| Wed 14 Apr 2010, 16:22 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold Provides Operational Update For The Quarter |
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GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold Provides Operational Update For The Quarter
Ended March 2010
GREAT BASIN GOLD LTD
(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")
GREAT BASIN GOLD PROVIDES OPERATIONAL UPDATE
FOR THE QUARTER ENDED MARCH 2010
April 14, 2010, Vancouver, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd. ("Great Basin" or the
"Company") (TSX: GBG; NYSE Amex: GBG; JSE: GBG) provides a quarterly operational
update for its Hollister (USA) and Burnstone (South Africa) projects.
Continued trial mining at the Hollister project resulted in the extraction of
25,777 ore tons containing an estimated 27,707 gold equivalent ounces1 (Au eqv
oz) at a grade of 1.07 oz per ton Au eqv (34.8 g/t Au eqv). This is a 40%
improvement on the previous (Dec 2009) quarter.
Good progress has also been made with 2,270 ft (688 m) of underground
development completed, with 1,149 ft (348 m) being in ore and 1,121 ft (340 m)
in waste development. This is an improvement of 58% over the 961 ft (291 m) and
479 ft (145 m) reported respectively for the Dec 2009 quarter.
Underground exploration and stope delineation drilling has continued. In total,
32 stope-delineation boreholes (9,326 ft / 2,826 m) and 9 exploration and cover
boreholes (11,009 ft / 3,336 m) were completed. Highlights include:
further delineation of the North Clementine vein zone, where 8 separate vein
intersections were achieved and the strike extent of the zone has been extended
to 500 ft (151 m);
further extension of the main Clementine vein zone to the west; and
continued indications of the development of the Gwenivere vein system at depth.
Detailed results from the exploration program will be released in a second
quarter 2010 exploration update press release.
No surface exploration drilling was undertaken during the quarter as the Company
is awaiting approval of updated surface exploration notice applications
submitted to the Bureau of Land Management.
The Esmeralda Mill`s operational performance improved with a total of 16,016
tons being processed in the quarter (quarter ended Dec 2009 - 8,070 tons). A
total of 11,756 Au oz (quarter ended Dec 2009 - 5,295 Au oz) and 51,762 silver
(Ag) oz (Dec 2009 - 25,380 Ag oz) were recovered. Mill recoveries of 77% for Au
and 57% for Ag were achieved. Following the conversion to Carbon-In-Leach
processing, recoveries of 92% for Au and 82% for Ag were achieved for the ten
days following the conversion completed on March 23, 2010. The upgrade project
that commenced in the last quarter of 2009 to improve recoveries and operational
efficiencies has been completed except for the second carbon-stripping vessel,
which will be installed during April 2010.
At the Company`s Burnstone mine development project, the 7.5-metre diameter
vertical shaft has been sunk to a depth of 1,506 ft (459 m), with 26 m (85 ft)
remaining to shaft bottom. Development of shaft bottom infrastructure, i.e.
loading facility, is underway. Shaft steelwork will commence at the end of
April 2010 upon completion of the shaft bottom infrastructure.
The rock and man winder installations are currently underway, with completion
also planned for April 2010.
Good progress has been made underground with drifts to access mining blocks B
and C. As at March 31, 2010, a total of approximately 4,950 ft (1,500 m) of
reef development had been completed, and 571 ft (173 m) of development remained
on the decline shaft to link it up with the vertical shaft, with a total of
8,514 ft (2,580 m) of development being completed to date. A limited amount of
mining, by way of Long Hole Stoping, has been undertaken and results are in line
with expectations. As at March 31, 2010, approximately 80,000 ore tons (quarter
ended Dec 2009 - approximately 60,000 tons) from mining and development had been
accumulated on the surface stockpile.
-2-
Construction of the Metallurgical Plant continues with the major items, i.e.
silos and other foundations, having been completed. Refurbishment of the Ball
and Semi Autogenous Grinding mills was completed and these are ready for
delivery to site. Metallurgical Plant commissioning is on track for end June
2010.
The Company also successfully negotiated the restructuring of the put option on
the 51,500 Senior Secured Notes (the "Notes") issued in December 2008 with a
settlement value of US$61.8 million. Of these, 7,000 Notes (value of US$8.4
million) will be settled in May 2010 by issuing the note holders 2.2 million
shares at a price of US$1.75 and paying US$4.5 million in cash. The put option
on 29,500 Notes (value US$35.4 million) will be cancelled and, therefore, will
only remain on 15,000 Notes (value US$18 million). The cancellation of the put
option removes the potential repayment of the Notes by December 2010 and
provides the Company with the flexibility to settle the Notes any time on or
before December 12, 2011.
Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO, commented: "We are making good progress at
both operations with much improved performance at Hollister in Nevada, USA. Our
target date for the delivery of the Burnstone Mine in South Africa remains the
end of June 2010, with a significant number of milestones having been reached
over the past three months. Much remains to be done, but we continue to be
confident that the tight timelines will be met. Photographs and information on
the progress at the site is being updated on our website on an ongoing basis.
The US$47 million export loan facility obtained from Credit Suisse (announced on
April 5, 2010) as well as the cancellation of the put option on the Senior
Secured Notes provides the Company with significant flexibility and margin in
available cash reserves to deliver both projects and meet our obligations as
they come due."
Phil Bentley, Pr.Sci.Nat. (SACNAS) Vice President for Geology and Exploration
for the Company and a qualified person, and Johan Oelofse, PrEng, FSAIMM, Chief
Operating Officer for the Company and a qualified person, have reviewed this
news release on behalf of Great Basin Gold.
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.
Cautionary and Forward Looking Statement Information
This document contains "forward-looking statements" that were based on Great
Basin`s expectations, estimates and projections as of the dates as of which
those statements were made. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "outlook",
"anticipate", "project", "target", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend",
"should" and similar expressions.
Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties
and other factors that may cause the Company`s actual results, level of
activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those
expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These include but are
not limited to:
uncertainties and costs related to the Company`s exploration and development
activities, such as those associated with determining whether mineral resources
or reserves exist on a property;
uncertainties related to feasibility studies that provide estimates of expected
or anticipated costs, expenditures and economic returns from a mining project;
uncertainties related to expected production rates, timing of production and the
cash and total costs of production and milling;
uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary licenses, permits,
electricity, surface rights and title for development projects;
operating and technical difficulties in connection with mining development
activities;
uncertainties related to the accuracy of our mineral reserve and mineral
resource estimates and our estimates of future production and future cash and
total costs of production, and the geotechnical or hydrogeological nature of ore
deposits, and diminishing quantities or grades of mineral reserves;
uncertainties related to unexpected judicial or regulatory proceedings;
changes in, and the effects of, the laws, regulations and government policies
affecting our mining operations, particularly laws, regulations and policies
relating to
mine expansions, environmental protection and associated compliance costs
arising from exploration, mine development, mine operations and mine closures;
expected effective future tax rates in jurisdictions in which our operations are
located;
the protection of the health and safety of mine workers; and
mineral rights ownership in countries where our mineral deposits are located,
including the effect of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act
(South Africa);
changes in general economic conditions, the financial markets and in the demand
and market price for gold, silver and other minerals and commodities, such as
diesel fuel, coal, petroleum coke, steel, concrete, electricity and other forms
of energy, mining equipment, and fluctuations in exchange rates, particularly
with respect to the value of the U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar and South African
rand;
unusual or unexpected formation, cave-ins, flooding, pressures, and precious
metals losses (and the risk of inadequate insurance or inability to obtain
insurance to cover these risks);
changes in accounting policies and methods we use to report our financial
condition, including uncertainties associated with critical accounting
assumptions and estimates;
environmental issues and liabilities associated with mining including processing
and stock piling ore;
geopolitical uncertainty and political and economic instability in countries
which we operate; and
labour strikes, work stoppages, or other interruptions to, or difficulties in,
the employment of labour in markets in which we operate mines, or environmental
hazards, industrial accidents or other events or occurrences, including third
party interference that interrupt the production of minerals in our mines.
For further information on Great Basin Gold, investors should review the
Company`s annual Form 40-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission www.sec.com and home jurisdiction filings that are available at
www.sedar.com.
14 April 2010
Johannesburg
Sponsor
Nedbank Capital
_______________________________
1 Gold equivalent ounces are calculated using metal prices of US$1000/oz for
gold and US$15/oz for silver.
Date: 14/04/2010 16:22:21 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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