| Wed 24 Nov 2010, 9:00 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold - Great Basin`s Hollister operation on safety watch-list |
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GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold - Great Basin`s Hollister operation on safety watch-list
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`S HOLLISTER OPERATION ON SAFETY WATCH-LIST
November, 23, 2010, Vancouver, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd. ("Great Basin" or the
"Company"), (TSX: GBG; NYSE Amex: GBG; JSE: GBG). On Friday, November 19, 2010,
Great Basin`s Hollister Mine (Hollister) in Nevada was notified by letter from
the Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) that MSHA had conducted
a "pattern" of violation screening pursuant to Section 104(e) of the Federal
Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 (the Act). The letter stated that MSHA has
initially concluded that a potential pattern of violations exists at Hollister
and set out a process by which Hollister may work with MSHA to avoid any further
sanctions pursuant to that program.
MSHA`s initial finding is based mostly on alleged violations, rather than
violations which have been fully adjudicated.
To date, most of the alleged violations that form the basis for MSHA`s finding
have been challenged by Great Basin.
The Company is confident that it will prevail in the great majority of those
challenges and believes, for that and other reasons, it should be removed from
the watch-list without the penalties of Section 104(e) being invoked.
Section 104(e) provides that mine operators may be subject to closure orders for
certain areas of the mine affected by certain specific types of violations until
the mine receives a clean MSHA inspection. In most cases, such closures
would affect areas of the mine that are not critical to production or would be
corrected within a very short time.
Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO, commented: "While we at Great Basin disagree
with MSHA`s potential pattern finding and the bases for that finding, we take
this matter very seriously. We are deeply committed to the health and
safety of our workforce. We are proud of our safety record and have been
recognized by the Nevada Mining association with safety awards. At the same
time, Great Basin has been proactive in its approach to MSHA inspections,
employing a former MSHA inspector who does regular mine inspections, which has
recently resulted in Great Basin receiving a clean quarterly inspection. We will
work with MSHA through their established process to avoid an adverse finding so
that Hollister will continue to be a safe workplace and a productive member of
the mining industry for years to come."
Great Basin is a mining company engaged in the exploration and development of
gold properties. The Company is currently focused on bringing two mines in the
world`s two richest gold producing regions into production. The Hollister gold
project is located on the Carlin Trend in Nevada, USA and the Burnstone gold
mine is located in the Witwatersrand Basin goldfield of South Africa.
Ferdi Dippenaar
President and CEO
For additional details on Great Basin and its gold properties, please visit the
Company`s website at www.grtbasin.com
or contact Investor Services at:
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 safety regulatory or similar findings 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 uncertainties
related to interpretation of policies, regulatory attitudes and the number and
rate of safety incidents even where the Company has taken all proper steps to
prevent them. 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
Sponsor
Nedbank Capital
24 November 2010
Date: 24/11/2010 09:00:16 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
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