DESPITE a volatile international market and other uncertainties, Bosai Minerals has expanded its operation here with the purchase of the Reunion Gold Corporation’s Matthews Ridge manganese project for US$10M.Under the terms of the sales agreement, which was signed on November 4, 2016, Bosai will pay to Reunion a total of US$10 million, of which US$5 million are payable at closing and US$5 million are to be paid at the rate of US$2.00 per tonne of manganese concentrate or ore shipped from Matthews’ Ridge following production.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) has congratulated the companies for reaching “the significant agreement with regards to the sale of the latter’s rights and interest in the Matthews’ Ridge Manganese Project, and gives its commitment to support the investment.”

The MNRE has said that this development, occurring in the face of volatile international markets and other uncertainties, speaks to the renewed confidence that investors have placed in the country’s mineral resources sector.

“The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission urge the principals of the new Bosai-controlled manganese entity to engage in their exploration and extraction activities in a manner that is respectful to the rights of workers, to the country’s laws, and to the environment.”

Bosai Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc., formerly known as Omai Bauxite Mining Inc., engages in bauxite mining. As a result of its acquisition by Bosai Minerals Group Co. Ltd., the name of Omai Bauxite Mining Inc. was changed. The company was incorporated in 1992 and is based in Linden, Guyana. As of February 13, 2007, Bosai Minerals Group (Guyana) Inc. has been operating as a subsidiary of Bosai Minerals Group Co. Ltd.

Meanwhile, Reunion intends to continue to focus its exploration in the Guiana Shield of South America, and more specifically on early-stage gold projects.

The Matthews Ridge Manganese Project is located in the North West District of Guyana in and around the site of the abandoned Matthews Ridge Manganese Mine, which was operated by a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation from 1962 to 1968. In excess of 1.66 million tonnes of manganese concentrate were shipped from the mine site during that period.

The main project footprint consists of a 15 km-long series of nine hills contained within the Matthews Ridge Formation, which hosts the manganese mineralization and is known to extend for more than 40 kilometres of strike.

Prior to Reunion acquiring the project, previous mining operations were confined to hills 5 to 9, with little or no work done on the other hills.

Reunion commenced exploration in October 2010 with the objective of delineating substantial manganese resources in and around the Matthews Ridge deposits, and assessing the economic potential of the project with the help of modern exploration, processing and mining technology.

Reunion began work at Matthews Ridge in October 2010, with the clearing of old mine roads and access to old mine pits, doing topographical surveys, and laying out a line grid for trenching and mapping. Subsequent exploration work had included systematic trenching, pitting, diamond drilling, and reverse circulation drilling. The trenching and drilling programmes were designed both to evaluate the previously mined areas and to define the extent and characteristics of known but unexplored mineralized zones. Metallurgical testing has been conducted on the different types of ores encountered, and studies have been undertaken on geotechnical parameters required for the project infrastructure.

Trenches were dug across the strike of the geological units at 100m intervals, to expose the saprolitic mineralization in three dimensions and allow channel sampling of the mineralized beds and their detailed mapping. Reunion has excavated over 17 linear kilometres in 202 trenches.

Reunion said it had completed more than 65,000 metres of drilling, comprised of 47,570 metres of diamond drilling in 735 holes; 17,361 metres of reverse circulation drilling in 283 holes; and 217 metres of Banka drilling in 119 holes.