ONE more foreign company is forging ahead with the objective of commencing large scale gold and diamond mining in Guyana.
United States owned Dream Hole Mining Company (DHMC) Inc., on Monday, started construction of a 35 miles road from Aricheng to Kurupung Mountain Top in Region Seven (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), with the best wishes of Prime Minister Samuel Hinds.
“We are already employing Guyanese and will employ a lot more,” said Mr. Lloyd Johnson, President of DHMC.
He said feasibility studies show “that we are going to be doing something nice on top of that mountain.”
Speaking at the banner cutting ceremony to start the road building, in the presence of DHMC staffers and guests flown in from the coastland, Johnson said it should cost about US$1M and production of the minerals should begin within three months.
Among the special invitees in attendance at Aricheng were Prime Minister Hinds, Acting Commissioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), Mrs. Karen Livan and Manager of Special Projects, Mr. Stephen Edwards.
Johnson’s wife, Mrs. Sheria Johnson and others from DHMC, Mr. John Haynes, Vice-President, Communications and Development; Mr. John Hanna, Road Engineer; Business Manager, Mr. Bhesram Mark Singh and his wife, Mrs Alyssa Singh; Assistant Business Manager, Mr. Tyler Singleton; Logistics Officer, Mr. Jeff Narain and Transport Manager, Mr. Kumkarran Singh.
The programme at Aricheng, chaired by Haynes, included a prayer by him, brief speeches by Prime Minister Hinds and Johnson.
Mr. Hinds lauded DHMC for the initiative to restore the last remaining section of the abandoned Upper Mazaruni Road Project.
“I have always thought that we should do something new with old resources and opportunities and I am pleased that we are, finally, going to restore this road through DHMC,” he said.
The Prime Minister encouraged DHMC to collaborate with other stakeholders, including foresters, non foresters, eco-tourism operators and the Amerindians living in and farming in or near the area.
Partnerships
“We encourage this and you can work towards combinations and partnerships of all the various activities, particularly a possible further development of the Forestry Sector,” he said.
Mr. Hinds added: “I am pleased to see this next step in the development of our country within the context of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and I hope that you can find the gold and the diamonds to make your investment worthwhile for both yourselves and Guyana.”
In an interview, Johnson had, earlier, said the company is targeting Kurupung Mountain Top, a virgin area for the state of the art equipment with which it intends to mine.
He said the area has never been worked before, only by local porkknockers with shovels, because it is impossible to get up there except by walking.
“But the road will get us there,” said Johnson, whose mining experience includes 20 years in Brazil.
He said: “I have worked in accordance with the tough standards of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of the U.S., very tough regulations and I have complied with them. I will have no difficulty in working with the GGMC regulations, in making our environmental footprints negligible.”
Johnson assured that DHMC will not use mercury in its mineral recovery but will process metals using more up-to-date systems such as the ‘Knelson Concentrators’ and shaking tables.
He thanked the Prime Minister and both the present and past GGMC Commissioners, Livan and Mr. William Woolford, respectively, for the support that enabled his company to get so far and in advancing its objectives.
The banner cutting followed the movement of heavy equipment from Georgetown to Aricheng by road and barges by way of Itaballi Crossing, Puruni and across the Mazaruni over the past two weeks, to begin work in earnest, towards Kurupung Mountain top, this week.