Goldfields produces 151,000 ozs

—Guyana Goldfields produced 151,000 ozs, sold 156,000 last year

Guyana Goldfields Inc. last year produced some 151 thousand ounces of gold and sold around 156,000 at its Aurora, Region Seven Gold Mine operation, the company said in a statement on Monday. The achievement is the company’s upwardly revised production guidance of 140,000 ounces to 160,000 ounces in its first year of commercial production. In a statement the company said it had a record fourth quarter with respect to both tonnes mined and tonnes milled resulting in 45,500 ounces sold in the period. “The month of December was particularly strong with 22,800 ounces sold, a record for the year,” the statement added.
President and Chief Executive Officer of the company, Scott A. Caldwel said: “With commissioning, ramp-up and over a year of operations successfully behind us, Aurora has proven to be a strong, high grade asset with exceptional cash flow generation.” He added that the company has established an excellent environmental, health and safety track record to date and continues to benefit from strong relationships with the local government and communities. “I would like to thank the entire team on our significant milestone of achieving production guidance for 2016 and look forward to an equally successful 2017.”
Besides, the company said it is well positioned financially to grow near-term production and ramp up exploration with an unaudited cash balance of approximately US$70mln at the end of the year versus a total debt balance of US$80mln. The company said it has plans to issue an updated NI 43-101 Technical Report Feasibility Study for Aurora later this month reflecting an expansion of the mill from 5,000 tpd to 8,000tpd throughput.
Besides, it said exploration efforts are expected to ramp up significantly in 2017 with drilling activity to commence at both near mine targets and at the Sulfur Rose deposit (~20km north east of the Aurora Mine) in the first quarter of this year. According to the company due to mine sequencing gold production is expected to be slightly higher in the second half of the year relative to the first half. Similarly, due to the timing of sustaining capital expenditures, all-in sustaining costs are expected to be higher in the first half of the year relative to the second half. The royalty cost is based on an assumed gold price of $1,200 per ounce.
Guyana Goldfields Inc. is a Canadian based mid-tier gold producer primarily focused on the exploration, development and operation of gold deposits in Guyana. The 100%-owned Aurora Gold Mine achieved commercial production January 1, 2016 and has a total gold resource of 6.54 million ounces in the measured and indicated categories (62.83 million tonnes at 3.24 g/t Au) as well as an additional 1.82 million ounces in the inferred category (16.93 million tonnes at 3.34 g/t Au).
The company’s achievements come amid total final declaration for last year being pegged at a record high of 705,000 ounces. Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman had explained at a year-end press conference that, in 2016, the Ministry of Finance had projected a gold declaration target of 550,000 ounces, an increase of 21.8 per cent over the previous year’s target; but the MNRE, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) privately worked towards a higher target of 650,000 ounces. He praised small and medium scale miners, who he said delivered the majority of the gold, along with the Guyana Goldfields and Troy Resources, which contributed 70 per cent of the gold declared, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported. Minister Trotman recalled that when the Coalition Administration took office in 2015, it recognised that some changes were needed in the regulation and management of the industry, especially since the GGB had for years had a deficit of more than $9B. “This demanded a comprehensive review of the 35-year-old organization; which, upon completion, informed us that the Board has to transition into the role of regulator and diminish its role as a purchaser of gold,” Minister Trotman said. The MNRE will therefore shortly be meeting with miners, miners associations, and gold dealers to define the way forward. Minister Trotman emphasised that the MNRE has fought tirelessly for the continued existence of the GGB, since that ministry believes there is merit in having the organisation function as a regulator, to monitor gold dealers.
The minister commended miners for their performance thus far, and noted that the Government will continue to explore best practices to enhance the GGB, GINA has reported.

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