Great Basin receives mining regulatory approvals

Great Basin Gold Ltd. announces that the South African Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) has approved an amended environmental management plan (EMP) for the sinking of the vertical shaft at its Burnstone development project.

The amended EMP addresses the environmental management in respect to:

1. The original bulk sampling activities;

2. The sinking of a second outlet in the form of a vertical shaft that will be used for safety only until the mining right application, submitted in September 2007, has been successfully processed and granted; and

3. The crushing of waste rock from the development of the prospecting decline and the second outlet.

In addition, the DME granted written approval for the taking of a bulk sample in terms of Section 20 of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, 2002 (MPDRA), thereby substituting the current old order approval that was granted in terms of the Minerals Act, 1991. The Section 20 approval completes the requirements to proceed with the first phase of the Burnstone development project and has been included in the application for a mining right.

The processing and granting of an application for a mining right by the DME generally takes approximately 12 months to conclude.

President and CEO Ferdi Dippenaar said, we welcome the approvals of the EMP and the Section 20 application. The process has been indicative of the good interactive relationship between Great Basin Gold and the DME, and emphasizes expectations for the Burnstone development project to be transformed into a fully fledged mining operation. A significant added benefit from the timing of the approval is that Great Basin Gold will expand our Corporate Social Investment initiative, creating 60 outside employment opportunities. An economic empowerment company, Inzanathi (Pty) Ltd, which was established in 2007, will process crushed rock from the development, provide crushed to the Burnstone project and commercially dispose of the surplus as well as other manufactured, value added products to the community and region where infrastructure improvements are currently underway.