GALANE GOLD LTD. ANNOUNCES UPDATE ON COVID-19

TORONTO, March 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Galane Gold Ltd. (“Galane Gold” or the “Company”) (TSX-V: GG; OTCQB: GGGOF) has acted swiftly to put precautions in place to manage the risk of COVID-19 to staff, the Company, contractors, the local communities, and all other stakeholders. The Company has had no reported cases of COVID-19 at either of our projects and we continue to ensure that our operations follow the latest professional guidance.

The announcement yesterday by the Republic of South Africa that all mines must be put on care and maintenance means that starting Friday this week, production at our Galaxy operations will temporarily cease. We will instigate care and maintenance in a way that allows us to restart operations almost immediately once we are advised by the government that we can do so. We will also put controls in place to retain funds to initiate the re-start. The government of South Africa announced that the decreed lockdown is scheduled until April 16, 2020, and we do not foresee at this point that it will have a material long term effect on our operations.

The South Africa lockdown will also affect our Mupane operations in Botswana, as the majority of its critical supplies are sourced from South Africa. We had already commenced increasing stores in anticipation of such an action and we predict that we have sufficient stocks to maintain operations until the end of April. We are also working closely with the government of the Republic of Botswana to identify which of our imported supplies are critical so that they can be continued to be shipped from South Africa if there is an urgent requirement. This currently means that if the lockdown finishes as anticipated, we have sufficient supplies to continue operations.

In addition, Mupane’s off-taker has notified us that they will not be able to ship our gold doré during this interim period. We are currently working with them to conclude an alternative arrangement, if required.

We had already formed a risk committee to identify the main threats to the Company and its operations. Due to the controls already put into place by the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Botswana, it appears that some of the transmission risks have already been mitigated.

With regards to operational risks, steps have already been taken to minimize them.  The Company’s key management and its board of directors will meet on a weekly basis to review their effectiveness and make any adjustments as deemed necessary to minimize any potential operational disruption, while ensuring the welfare and safety of our workforce and neighbouring communities.