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, NV 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." Ferdi Dippenaar President and CEO 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

Copyright