DENVER, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Golden Star Resources Ltd. (Amex: GSR; Toronto: GSC) (Golden Star) announces that it has withdrawn its August 30, 1999 proposal to the Board of Directors of Birim Goldfields Inc. (Toronto: BGI) for a business combination under which Golden Star would have offered to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Birim. Shareholders of Birim would have received one-half of a share of Golden Star in exchange for each share of Birim held. The withdrawal comes after Birim's announcement of the sale of the Mampon deposit on Birim's Dunkwa concession in Ghana to Ashanti Goldfields.

The sale of the Mampon deposit, the most advanced exploration project and only defined resource in the Birim portfolio, removes Birim's most important near term asset from consideration with respect to Golden Star's valuation of the company. As a result, Golden Star's previously proposed premium for Birim is no longer justified given the current industry environment.

Despite Birim's sale of Mampon and Golden Star's withdrawal of its offer to acquire Birim, Golden Star continues to actively evaluate and explore potential opportunities for developing additional sources of mill feed from areas adjacent to the Company's Bogoso mine in Ghana that could be processed economically through the existing Bogoso mill. The Company also continues to evaluate, with partner Cambior Inc., options for the Gross Rosebel gold project in Suriname, potentially a low cost heap leach development with estimated total costs of under $200/ounce, including capital. Exploration work continues under joint ventures in South America and Africa, for gold at the Tanda project in Ivory Coast, funded by North Ltd., and diamonds in French Guiana, through Guyanor Resources, funded by Rio Tinto.

Golden Star is a gold and diamond exploration/development and mining company which has a 70% equity interest in the Bogoso gold mine in Ghana and holds a 30% equity interest in the Omai gold mine in Guyana. Golden Star also holds significant gold and diamond exploration interests in South America and Africa. Golden Star currently has approximately 36.5 million shares outstanding. The Company is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (under the symbol "GSC") and the American Stock Exchange (under the symbol "GSR"). SOURCE Golden Star Resources Ltd.