Great Basin Gold Ltd. (fka GBGLF)

[amarksp]

Great Basin moves ahead with R1bn Burnstone project as rights approved
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Canadian miner Great Basin Gold, which received all three new-order prospecting rights for its Burnstone project, near Balfour, from South Africa's Minerals and Energy department said it planned to apply for a mining right by the end of next month and would proceed with the development of the R1-billion gold project.

The conversion of the last two old-order prospecting rights also enabled Great Basin to move ahead with its mine development and CEO Ferdi Dippenaar said in a statement that the company had started construction on the mine access decline. The excavation of the underground decline had also advanced to some 55 m and a bulk sample was planned for next November.

The project was being developed on farms near Balfourt on the South Rand portion of the Witwatersrand Basin.

Great Basin's prospecting rights had been granted for a period of five years and cover a major portion of the Area 1 mining area, which had the potential to produce some 214 000 oz of gold a year for 14 years.

“The development of the Burnstone mine, in South Africa, marks an exciting milestone in the history of Great Basin. With production forthcoming from both Burnstone and our Hollister development block project, in Nevada, in the next few years, the company is on track to establish itself as a mid-tier gold producer,” Dippenaar said.

The May feasibility study indicated that the underground mine had the potential for robust returns. It planned to use flexible, mechanised materials-handling and conventional narrow-reef mining, in combination with a decline and a vertical shaft for access.

A 4,5-m-wide by 4,8-m-high decline is being developed to enable early access to the orebody for mining. A confirmatory 26 000-t bulk sample will be extracted and processed. Thereafter, the company will develop a 7,5-m-diameter vertical shaft.

Employees and equipment will use the decline for access and the shaft will be used for hoisting ore and waste rock to surface. It is anticipated that the mine will commence commercial production in 2009.

Meanwhile, Great Basin also said earlier this week that it planned to start trading on the JSE later this month. Initially, Great Basin had hoped to complete its secondary listing on the JSE in July, but later said that it would only list in mid-August.