VANCOUVER, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Great Basin Gold Ltd. (“Great Basin” or the “Company”), (TSX: GBG; NYSE Amex: GBG; JSE: GBG) announces that its Hollister Project in Elko County, Nevada, USA has received the 2009 Environmental Excellence Award from the Northwest Mining Association (“NWMA”). This award was presented at a ceremony on December 1st in Reno in conjunction with the NWMA’s 115th annual meeting. This award recognizes companies and projects that exemplify the NWMA’s Statement of Environmental Principles.
The Hollister Project, which is operated by Great Basin’s wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Rodeo Creek Gold, is an underground exploration decline and associated facilities in an area that is within a former open-pit mine.
Laura Skaer, NWMA’s Executive Director, praised Great Basin for taking great care to plan and develop the Hollister Project to minimize impacts. “The Hollister Project demonstrates one of our key environmental principles – the importance of planning a project from inception through closure to identify, evaluate, manage and mitigate potential environmental impacts.”
Ferdi Dippenaar, Great Basin’s President and CEO, said that Great Basin embraces the philosophy that as a mining company, we have a responsibility to limit our footprint and also to make meaningful investments in the communities where we operate starting with the planning and development stages of our projects. It is a privilege to be recognized by NWMA for our efforts.”
