Great Basin Poised To Be A Mid-tier Gold Producer

VANCOUVER, BC - Great Basin Gold Ltd. reported the Nevada operations at Hollister produced 16,240 Au eqv oz1 for the quarter (Q1 2011: 24,082 Au eqv oz), compared to the forecast of 19,749 Au eqv oz. Ineffective carbon stripping, while the final upgrade to the acid wash and carbon regeneration circuit was being completed, resulted in lower than planned Au (87%) and Ag (62%) recoveries at the Esmeralda mill during the quarter. The upgrade to this circuit was completed in late April 2012. All dorÄ will be poured on site starting May 2012.

Although lower than Q1 2011, Au and Ag grades as well as tonnes extracted from trial mining were in-line with the production plan and good progress has been made in improving mining flexibility through additional focus on ore development. 15,357 Au eqv oz were sold during the quarter (Q1 2011: 17,324) with the amount of Au eqv oz locked up in carbon and awaiting processing through third party refiners increasing by 1,352 to 14,447 Au eqv oz on March 31, 2012. It is expected that this carbon will be treated during Q2 2012 and inventory levels will return to normalized levels by the end of Q2 2012. Cash costs per ounce of $850/oz were recorded for the quarter (Q1 2011: $670); costs were impacted by the lower recoveries achieved as well as the additional transportation costs incurred to process the carbon at the Rand Refinery in South Africa.

Following the recent receipt of the Dam Safety Permit (which authorizes the impounding of tails, slimes and water on the TSF) and the updated reclamation bond, construction commenced on the three-phase expansion of the tailings storage facility (TSF). At the currently planned production rates, Phase 1 and 2 will provide tailings storage capacity for the next 6 years and the completion of Phase 3 can extend this to 25 years. The current facility has sufficient capacity for the impoundment of tails until the planned completion of the expanded tailings facility.

The Burnstone operations in South Africa produced 6,671 Au oz for the quarter (Q1 2011: 5,511 Au oz), compared to the forecast of 6,327 Au oz. Production volumes were generally in-line with the production plan with a slightly higher stoping Au grade compensating for minor volume variances. Square meters available for stoping more than doubled from December 31, 2011 with over 14,000 square meters being available at March 31, 2012. Available square meters has increased further since that time with approximately 16,200 square meters being available for stoping at the end of April 2012. Good progress was made during the quarter on infrastructure upgrades that will enable the mine to maintain its momentum to meet increasing development and production targets. Cash costs per ounce for the quarter of $2,181 were recorded (Q1 2011: $2,471) and were impacted by additional water handling and employee related costs incurred.

The company's address is 1108, 1030 West Georgia Street, Vancouver BC V6E 2Y3.