VANCOUVER, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Great Basin Gold Ltd. ("Great Basin or the "Company") (TSX: GBG; AMEX: GBN; JSE: GBG) today announced the granting of the Mining Right for its Burnstone Mine in South Africa by the Department of Minerals and Energy. The Mining Right was granted on 28 October 2008 to the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Southgold Exploration (Pty) Ltd ("Southgold") and authorizes Southgold to mine for gold, silver and aggregate in the Burnstone Project area. The Burnstone property is located in the Witwatersrand Goldfield of South Africa. In terms of the requirements of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources Development Act, Tranter Gold (Proprietary) Limited ("Tranter Gold"), a Black Economic Empowerment ("BEE") company, acquired 26% of the Burnstone Project using the then Feasibility Study as a basis for valuation. To enable Tranter Gold to gain full exposure to the international asset base of Great Basin Gold, approval was given to convert the 26% see-through value of their holding in the Burnstone Project to shares in the listed entity. Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO commented: "Great Basin Gold and Tranter Gold, our BEE partner, view this as a significant milestone which paves the way to deliver the project as planned. What is just as important is that Tranter Gold, which is Great Basin Gold's largest shareholder with some 9.3% interest in the listed entity, is making good progress in becoming a black-owned operating mining company in its own right. Development of the Company's Burnstone Project is progressing well. The cross-cut to the mineralized reef is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2009, at which time trial stoping to extract a bulk sample of approximately 26,000 tons will commence, and simultaneously development of the vertical shaft and decline shaft will continue. The Company plans to mine approximately 40,000 oz of gold at Burnstone in 2009." Ferdi Dippenaar President and CEO No regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained in this news release. 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 possible future commercial production, reserve potential, exploration drilling results, development, feasibility or exploitation activities and events or 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 market 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, and 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 those 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 and its gold properties, please visit the Company's website at http://www.grtbasin.com/ or contact Investor Services at: Tsholo Serunye in South Africa, 27 (0) 11 301 1800; Michael Curlook, 1 888 633-9332; Barbara Cano at Breakstone Group in the USA (646) 452-2334

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