Golden Star Resources Ltd. reported Thursday that positive progress is being made on its sulfide expansion project at its Bogoso/Prestea mine. Golden Star confirms that the construction is on budget and is expected to be completed and commissioning to commence ahead of schedule in the later part of the third quarter of 2006. The Company had originally targeted to complete construction in the fourth quarter.

Peter Bradford, President and CEO, stated that "The Sulfide Expansion Project will significantly increase our processing capacity at Bogoso/Prestea. Current production of 1.5 million tonnes per annum from the existing oxide plant will be increased to a projected total capacity of approximately 5.0 million tonnes per annum from the combined oxide and sulfide plants. The new sulfide plant will utilize the BIOX bio-oxidation process that is marketed by a subsidiary of Gold Fields Limited, currently being used in eleven gold processing plants that are operating or under-development worldwide. Upon completion, the Bogoso/Prestea sulfide plant will be the largest operating BIOX plant in the world."
Construction status

Progress of the sulfide expansion project is as follows:

- The Fuller Traylor gyratory crusher, associated conveyors, crushed ore stockpile and reclaim system are substantially complete and dry commissioning has commenced;

- The CIL tanks are currently being painted and when painting is finished these tanks will be complete and ready for dry commissioning;

- The first blower to supply air to the BIOX tanks has arrived in Ghana. This is expected to be delivered to the site and installed in the coming week. Two other blowers should arrive in Ghana in early July with three blowers to be delivered progressively after that;

- The grinding and classification section is expected to be dry commissioned and tested from July;

- The first bank of cooling towers has been built and commissioning is planned to commence in July. These cooling towers are required to maintain the BIOX tanks within a specified temperature range for optimal operation;

- The civil work for the flotation circuit has been completed and steel erection is scheduled to start in the first week in July;

- The BIOX tanks, neutralization tanks and associated thickeners are erected, and of the 62 kilometers of stainless steel welding required, approximately 72% is complete;

- Approximately 40 cubic meters of material containing active BIOX bacteria has been delivered to site. As the activity levels of the bacteria reach satisfactory levels the process of filling the BIOX tanks with inoculated sulfide material, which is expected to take three months, will commence;

- Electrical and piping construction is underway, as is work on the elution circuit, gold room, laboratory and tailings storage facility; and

- Pre-stripping of the sulfide pits to create a stockpile of transition and sulfide ore for the BIOX plant is progressing well. Approximately 800,000 tonnes of ore is expected to be in the stockpile by the end of September.
Company profile

Golden Star holds a 90% equity interest in the Bogoso/Prestea and Wassa open-pit gold mines in Ghana. In addition, Golden Star has an 81% interest in the currently inactive Prestea Underground mine in Ghana, as well as gold exploration interests elsewhere in Ghana, in other parts of West Africa and in the Guiana Shield of South America.