THE potential for large-scale gold mining making a major contribution to the economy of Guyana was outlined during a presentation, at Pegasus Hotel in Georgetown on Thursday night, by the top official of the Canadian mining company, Guyana Goldfields Inc. President and Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Claude Lamasson spoke of the ‘Golden Square Mile’ in the company’s holdings at Aurora, where he estimates a resource  deposit of 6.7 million ounces of gold but said the  estimate continues to grow as exploration continues.
He said there has also been a discovery at Sulphur Rose in the Aranka property with an estimated 460,400 ounces, now regarded as a starter, but totally separate from the 6.7 million.
Lamasson said his company is confident that its value will continue to grow as it intensifies the depth and scope of its explorations and in other properties in the surrounding areas.
“At the moment, we are very pleased to see the size of the project that really brings us into significant world class deposits,” he said.
Lamasson disclosed that the gold discovered is in both open pit and underground components, which would lead to the company being the first ever to do large-scale underground mining, as well, when it commences production in 2014.
He said, given the size of the find within the Golden Square Mile and other properties, Guyana Gold Fields expects to be involved up to at least 2034.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who has the mining portfolio and was in the audience, expressed his own excitement at the disclosure by Guyana Goldfields.
He said he is looking forward to the resumption of large-scale gold mining in Guyana within the timeframe identified by Guyana Goldfields.
His sentiments were echoed by Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, Mr. Francois Montour, who pointed out that Guyana Goldfields is just one of many Canadian companies operating in Guyana.
The diplomat said he hopes that the others would soon be able to report operations of a similar size for mineral extraction to the benefit of the local economy.
Lamasson gave the talk with the aim of updating Government officials and other stakeholders in the sector on its prospects and  plans for the future.
He referred to the geological connection between South America and Africa and said it existed millions of years before the formation of the Atlantic Ocean.
Lamasson said it is accepted, among geologists, that in the early development of the earth, the two continents were one and the Guiana Shield was connected to the West African Shield.
“We can see, even now, that they have, essentially, the same geology, the same type of structures and so on,” he added.
Lamasson said what makes this age-old connection interesting is that the West African Shield has, over the past 10 to 15 years, been among the most prolific gold-yielding areas in the world and it is no accident that there is now a movement to Guyana and the Guiana Shield as the new frontier of the gold-mining industry.
“This area will be seeing the largest number of gold mines being built in the short to medium term. We just want to tell you that we believe that, in the Guiana Shield, we are looking at monster deposits of gold and we, at Guyana Goldfields, are committed to moving the extraction process forward,” he stated.