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GBG - Great Basin Gold Limited - Mineral Resourse update for Burnstone
Gold Mine in SA
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 Gold" or "the Company")
GREAT BASIN PROVIDES A MINERAL RESOURCE UPDATE
FOR ITS BURNSTONE GOLD MINE IN SOUTH AFRICA
October 13, 2011, 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 Gold Mine in the
Mpumalanga Province, South Africa.
The updated mineral resource estimate, inclusive of all drilling and
underground evaluation up to June 30, 2011, is tabulated below at a
range of cutoffs. At a cutoff of 300 cmg/t, the total Measured and
Indicated Resources contain approximately12.6 million ounces of gold,
and the Inferred Resources contain approximately 10.1 million ounces of
gold.
Burnstone Mineral Resources as at June 30, 2011
CLASS CUT TONNES GOLD GOLD
OFF Mt g/t oz
cmg/t
Measured 250 43.0 5.20 7,187,100
Measured 300 38.8 5.34 6,664,900
Measured 350 34.8 5.52 6,166,600
Indicated 250 30.7 6.39 6,315,700
Indicated 300 28.1 6.59 5,947,780
Indicated 350 25.8 6.83 5,654,100
M + I 250 73.7 5.70 13,502,800
M + I 300 66.9 5.87 12,612,600
M + I 350 60.5 6.07 11,820,700
CLASS CUT TONNES GOLD GOLD
OFF Mt g/t oz
cmg/t
Inferred 250 82.4 4.11 10,889,300
Inferred 300 72.8 4.30 10,061,900
Inferred 350 61.0 4.60
9,023,000
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.
At a 300 cmg/t cut-off, the current update reflects a slight increase in
tonnage (3%) and a slight drop in grade (-6%) when compared to the
August 2010 estimate (see Great Basin News Release dated August 23,
2010).
The Burnstone Mine has progressed from a development project to the gold
production stage, and is now in a build-up phase with steady state
production expected by 2013. The above mineral resources, which include
the mine`s mineral reserves, have been depleted by production to June
30, 2011 and are stated as of that date.
The mineral resource classification method applied in this update is in
line with that utilized in the August 2010 estimate, with a minimum of
six informing samples used for estimates in the Measured category, a
minimum of three informing samples used for Indicated, and two informing
samples used for Inferred. The total number of informing Kimberley Reef
intersections utilized for the estimate is 2050, a substantial increase
from the 610 intersections used in the 2010 estimate. For the 2011
estimate, these include 514 from surface boreholes (339 in 2010), 42
from underground boreholes (35 in 2010), and 1494 from underground
channel composite samples (362 in 2010). In addition, a total of 819
historic deflections from surface boreholes have been used, where
appropriate, for assay and sedimentological confirmation. Geozones
developed from deposit modeling in the area of interest were updated as
part of the basis for the estimation, but remain very similar to those
used in the August 2010 resource update. These zones are delineated by a
combination of variable geological parameters such as channel width,
gold grade (g/t) and gold accumulation (cmg/t), footwall lithology, and
sedimentary facies.
Variography, generated from the current geostatistical analyses for the
estimates, is in line with previous observations. The continued
underground exposure of Kimberley Reef from mine development is
providing a basis for detailed evaluation data (channel samples) and
structural mapping. All told, the results continue to demonstrate higher
confidence in the estimated total Measured and Indicated resources.
President and CEO Ferdi Dippenaar commented: "Over the past few months,
the Burnstone Mine has seen a steady ramp up in production dependent on
the rate of reef development currently achieved. Accordingly, the
evaluation of the Kimberley Reef ore body, which previously mainly
relied upon surface drilling, now has increased information at hand
consisting of detailed underground channel sampling, underground
delineation and cover drilling as well as infill evaluation drilling
from surface. The concurrent sampling of approximately 11,400 meters of
underground on-reef development has contributed to an improved
understanding of the ore body. This is valuable information that will
assist in achieving the planned increased rate of mining for the
remainder of 2011 and 2012."
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. of Deswiks Mining Consultants (Pty) Ltd.,
an Independent Qualified Person 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 (2006-2011), 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) 4522334
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 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 that are not already
included in reserves 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 NI43-101. 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
Canada
13 October 2011
Sponsor
Sasfin Capital (a division of Sasfin Bank Limited)
Date: 13/10/2011 15:01:15 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za
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