| Thu 22 Feb 2007, 7:30 | | GBG - Great Basin Gold Purchases Hecla`s Interest |
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GBG
GBG
GBG - Great Basin Gold Purchases Hecla`s Interest In Hollister Development
Block Project In Nevada
Great Basin Gold Limited
(Incorporated in Canada and registered as an
External Company in South Africa)
(External Company Registration number 2006/021304/10)
Share code: GBG ISIN: CA3901241057
("Great Basin Gold")
GREAT BASIN GOLD PURCHASES HECLA`S INTEREST IN HOLLISTER DEVELOPMENT BLOCK
PROJECT IN NEVADA
Company regains 100% of advanced high-grade gold-silver property
February 21, 2007 Vancouver, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd. ("Great Basin Gold" or
the "Company") (TSX: GBG; AMEX: GBN; JSE: GBGOLD) announces that it has
purchased Hecla Mining Company`s 50% earn-in rights in the Hollister Development
Block (HDB) project on the Carlin Trend in Nevada for a total of US$60 million,
comprising US$45 million in cash and the remaining US$15 million in Great Basin
Gold common stock (approximately 7.8 million shares).
The transaction is structured as a purchase of Hecla`s subsidiary Hecla Ventures
Corp. which held the earn-in rights and which was managing the earn-in program.
The transaction is subject to stock exchange and other customary closing
conditions and will require the Company to secure sufficient financing.
Completion is targeted for March 31, 2007 with a deadline of April 30, 2007.
The HDB Project comprises approximately 5% of the Hollister property. Early
exploration by Great Basin Gold to 2001 had outlined a high grade-gold silver
mineral resource on the property.
As part of an earn-in requirement, Hecla operated an underground exploration and
development program, designed to provide the necessary data for completion of a
feasibility study for the project. Over the past five years, Hecla spent
approximately $30 million on design work, permitting, establishing extensive
surface infrastructure and underground services, purchasing equipment and
completing underground programs.
The underground programs included excavating a 6800 foot access decline and
drifting along the veins for approximately 1000 feet and completing
approximately 55,000 feet of underground drilling. Over the course of the past
twelve months since drilling began, Great Basin Gold has announced excellent
results from the program. Currently there is a backlog, but additional results
will be released as they become available in due course.
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 the construction of
a decline and taking a bulk sample, will be completed in approximately 12
months` time.
The Hollister and Burnstone projects provide the Company with excellent
potential for near term gold production.
President and CEO Ferdi Dippenaar said: "We are pleased to have regained 100%
of the Hollister Property. These must be some of the cheapest near-production
ounces that GBG could have acquired. The Company has made good progress with the
completion of the feasibility study for the HDB project. With all the
established surface facilities and underground development in place, we are well
positioned to advance rapidly toward the optimal development of the mine. Using
the information gained from the drilling programme, a decision on the rate of
production and capital expenditure required to develop the mine, can be made.
Further, the previously GBG managed exploration programme can now be fast
tracked as the current infrastructure of the HDB becomes immediately available.
As some of the target areas are in close proximity of the current
infrastructure, an added benefit would be that the same infrastructure can in
future be used to exploit those potential resources.
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
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: 22/02/2007 07:30:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department.
