| Thu 9 Nov 2006, 8:47 | | Great Basin - Changes To The Board & Appointment O |
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GBG
GBG
Great Basin - Changes To The Board & Appointment Of New Chief Financial Officer
GREAT BASIN GOLD LIMITED
(Incorporated in Canada and registered as an External Company in South Africa)
(External Company Registration No. 2006/021304/10)
Share Code: GBG
ISIN Number: CA3901241057
("Great Basin" or "the company")
GREAT BASIN ANNOUNCES CHANGES TO THE BOARD & APPOINTMENT OF NEW CHIEF FINANCIAL
OFFICER
November 9, 2006 - Great Basin Gold Ltd. (TSX: GBG; AMEX: GBN; JSE: GBGOLD)
announces changes to its Board of Directors and management team. Zelda
Smit, CA, has joined the Company as the Chief Financial Officer and
Patrick R. Cooke, CA, has been appointed to the Company"s Board of
Directors.
Zelda Smit is a South African resident who qualified as a Chartered Accountant
in 1997. After completing her articles with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ms
Smit worked in the financial services sector, primarily in banking and
insurance, for five years. She was appointed Treasurer of Harmony
Gold Mining Company Limited in January 2003. At Harmony, she gained
extensive experience in mergers, acquisitions, debt issuance, risk
management and project development and was an instrumental member of
the executive team. She has served on numerous boards, including Rand
Mutual Assurance Limited and Kingfisher Insurance Company Limited, and
was chair of the audit committees of both Rand Mutual Assurance
Limited and Minemed Medical Aid.
Patrick Cooke is a South African resident who received his Chartered Accountant
designation in South Africa in 1981. Since that time, he has worked
as a management consultant with one of the large accounting companies
as well as a merchant bank. He has been responsible for listing two
companies on the main board of the JSE Limited ("JSE") in
Johannesburg, South Africa, and was the Financial Director of a third
JSE listed company. His industry experience encompasses mining,
information technology, foods, manufacturing and consumer goods,
financial services and professional services companies. He has been
involved with the Pangea Group, initially as a consultant on the
Burnstone Project and during the vending of the Project, and later as
Financial Director of Pangea Exploration (Pty) Ltd and Pangea
DiamondFields Plc.
In addition to these new appointments, four directors - Robert Dickinson, Scott
Cousens, Jeffrey Mason and Robert Still - recently retired from the
Board, leaving a complement of nine directors. The changes reflect
the evolution of Great Basin to a development and production company.
The Company has established a strong management team to guide these
activities.
At the Burnstone Gold Project in South Africa, the Company is advancing the
first of a two stage development program, designed to take the
Burnstone Project to production in two years. The current program,
involving construction of a decline and taking a bulk sample, will be
completed in approximately 16 months" time.
At the Hollister Property on the Carlin Trend in Nevada, USA, work is advancing
on the Hollister Development Block Project. An underground
exploration and development program is underway, designed to provide
the necessary data for completion of a feasibility study for the
project in the second quarter of 2007.
President and CEO Ferdi Dippenaar said:
"First of all, I would like to thank the four directors who have recently
retired from the Board for their years of service to the Company.
Without their foresight and of dedication to Great Basin, we would
not have the assets which are the foundation of the Company
today."
"I would also like to welcome Patrick Cooke to the Board and Zelda Smit to
our management team. Ms Smit will play a pivotal role in Great
Basin"s future as the Company proceeds with the development of the
Burnstone mine in South Africa and continues to advance the
Hollister Project in Nevada, USA. Mr. Cooke"s addition to the
Great Basin Board will greatly assist the Company in the
advancement of Burnstone and its goal to become a mid-tier gold
producer."
For additional details on Great Basin and its gold properties, please visit the
Company"s website at www.greatbasingold.com or contact Investor
Services at (604) 684-6365 or within North America at 1-800-667-2114.
Ferdi Dippenaar
President and CEO
Sponsor: J.P.Morgan Equities Limited
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, effect
of and changes to government policies regarding mining and natural
resource exploration and exploitation, availability of capital and
financing, geopolitical uncertainty and political and economic
instability, 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 20-F filing with the United States Securities and Exchange
Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that are available at
www.sedar.com.
Date: 09/11/2006 08:47:21 AM Produced by the JSE SENS Department
