| Mon 23 Aug 2010, 14:30 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold Limited - Great Basin provides mineral resource |
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GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold Limited - Great Basin provides mineral resource
update for its Burnstone Gold project in South Africa
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" or "the Company")
GREAT BASIN PROVIDES MINERAL RESOURCE UPDATE FOR ITS BURNSTONE GOLD
PROJECT IN SOUTH AFRICA
August 23, 2010, Vancouver, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd, ("Great Basin" or
the "Company"), (TSX: GBG; NYSE Amex: GBG; JSE: GBG) announces an
updated mineral resource estimate for its Burnstone Project in the
Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
The updated mineral resource estimate, inclusive of all drilling and
underground evaluation up to June 30, 2010 and at a range of cutoffs, is
tabulated below. At a cutoff of 400 cmg/t the total Measured and
Indicated Resources has increased by 3% from approximately 11.7 million
ounces to 12.1 million ounces of gold.
Burnstone Project
Mineral Resources - August 2010
Classification Cut Millions Au
off Tonnes
cmg/t
g/t oz
Measured 300 40.0 5.78
7,435,000
350 36.5 5.90
6,927,180
400 33.7 6.01
6,514,390
Indicated 300 31.2 6.44
6,472,770
350 27.2 6.84
5,978,830
400 24.1 7.20
5,567,960
Measured + Indicated 300 71.2 6.07 13,907,770
350 63.7 6.30 12,906,010
400 57.8 6.50 12,082,350
Contained gold in the inferred resources at a cutoff of 400 cmg/t is
estimated to total approximately 8.0 million ounces, a 74% increase from
the previous estimate of 4.6 million ounces.
Burnstone Project
Mineral Resources - August 2010
Classification Cut Millions Au
off Tonnes
cmg/t
g/t oz
Inferred 300 67.5 4.33
9,392,970
350 61.0 4.49
8,799,830
400 52.2 4.75
7,977,520
Notes to tables:
1 Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have
demonstrated economic viability.
2 Metallurgical recoveries are not applied to resource values.
As this project is now moving into production, the mineral resource
classification method applied in this update is more rigorous in terms
of the minimum number of informing samples for Measured (4), Indicated
(2), and Inferred (1). The number of informing Kimberley Reef
intersections utilized in this resource estimate totals 610, inclusive
of 339 surface boreholes, 35 underground boreholes, and 362 underground
channel intersections. In addition, historic deflections from surface
boreholes totalling 819 have been used where appropriate for assay and
sedimentological confirmation. Geozones of the area of interest were
updated as part of the basis for the estimation, but have remained very
similar to the previous June 2009 update. These zones are delineated by
a combination of variable geological parameters such as channel width,
gold grade (g/t) and gold accumulation (cm.g/t), footwall lithology, and
sedimentary facies.
Variography generated from the current geostatistical analyses have
confirmed sediment influx from the NE in Geozones 1 and 3, mixing with
an overall NW - SE paleofacies trend, and in line with previous
observations. The continued underground exposure of Kimberley Reef is
providing a basis for detailed evaluation data (channel samples) and
structural mapping. All told, the results demonstrate higher confidence
in the estimated total Measured and Indicated resources.
President and CEO, Ferdi Dippenaar commented: "The focus in the past 12
months has been on construction and development of this exciting
project, with exploration limited to strategically-placed surface
drilling, and closer-spaced underground delineation and cover drilling.
Nevertheless we have increased the overall resources, by some 75% in
inferred and 3% in the more detailed measured and indicated categories,
and added to the life of the mine. Concurrent sampling of approximately
3,600 metres of underground development on the reef has contributed to
an improved understanding and higher confidence in the orebody. This is
valuable information that will assist in achieving the increased rate of
mining planned for the remainder of 2010 and 2011. "
The Burnstone goldfield is defined by an 18 kilometer long,
northwesterly trending mineralized corridor hosting the Kimberley Reef,
one of four main gold-bearing units in the Witwatersrand Basin. At
Burnstone, the central portion of the gold corridor has been uplifted by
two northwesterly trending sub-parallel faults and, as a result, a
significant portion of the deposit areas along the trend occur at
relatively shallow depths of 200-750 meters below surface.
The mineral resource estimation was done using geostatistical methods by
Freddie de Bruin, Pr.Sci.Nat., and John Murgatroyd, Pr.Sci.Nat., of
Deswiks Mining Consultants (Pty) Ltd., independent Qualified Persons as
defined by Canadian Securities Regulations in National Instrument 43-
101. The primary analytical facility for the Burnstone Project from 2003-
2005 has been SGS Lakefield Research Africa (Pty) Limited and
subsequently (2006-2010), ALS Chemex has been the primary laboratory.
Both facilities are located in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Phil Bentley, Pr.Sci.Nat., VP: Geology and Exploration for Great Basin
Gold Ltd., a Qualified Person as defined by Canadian Securities
Regulations in National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the
information within this news release.
For additional details on Great Basin 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.
Information Concerning Estimates of Measured, Indicated and Inferred
Resources
This news release also uses the terms "measured resources", "indicated
resources" and "inferred resources". The Company advises investors that
although these terms are recognized and required by Canadian regulations
(under National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects), the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission does not
recognize them. Investors are cautioned not to assume that any part or
all of the mineral deposits in these categories will ever be converted
into reserves. In addition, `inferred resources` have a great amount of
uncertainty as to their existence, and economic and legal feasibility.
It cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral
Resource will ever be upgraded to a higher category. Under Canadian
rules, estimates of Inferred Mineral Resources may not form the basis of
feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, or economic studies except for
Preliminary Assessment as defined under 43-101. Investors are cautioned
not to assume that part or all of an inferred resource exists, or is
economically or legally mineable.
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.
Johannesburg
Monday, 23 August 2010
Sponsor
Nedbank Capital
Date: 23/08/2010 14:30:03 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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