…to process manganese from Matthews Ridge

REUNION Gold Corporation, the mineral exploration company engaged in the exploration and development of the Matthews Ridge manganese project, announced that it is seeking to develop a silico-manganese plant in Trinidad and Tobago to process manganese ore produced at Matthews Ridge.Historical records have disclosed that in the 1960s ore produced by the African Manganese Company at Matthews Ridge was taken to Trinidad, stockpiled there and then the raw ore was taken by ocean-going vessels to processing destinations in North America and Europe.
Reunion Gold Corporation said during this week that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Energy Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago Ltd, setting out the terms under which the parties will collaborate to evaluate the potential development by Reunion of a silico-manganese plant in Trinidad and Tobago.
David Fennell, Chairman of Reunion, stated: “This is a significant development for the company. While Matthews Ridge as a stand-alone mining operation is an attractive investment opportunity, we believe that the construction of a silico-manganese plant in Trinidad and Tobago to be supplied by Matthews Ridge ore may potentially allow us to create a vertically integrated operation which could become one of the world’s lowest cost producers of silico-manganese.”
Reunion Gold noted that in addition to its proximity to Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago offers numerous benefits, including competitive power costs, deep sea port facilities, dedicated areas for industrial projects and proximity to silico-manganese markets.
Reunion Gold also announced that it had recently retained an expert named Worley Parsons to conduct a scoping-level study/appraisal to assess the parameters relating to the possible development of a silico-manganese plant that would be located in Trinidad and Tobago.
G Mining Services Ltd has also been retained to combine the results of the Worley Parsons’ scoping study with the results of the July 2013 pre-feasibility study related to the production of manganese concentrate from the Matthews Ridge Project, located in northwest Guyana.
The company anticipates releasing the results of a preliminary economic assessment of the combined studies, including various output scenarios by the end of March.
The Matthews Ridge Project consists of four prospecting licences covering an area of 185 km2 in northwest Guyana, in and around the former Matthews Ridge mine.
In July 2013, the company announced a proven and probable reserves estimate of 26.3 million tonnes of high grade manganese ore.
The corporation disclosed that following the release of the pre-feasibility study of the Matthews Ridge Project in July 2013, it had performed various desktop studies, including assessing the viability of converting the manganese concentrate produced at Matthews Ridge into silico-manganese alloys in Trinidad and Tobago.

(By Clifford Stanley)