Great Basin provides a mineral resource update for its Burnstone Gold Mine in
South Africa
VANCOUVER, Oct. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Great Basin Gold Ltd, ("Great
Basin" or the "Company"), (CA: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
approximately 12.6 million ounces of gold, and the Inferred Resources contain
approximately 10.1 million ounces of gold.
Burnstone Mineral Resources as at June 30, 2011
CLASSCUT OFF TONNES GOLD GOLD
cmg/tMtg/toz
Measured25043.05.20 7,187,100
Measured30038.85.34 6,664,900
Measured35034.85.52 6,166,600
Indicated 25030.76.39 6,315,700
Indicated 30028.16.59 5,947,780
Indicated 35025.86.83 5,654,100
M + I25073.75.70 13,502,800
M + I30066.95.87 12,612,600
M + I35060.56.07 11,820,700
CLASSCUT OFF TONNES GOLD GOLD
cmg/tMtg/toz
Inferred 25082.44.11 10,889,300
Inferred 30072.84.30 10,061,900
Inferred 35061.04.60 9,023,000
Notes to tables:
Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic
viability.
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.
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 sec.com and home jurisdiction filings that are available at
sedar.com. |
