold and silver. Gold equivalent was calculated
using Au price of US$650/oz & Ag price of US$10/oz.
During 2008, ore was shipped to two separate facilities for further
metallurgical testing. The metallurgical results are reported in the table
below. Material is pending treatment from the November Newmont Midas tests and
the Kinross Republic facility, so the final milling results have yet to be
determined.
-2-
AU HEAD AG HEAD VOLUME AU AG
GRADE GRADE (dry RECOVERY RECOVERY
(oz/ton) (oz/ton) tons) (%) (%)
Newmont Midas 1.15 9.53 4,737 84.7 94.3
(May)
Newmont Midas 0.75 9.70 3,906 88.2 92.6
(June)
Newmont Midas 1.43 12.07 10,907 88.1 91.1
(Sept)
*Newmont Midas 2.02 16.2 12,075 **OPA **OPA
(Nov)
*Kinross 2.34 20.14 4,692 N/A N/A
Republic (Nov)
*Actual assays not yet processed.
** Actual recoveries not available as it was based on ore purchase agreement
with Newmont
At the end of December 2008, an additional approximately 10,273 gold equivalent
ounces were held in various stockpiles.
Under the current Plan of Operations approved by the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), the Company is permitted to undertake underground exploration and
development inclusive of the taking and removal of bulk samples, and doing trial
mining. An amended Plan of Operations to approve full production was submitted
to the BLM in March 2008. After evaluating the Company`s proposal for full-scale
production, the BLM determined that the environmental analysis required for the
Plan of Operations amendment is an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The
initiation of the EIS process in conjunction with the BLM is currently underway.
Prior to the completion of the EIS process and receiving BLM`s approval of the
amended Plan of Operations, the underground exploration and development
activities at Hollister must be conducted within the limits set out in the
current BLM permit and in the renewed Water Pollution Control Permit that the
Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) recently issued. The ongoing
trial mining operations will be conducted in a manner that will protect the
environment - including the important archaeological resources near the mine -
and will not create any additional surface disturbance or other new
environmental impacts.
During 2008 a total of 17,111 feet of lateral and vertical development were
excavated in waste and ore (see below).
WASTE ORE DEVELOPMENT
DEVELOPMENT EXPLORATION DRIFTS,
(feet) INCL RAISES (feet)
11,057 6,054
The development is a critical phase of the detailed evaluation of the vein
systems and has enabled commensurate delineation drilling, channel sampling and
mapping.
Using the existing infrastructure, the planned 2009 underground program will
develop approximately 260,000 tons of rock (both waste and ore) - similar to the
volume of rock developed and removed from the underground workings in 2008. Up
to 275,000 tons of ore per annum is allowed to be processed off-site in
accordance with the NDEP Water Pollution Control Permit to determine the
metallurgical characteristics.
During December 2008, the Company announced that it had purchased the Esmeralda
Mill in Nevada, which it is planning to refurbish at a cost of US$8.0 million.
This facility will be redesigned to test the Hollister bulk samples so that gold
recoveries can be optimized and revenues will closer reflect the spot price of
gold and silver.
-3-
Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO, commented, "A number of achievements have
been made at our Hollister Project over the past year. It was the first year
that the current management team evaluated the in-situ mineralization through a
focused development and trial mining program. A significant amount of
exploration development was required to gain access to a number of veins to
determine the mineability of the vein material. This was subsequently followed
up by metallurgical testing at a number of sites, with mixed results. 2009 will
be another exciting year, with more exploration and trial mining planned to
enable Great Basin Gold to gain a better understanding of the optimal
exploitation of the Hollister deposit."
Johan Oelofse, PrEng, FSAIMM, Chief Operating Officer for the Company and a
qualified person, has reviewed this news release on behalf of Great Basin.
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 +1 646 452-2334
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, 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.
Date: 03/02/2009 15:30:55 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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