Guyana Goldfields, the owner of Aurora Gold Mine (AGM), located in the north-west of Guyana’s Mazaruni Region, is set to begin underground mining very soon, after securing its much-needed clearance from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
According to the Department of Public Information (DPI), final clearance has to come from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
According to AGM’s Chief Executive Officer, Scott Caldwell, all the necessary documents have been submitted to the GGMC for processing.
GGMC Commissioner, Newell Dennison, corroborated Caldwell statement, telling members of the media that all documents have been submitted, and the usual technical checks were now being conducted. “These things take time, but I can say everything has been submitted and clearance will come, but the checks have to be made.”
According to DPI, AGM hosted the government and private media on a tour of its Mazaruni operations. During the visit, the company’s safety measures and records to date came in for praise from Commissioner Dennison.
The Aurora Mine is one of the largest gold mines in Guyana and the world, with an estimated reserve of 6.54million ounces of gold.
AGM began open-pit exploration in Guyana in 1995 and began producing in 2016. So far, the company has invested approximately $63Billion (US$300M) in its Guyana operations.
For the underground mining exploration, $5Billion (US$25M) is the set bill for the first three years of exploration, with another $21Billion (US$100M) to be used in the next ten years of production, DPI reported.
AGM has a 16 per cent female workforce, with a special program designed to teach women how to operate heavy machinery.
Training and internship are also offered to GGMC staff and University of Guyana students, specifically in the area of environmental studies.
