| Mon 15 Jun 2009, 14:30 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold Purchases Rock Creek Lands to Protect Important Western |
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GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold Purchases Rock Creek Lands to Protect Important Western
Shoshone Cultural Site
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 PURCHASES ROCK CREEK LANDS TO PROTECT IMPORTANT WESTERN
SHOSHONE CULTURAL SITE
June 15, 2009, Winnemucca, NV - Great Basin Gold Ltd (TSX: GBG; NYSE Amex: GBG;
JSE: GBG) is pleased to announce that it has created the Rock Creek Conservancy,
LLC for the purpose of holding lands recently purchased by it, and the
establishment of the Rock Creek Conservancy Fund. Great Basin Gold has
purchased four sections in Lander County along Rock Creek and another section
west of Rock Creek to prevent future real estate or mineral development on these
lands.
In explaining why Great Basin Gold purchased the lands, Ferdi Dippenaar,
President and CEO of Great Basin Gold stated, "Many Western Shoshone have used
the Rock Creek area for over 700 years for traditional uses. Recognizing their
cultural importance, Great Basin Gold purchased the lands to preserve them as
part of the Company`s philosophy recognizing our Corporate Social Responsibility
("CSR") to the communities in which we operate. We have spent approximately
US$1.3 million at our Burnstone project in South Africa as part of our CSR and
we are committed to making comparable social investments in and around our other
projects, including at our Hollister project in the US. The purchase will
safeguard the lands from development and allow Western Shoshone people to
continue to have access to them for traditional uses. Great Basin Gold proposes
to donate both the surface and the mineral estates on these lands for the
benefit of the five Federally-recognized Nevada Western Shoshone Tribes
("Tribes"). The ultimate disposition of the lands will be determined during
consultation between the US Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") and the Tribes.
As a part of the purchase, third-party rights to develop the mineral estate on
the four parcels along Rock Creek have been terminated. This will ensure that no
development will occur on these four parcels. Great Basin Gold will continue to
encourage the Mineral Lessee of the fifth parcel to extinguish the lease.
These lands are among 15 properties currently competing for funding under Round
10 of the Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act ("SNPLMA") program. "We
applaud the Elko Office of BLM for nominating the Rock Creek lands for possible
future purchase using SNPLMA funds. However, given the current economic climate,
the other competing properties, and the length of time it will take to complete
the SNLPMA review process, we were concerned that the Department of the Interior
might not select these lands for purchase or that another party might buy them
for development," explained Dippenaar. "Great Basin Gold`s purchase of these
lands guarantees they will be held for eventual transfer to the Tribes and
managed in ways that will protect these important cultural sites."
The Company is discussing a management agreement with BLM to ensure the lands
are managed appropriately prior to transfer. Great Basin Gold proposes to
maintain the roads until the transfer so Western Shoshone tribal members will
have unrestricted access to the Traditional Cultural Property throughout the
year. It also expects the management agreement to address protection of
aquatic, avian, and terrestrial wildlife habitats along the Rock Creek drainage
and preservation of the scenic values associated with Rock Creek Canyon.
Finally, in establishing the Rock Creek Conservancy Fund, Great Basin Gold is
creating a resource that the Western Shoshone Tribes can use in the future for
managing the Rock Creek lands. The Company has donated US$122,500 as seed
capital to the Rock Creek Conservancy Fund.
Ferdi Dippenaar
President and CEO
For additional details on the Rock Creek purchase and/or Great Basin and its
gold properties, please visit the Company`s website at www.grtbasin.com or
contact Investor Services:
Ferdi Dippenaar 27 (0) 82 807 3684
Tsholo Serunye in South Africa 27 (0) 11 301 1800
Michael Curlook in North America 1 (888) 633 9223
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, 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: 15/06/2009 14:30:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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