Local subsidiary of the Guyana Goldfields Limited, Aurora Gold Mines (AGM), has announced the third phase of its workforce reduction, which will see more persons being terminated in the coming days.
Operations at the Aurora mine site
The AGM Director of People and Culture, Emma Geist, issued a circular dated June 9 to all employees, indicating that the third phase of termination comes as the company transitions from open-pit mining to underground mining at the Aurora mine site.
“Following our announcements about transitioning from open pit mining to underground mining at our Aurora mine site and the interruption this will cause in our operations for an undetermined period, we will now proceed with the third phase of our workforce reduction plan,” Geist informed.
This third phase is said to conclude the workforce reduction process. It will be split into two phases – one commencing from July 10, and the other slated for the end of July.
The outline of the process is identical to that of the previous phases: employees who would be part of this workforce reduction would be contacted by HR to report to the office in Georgetown to get their final papers.
“Employees who will be part of this workforce reduction initiative while being at site will be informed by their supervisors to report to the HR office on Friday morning, before they fly back from Aurora to Ogle Airport, to get their final papers. Extra flights have been scheduled to depart Aurora on Friday, July 10, 2020 and flight manifests will be released,” the circular indicated.
A final payout will be deposited into the bank accounts of the affected employees no later than July 20, 2020.
It caps a tumultuous year for the company, which had made moves to sell its operations off to fellow Canadian mining company Silvercorp Metals last month. However, a Chinese company managed to acquire the large-scale gold mining company for some Cdn$323 million in what turned out to be the better offer.
Zijin Mining Group Co, a leading global mining company specialising in gold, copper, zinc, and other mineral resource exploration and development, bettered the purchasing price and conditions stipulated by the Canadian company.
When the operations resume, the new company will take over and employees will be transferred under new management.
“We would also like to inform you that once the ownership transfers to Zijin and the COVID-19 pandemic allows their leadership to visit the mine site, they plan to restart the open-pit mining as soon as possible.
“Unfortunately, we cannot predict when that will happen, nor can we predict when the Government will open the airports to allow travel at this time.”
Zijin Chairman Chen Jinghe last month expressed optimism at the prospects that the acquisition of the Aurora mining operations present.
“Guyana Goldfields’ management team has dedicated tremendous effort and made significant contributions in progressing the Aurora Gold Mine, and we look forward to advancing and developing the next phase of the mine. We believe that the Aurora mine is a high-quality gold asset with significant upside potential, which we believe will be highly complementary to Zijin’s existing mining asset portfolio,” he said.
The Chinese company has committed to “continuing to operate in a safe, sustainable, and responsible manner”, and says that it looks forward to “working closely with the Government of Guyana, the local communities, and all other stakeholders to deliver a first-class operation that will significantly benefit the regional economy”.
It was noted that the agreement will be subject to the approval of 66.66 per cent of votes cast by shareholders of Guyana Goldfields at an annual and special meeting of Guyana Goldfields shareholders expected to be held by July 31, 2020.
