Guyana Goldfields Provides an Update on the Aurora Feasibility Study
TORONTO, Jan. 11, 2012 /CNW/ - Guyana Goldfields Inc.
('GGI' or the Company') is pleased to provide an update on the definitive Feasibility Study ('FS') work for the Aurora Gold Project.The FS work led by GGI staff is aggressively continuing with costing work advancing in all disciplines. Following is a list of key contributors:
-- Overall coordination of FS - GGI
-- Off-site and on-site infrastructure - GGI
-- Resource estimation, open pit and underground mine design and
engineering - SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. (Toronto)
-- Underground mine shaft & infrastructure - DMC Mining Services
'Dynatec' (Toronto)
-- Underground ventilation - Bluhm Burton Engineering (PTY) Ltd.
'BBE' (South Africa)
-- Pastefill plant & system - Golder PasteTec (Sudbury)
-- Processing (crushing & milling) - Ausenco Limited (Montreal)
-- Tailings, water management and river dyke - AMEC Earth &
Environmental (Mississauga)
-- Environmental & social - Environ Corp. (Washington, DC)
-- Power generation - Martin Menard & Associates (Montreal)
The Feasibility Study work by the internal team and consultants is scheduled to be completed in late January. Following this, an intense and rigorous independent final peer review will be undertaken. This review is expected to take approximately 4 weeks. In the last few months, various peer reviews of specific disciplines have been completed and some are ongoing.
The Senior Executives and the Board of Directors want to ensure that all aspects presented in the FS are current, manageable and optimized. This will allow the Board and Executives to perform a full evaluation of the optimized results for the Aurora Project from a Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), pay-back period and financeability perspective to the maximum benefit of Guyana Goldfields and its shareholders.
The Company expects to report the FS 'key findings' after the completion of this review by Friday, February 24, 2012 and the final National Instrument 43-101 compliant technical report will be submitted within the following 45-day required period from this date and made available on SEDAR and the Company website.
As the final components of work are coming to a conclusion, the Feasibility Study team can confirm some key parameters on the mine framework for the Aurora Gold Project:
-- Combination of open pit and underground mining for a mine life
of 22 years based on the current measured and indicated
resource of 5.71 million ounces
-- Initially, surface and open pit development is expected to
commence in Q2 2012 for 24 months; open pit production is
expected to begin in Q2 2014 and carry on for 8 years
-- Open Pit Mining is expected to include 6 pits within a square
mile, with bottom depths varying from 70 to 315 metres
-- Underground development is scheduled to commence in 2015 (capex
will be fully funded from cash flow); commercial production is
expected to commence in 2019 and will carry on for 16 years
-- Milling will be through a SAG mill and Ball mill combination
with design throughput of 8,000 tonnes per day
-- Average annual gold production (Years 2 - 9) is expected to be
~250,000 ounces
-- Power will be provided from on-site Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) Power
Generators
-- Construction of certain critical off-site infrastructure
facilities such as the access road and the Buckhall port and
transfer facilities are well advanced
With a Mineral Agreement in place with the Guyanese Government and having received the Aurora Gold Project Mining License (see Press Release dated Nov.18, 2011), the Company is poised to officially start development and construction of the Aurora Gold Project in Q2 2012.
About Guyana Goldfields Inc.
Guyana Goldfields Inc. is a Canadian based mineral exploration company, primarily focused on the exploration and development of gold deposits in Guyana, South America where the Company has operated since 1996. The Company is currently undertaking drilling and studies to advance and develop the Aurora Gold Project in Guyana with a current measured and indicated resource of 5.71 million ounces gold (47.040 million tonnes at a grade of 3.83 g/t). The completion of a Feasibility Study is expected in Q1 2012 followed by a revised resource estimate by the end of the first quarter in 2012.
At the Aranka Properties, the Company has discovered a gold deposit at Sulphur Rose and other highly prospective targets have been identified for drill testing. As at the date hereof, the Company has approximately $36 million in cash and short-term bank guaranteed investment certificates and no debt; there are approximately 83 million shares issued and outstanding.
All scientific and technical disclosure contained in this press release has been approved by Claude Lemasson, P.Eng., MBA, a 'qualified person' within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101.
Guyana Goldfields Inc.
CONTACT: Guyana Goldfields Inc.
Claude Lemasson
President & COO
Jacqueline Wagenaar
Vice President, Corporate Communications
Tel: (416) 628-5936 Ext. 2295
Fax: (416) 628-5935
E-mail: jwagenaar@guygold.com
Website: www.guygold.com