Written By Clifford Stanley
GUYANA Goldfields Inc., the Canadian gold mining company operating at Aurora in Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni), has purchased a grinding mill valued at US$6.3M in a determined pursuit of the development and construction of its Aurora Gold Project.

The Aurora Gold Project has a total gold resource of 6.54 million ounces in the measured and indicated categories (62.83 million tonnes at a grade of 3.24 grams per tonne (g/t) as well as an additional 1.82 million ounces in the inferred category (16.93 million tonnes at a grade of 3.34 g/t). And the project is designed to produce 3.29 million ounces of gold, averaging 194,000 ounces per year, over an initial 17-year mine life.

The company said it has  purchased the  7.9×6.0 meters (5.5 megawatts) semi-autogenous (SAG) mill including motors and spares as its primary grinding solution for the initial milling facility for hard rock gold mining.

The mill is designed for an initial throughput of 5,000 tonnes per day expanding to 10,000 tonnes in the third year after the commencement of underground production. A ball mill will be added in order to facilitate the expansion and the additional throughput.
The anticipated delivery time to Guyana is approximately 46 weeks.

Earlier this year, the company disclosed that the Board of Directors had approved a fiscal 2013 Budget of approximately US$43 Million with the majority of the expenditures dedicated towards the development and construction of the Aurora Gold Project.

The purchase of this mill described as a key long lead time item is a significant milestone in the development of the project, the company stated. GGI Inc. said, further, that it has also purchased a fully-equipped and self-contained camp which will meet the company’s near term requirements for construction at Aurora.

The camp was purchased for approximately US$3.0M and the anticipated delivery time to Guyana is approximately 6 weeks.

LOCAL VENDORS
The company said that it expects to award the full engineering, procurement, construction and management (“EPC/EPCM”) contract(s) for physical construction of the mill, power plant, river levee, tailings and support facilities for the project within the next 30 days.

The company is currently evaluating options for remaining accommodations and recreational facilities required for full construction and will source from local vendors.

GGI said that it is dedicated to purchasing as many items as possible from within Guyana for the work of construction and operation of the project.

With respect to its programme for the rest of this year, the company said that the bulk of the development and construction activities will be focused on continuing to upgrade the existing access road to the project site, establishing the off-site Buckhall Port facility, the construction of the first phase of the living accommodations at the project site, and communications systems for both data and voice.

Scott A. Caldwell, President and CEO, stated, “We are excited to be moving the Aurora Gold Project forward and the ordering of these key long lead time items is a significant milestone in the development of the project.”

Guyana Goldfields has indicated that it is focused on the construction and development of the Aurora Gold Project which is scheduled for initial production in early 2015.