Burnstone Mine Power Supply Development Update
30 Novembro 2009 - 11:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
VANCOUVER, Nov. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Great Basin Gold Ltd.
("Great Basin Gold" or the "Company"), (TSX: GBG; NYSE Amex: GBG;
JSE: GBG) reports on the progress of the power supply to its
Burnstone Mine project in South Africa. All design work for the
first of two lines between a proposed switching station (positioned
between Grootvlei Power Station and Burnstone Mine) has been
completed and material ordered, with construction scheduled to
commence early January 2010. The proposed refurbishment of two
existing lines between Grootvlei and the proposed switching station
is currently being finalized and is also planned to commence in
early 2010. The proposed commissioning date of the permanent supply
that will follow a power demand buildup, as agreed between Eskom
(the state-owned energy company) and Great Basin Gold, is at the
end of June 2010. As an interim arrangement, Burnstone will be
supplied with 25 MVA by means of a new 88 kV line. The full 51 MVA,
as agreed between Eskom and Great Basin Gold, will be supplied as
soon as the construction of the Switching Station as well as the
refurbishment of the two lines from Grootvlei Power Station has
been completed. The electrical installation at the Burnstone
Project was designed to comply with Eskom energy efficiency
specifications as set out in the 'Generic Energy Efficiency
Specification'. Independent certification in this regard will be
done prior to activation of the energy supply, effecting the issue
of an Eskom 'Energy Efficiency Compliance certificate'. In order to
supplement the latter, creative power saving methods have been
integrated in the design, such as the use of high efficiency
motors, optimized electrical infrastructure, alternative power
technologies, and state of the art power monitor and control
technologies. Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO, commented: "We
are pleased with the progress made by Eskom with the supply of
power to the Burnstone Mine. All parties involved are contributing.
A project steering committee between representatives of Eskom and
the Company has been established and meets on a bi-weekly basis to
monitor project progress, to ensure that time lines are met which
will see the successful commissioning of the vertical shaft and
metallurgical plant by end June 2010." 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 financing events
or technical 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 financial market conditions,
metals 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, 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 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 http://www.sedar.com/. DATASOURCE: Great Basin Gold
Ltd. CONTACT: For additional details on Great Basin Gold and its
gold properties, please visit the Company's website at
http://www.grtbasin.com/ or contact Investor Services: Tsholo
Serunye in South Africa, 27 (0) 11 301 1800; Michael Curlook in
North America, (888) 633-9332; Barbara Cano at Breakstone Group in
the USA, (646) 452-2334
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