| Tue 20 Oct 2009, 14:30 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold Provides Update On The Esmeralda Mill Hollister Project |
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GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold Provides Update On The Esmeralda Mill, Hollister Project
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 PROVIDES UPDATE ON THE ESMERALDA MILL, HOLLISTER PROJECT
October 20, 2009, Vancouver, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd, ("Great Basin Gold" or
the "Company"), (TSX: GBG; NYSE Amex: GBG; JSE: GBG) announces that the Nevada
Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) has granted approval of the
Esmeralda Water Pollution Control Permit, allowing the Company to continue with
the next phase of the Esmeralda Mill expansion. The Esmeralda Mill is part of
the Company`s Hollister Project in northeastern Nevada.
The next phase of mill development includes construction, installation and
commissioning of the Gekko System, an In-Line Leach Reactor (ILR) which
optimizes the recovery of gold from high grade concentrate streams. In addition
to concentrate leaching in an ILR, the Gekko system includes a gravity and
flotation section, which will capture free gold and silver up front, thereby
reducing the feed grade to the process flow.
Esmeralda`s ILR was shipped from Australia and arrived at site on September 25.
Construction of the building and assembly of the components is expected to be
completed in the fourth quarter, enabling high metal recoveries at Esmeralda`s
milling facilities.
On September 9, 2009, the Esmeralda Mill started processing its first Hollister
ore. As at October 4, 2009, a total of 5,502 tons of ore had been processed.
The Hollister stockpiles are being sequentially depleted - low grade first,
medium grade second, and then the high grade at a rate of over 240 tons per day.
Low grade ore was selected to start the mill to reduce the risk of poor
recoveries during commissioning. The high grade ore is planned for delivery at
Esmeralda during the second week of October.
The mill has averaged 217 tons per day since start up but, more importantly, for
the 14 days up to October 4, the mill averaged 267 tons per day. Mill
availability has increased to over 95%. An estimated 405 ounces of gold and
2,955 ounces of silver are in process and, when concentrated, will be forwarded
to a refinery for recovery.
President and CEO Ferdi Dippenaar commented: "NDEP`s recent approval allows for
installations for the Gekko System, including the extension of the current mill
building to accommodate the System, a 50-foot thickener, a lime slaker system
and a Genset to commence, thereby keeping to the project schedule. The
completion of this phase of expansion paves the way to match processing capacity
with the mining underway. The Hollister Project has suffered from the lack of
consistent milling capacity, which also has impacted on the market`s
understanding of the overall operational performance. The Esmeralda Mill is
expected to significantly reduce processing costs and assist in improved
reporting and feedback on Project and Company performance."
Johan Oelofse, PrEng, FSAIMM, Chief Operating Officer for Great Basin Gold, and
a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian Securities Regulations in National
Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the information and this news
release.
For additional details on Great Basin Gold 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.
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: 20/10/2009 14:30:01 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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