VANCOUVER, Oct. 13 /CNW/ - Great Basin Gold Ltd. ("Great Basin" or the "Company") (TSX: GBG; NYSE Amex: GBG; JSE: GBG) announces that the Burnstone Metallurgical Plant project, one of the
final steps in the start-up of the Burnstone gold mine in South Africa,
remains on track.

Successful commissioning of the Semi-Autogenous Grinding (SAG) mill and
Ball mill has taken place. The SAG and Ball mills' commissioning went
very smoothly; they are controlled using medium voltage drives, which
offer improved reliability through the use of high voltage insulate
gate bipolar transistors that are 99% efficient at full load and have a
high dynamic response based on voltage source inverter technology. This
is the first application of this technology in South Africa.

Development muck has initially been run through the system during the
test period to fill lockup areas. Conveyors were run at low speed to
assess if there were any problem areas. All mills and conveyors
performed well. A loading bin was added to the SAG mill conveyor. This
part of the mill design provides additional flexibility, enabling
material to be fed into the mills bypassing the silo. Crushing has been
continuing with 3,000 tonnes processed.

The current focus is to commission the gravity circuit, which will be
followed by the Carbon-in-Leach circuit. The first gold pour is
expected before the end of October 2010.

Commissioning of the vertical shaft is progressing well with both
conveyances tested and shaft signaling devices already in place. The
shaft is scheduled to be inspected by the Department of Mineral
Resources on Thursday, October 14, 2010 for final testing and
licensing.

Ferdi Dippenaar, President and CEO, commented: "Good progress has been
made in the Burnstone Metallurgical Plant. Commissioning of the two
mills is a significant milestone, and attention has now shifted to the
remaining metallurgical plant infrastructure."

Johan Oelofse, Pr.Eng., FSAIMM, Chief Operating Officer of Great Basin
and a qualified person, as defined by Canadian regulatory policy, has
reviewed and assumed responsibility for the technical information
contained in this release.

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 www.sedar.com.