UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM
6-K
Report of Foreign Private Issuer
Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
CIK # 865492
As at February 3, 2009
GREAT
BASIN GOLD LTD.
Ste. 1108-1030 West Georgia Street
Vancouver
, British Columbia
Canada
V6E 2Y3
(address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.
Form 20-F...X.... Form 40-F.........
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper
as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ____
Note: Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1) only permits the submission in paper of
a Form 6-K if submitted solely to provide an attached annual report to security
holders.
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper
as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ____
Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in
this Form, the registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934.
Yes ..... No .....
If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the
registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- ________
Signatures
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant
has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned,
thereunto duly authorized.
By: /s/ Ferdi Dippenaar
President and CEO
Date: February 10, 2009
Print the name and title of the signing officer under his signature.
|
1108-1030 West
Georgia St.
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6E 2Y3
Toll Free: 1 888-633-9332
South Africa: 27 (0) 11 301 1800
www.grtbasin.com
|
RESULTS OF TRIAL MINING
AND ONGOING
METALLURGICAL TEST WORK AT HOLLISTER
February 3, 2009, Vancouver, BC -
Great Basin Gold Ltd ("Great
Basin Gold" or the "Company") (TSX: GBG; NYSE Alternext: GBG;
JSE: GBG) announces the results of its ongoing underground exploration and
development (inclusive of trial mining and metallurgical test work) at Hollister
for the year ended December 31, 2008.
During the period under review, the Company continued with infrastructure
establishment which included the completion of an expanded waste rock disposal
facility, a third rapid infiltration basin and commissioning of the water
desilting facility. Different stoping methods were also under trial at Hollister
during 2008. The results of the shrinkage and cut/fill methods yielded an
average gold equivalent grade of 1.6 oz/ton
1
. The average minimum
mining widths for both the shrinkage and cut and fill stopes was 42 inches
(3.5 feet). Vein recovery in the surveyed shrinkage and cut/fill stopes was
99%. A third stoping method, thermal fragmentation, is being tested at Hollister
as a research and development project.
|
HOLLISTER
RESULTS AND RELATED COSTS
for bulk sampling and trial mining to December 31, 2008
|
|
|
ACTUAL
|
COMMENTS
|
|
Ore extracted (tons)
|
50,161
|
|
|
Ore treated (tons)
|
33,830
|
Under Processing
Agreements
|
|
Extracted equivalent
ounces
|
80,305
|
In line with management
forecast of 80,000 equivalent ounces
|
Average grade extracted
(gold equivalent oz/ton)
|
1.60
|
Higher than management
forecast of 1.1 gold equivalent oz/ton
|
Recovered equivalent
ounces for the
year from processing agreements
|
38,465
|
|
Average grade recovered
(gold equivalent oz/ton)
|
1.14
|
Gold recovery
percentage in the ore purchase agreement with Midas negatively impacted
on the ounces recovered
|
Cash cost per equivalent
gold ounces, excl. milling and haulage charges
(US$ per equivalent gold ounce)
|
300
|
Milling and haulage
costs are excluded due to various options evaluated.
|
Milling and haulage
costs
(US$ per equivalent gold ounce)
|
215
|
Costs were mainly
affected by the terms of the Midas ore purchase agreement
|
1
Material
processed contains gold and silver. Gold equivalent was calculated using Au
price of US$650/oz & Ag price of US$10/oz.
During 2008, ore was shipped to two separate facilities for further metallurgical
testing. The metallurgical results are reported in the table below. Material
is pending treatment from the November Newmont Midas tests and the Kinross
Republic facility, so the final milling results have yet to be determined.
|
AU HEAD GRADE
(oz/ton)
|
AG HEAD GRADE
(oz/ton)
|
VOLUME
(dry tons)
|
AU RECOVERY (%)
|
AG RECOVERY (%)
|
Newmont Midas (May)
|
1.15
|
9.53
|
4,737
|
84.7
|
94.3
|
Newmont Midas (June)
|
0.75
|
9.70
|
3,906
|
88.2
|
92.6
|
Newmont Midas (Sept)
|
1.43
|
12.07
|
10,907
|
88.1
|
91.1
|
*Newmont Midas (Nov)
|
2.02
|
16.2
|
12,075
|
**OPA
|
**OPA
|
*Kinross Republic (Nov)
|
2.34
|
20.14
|
4,692
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
*Actual assays not yet processed.
** Actual recoveries not available as it was based on ore purchase agreement
with Newmont
At the end of December 2008, an additional approximately 10,273 gold equivalent
ounces were held in various stockpiles.
Under the current Plan of Operations approved by the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), the Company is permitted to undertake underground exploration and development
inclusive of the taking and removal of bulk samples, and doing trial mining.
An amended Plan of Operations to approve full production was submitted to
the BLM in March 2008. After evaluating the Company's proposal for full-scale
production, the BLM determined that the environmental analysis required for
the Plan of Operations amendment is an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
The initiation of the EIS process in conjunction with the BLM is currently
underway.
Prior to the completion of the EIS process and receiving BLM's approval
of the amended Plan of Operations, the underground exploration and development
activities at Hollister must be conducted within the limits set out in the
current BLM permit and in the renewed Water Pollution Control Permit that
the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) recently issued. The
ongoing trial mining operations will be conducted in a manner that will protect
the environment - including the important archaeological resources near
the mine - and will not create any additional surface disturbance or other
new environmental impacts.
During 2008 a total of 17,111 feet of lateral and vertical development were
excavated in waste and ore (see below).
|
WASTE DEVELOPMENT
(feet)
|
ORE
DEVELOPMENT
EXPLORATION DRIFTS, INCL RAISES (feet)
|
|
11,057
|
6,054
|
The development is a critical phase of the detailed evaluation of the vein
systems and has enabled commensurate delineation drilling, channel sampling
and mapping.
Using the existing infrastructure, the planned 2009 underground program will
develop approximately 260,000 tons of rock (both waste and ore) - similar
to the volume of rock developed and removed from the underground workings
in 2008. Up to 275,000 tons of ore per annum is allowed to be processed off-site
in accordance with the NDEP Water Pollution Control Permit to determine the
metallurgical characteristics.
During December 2008, the Company announced that it had purchased the Esmeralda
Mill in Nevada, which it is planning to refurbish at a cost of US$8.0 million.
This facility will be redesigned to test the Hollister bulk samples so that
gold recoveries can be optimized and revenues will closer reflect the spot
price of gold and silver.
Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO, commented, "A number of achievements
have been made at our Hollister Project over the past year. It was the first
year that the current management team evaluated the in-situ mineralization
through a focused development and trial mining program. A significant amount
of exploration development was required to gain access to a number of veins
to determine the mineability of the vein material. This was subsequently followed
up by metallurgical testing at a number of sites, with mixed results. 2009
will be another exciting year, with more exploration and trial mining planned
to enable Great Basin Gold to gain a better understanding of the optimal exploitation
of the Hollister deposit."
Johan Oelofse, PrEng, FSAIMM, Chief Operating Officer for the Company and
a qualified person, has reviewed this news release on behalf of Great Basin.
For additional details on Great Basin Gold Ltd. 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 +1 646 452-2334
No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained
in this news release.
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 Gold 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, continuity of mineralization,
uncertainties related to the ability to obtain necessary permits, licenses
and title and delays due to third party opposition, geopolitical uncertainty,
changes in government policies regarding mining and natural resource exploration
and exploitation, and continued availability of capital and financing, 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 40-F filing with the United States
Securities and Exchange Commission and its home jurisdiction filings that
are available at www.sedar.com.