Guyana Goldfields to invest US$120M into underground mining

Having already reaped the benefits of opening-pit mining, the Guyana Goldfields Inc. is looking to expand its operations here by constructing the country’s first underground mine.
This development should occur within the next four years, and the investment would see a whopping US$120 million being pumped into the project.
This was revealed by President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Canadian-owned mining company, Scott Caldwell. He said on Saturday that

several studies have already been completed, and the company is now awaiting a feasibility report that would determine the commencement date.
Caldwell explained that the company had initially forecasted starting underground mining in four years’ time, but has decided to bring forward those plans.
“Our previous (outlook) was four years from now, so it would have started in 2022… (But) this study is looking at starting sooner than that,” he disclosed. “We’re working on the numbers right now, but it would be sooner than 2022, I just don’t know the number yet, but we wanna move it forward,” he explained. “So we are working on that study right now; it will be published at the end of the month,” the CEO stated.
Since commencing operations here, the Guyana Goldfields Inc, which operates the Aurora Gold Mine, has touted its intentions of starting underground mining. According to Caldwell, starting the operations sooner than its initial forecasted date would allow for longer time to train and get the workforce up to speed on underground mining.
“Underground mining is a lot different, obviously, than open pit mining, and there is not a lot of underground mining experience in Guyana as yet. So we need to do quite a bit of training to get the workforce up to snuffle on that,” the CEO noted.
This will be Guyana’s first underground mining operation as well as that of the Guyana Goldfields.
The company is looking to be the premiere underground miner not only in Guyana, but in all of South America. “It’s our future, so that’s where we wanna go,” he asserted.
According to Caldwell, who has extensive experience in underground mining, the company would have to retain some expatriate trainers for the first phase, and then gradually move on to the Guyanese workforce, which would have to be trained.
“Typically, what you would do is bring in contract miners and they would help you with the training programme, and then you would train (local workers),” he explained.
“We trained countless Indonesians in that country for underground mining in US, Canada and all around the world. It’s gonna take a while, ‘cause you gotta be safe and efficient; but it can be done, and I know our workforce can be trained to transition from surface to underground… We will start with training at a very leisurely rate. In other words, training very slowly, and work our production up,” Caldwell posited.
He added that when work commences on the underground operations, there would be need to increase the workforce by between 75 and 100 persons, which would augur well for Guyana, as it would create job opportunities.
Questioned about the risks and safety measures of such operations, Caldwell asserted that this type of mining is a “very safe, very efficient” practice. He explained that the company has to transition from open pit mining to underground mining primarily because of the Cuyuni River.
Caldwell noted that a higher quality of gold lies below the base of the Aurora Mines but the company cannot expand the pit further because of the Cuyuni River, so the other option is to go underground. This method, he added, would result in less disturbance to the environment.
“So it’s a long lifeline in underground mine… (and) we are excited about getting down there and start mining,” he indicated.
Moreover, Caldwell stated that in order to start driving tunnel underground, the company has already expended some US$4 million to conduct studies, all which found positive results about the operation. In fact, he noted that several million dollars have also been spent on risk analysis and drill testing, including hydrology testing, soil testing, rock mechanics, and so on. “We’ve done all of that work… all risk analyses were done, so it’s just a question of when we’ll start; and we’ll know the answer by the end of the month,” he reiterated.
In a feasibility study report released by Guyana Goldfields just over a year ago, it was stated that the development of the underground operation was scheduled to commence in 2022, with first production expected in 2024 at the cost of US$129 million.
The study results show underground mining creates minimal surface subsidence, and indicate water inflows are manageable, as has been proven by existing open pit mining activities.
It looked at underground mining operations at Rory’s Knoll as well as the Mad Kiss and Aleck Hill satellite deposits.