By Tamica Garnett

EXECUTIVES of the Australian-owned Troy Resources Inc. are optimistic that operations at the company’s Karouni gold mines will resume soon.

The company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ken Nilsson and General Manager, Eric Olsen, told reporters on Thursday during a media tour of its facilities that even in its suspended state, it loses some US$40,000 per day due to expenses to remain in existence.

They say at this point in time, it would be in the best interest of all for a speedy decision going forward.

Nilsson explained that the six-week period whereby the company can lay off employees without pay expires next week, so regardless of what decision is made going forward, one is needed by that time.

“My short answer is next week everybody will know. Before then, we have to have something, in saying this is how we plan to go ahead. At the end of the day, it actually sits with the board of Troy. We had a board meeting earlier this week and we have another one on Sunday, and that’s where the decision will be made on how we actually do it,” Nilsson explained, as he sought to address several of the burning issues surrounding the company’s future.

Nilsson said shutting up shop is not an immediate option the company is exploring, cognisant of the current and future potential of the mines.

“What’s possible is everything. We could go back to exactly the way we were or do it in a more focused manner, or do nothing; those are the three options. Of course doing nothing is not a particularly good one, because at the moment with the work we’re doing, it’s costing us about US$40,000 a day and nobody can survive spending that money without having an income,” Nilsson informed.

Though mining and production at the company has been suspended, the company has continued explorations exercises and other works, so never entirely “shut down”, the executives said.

The company has been in the spotlight since the October 8th death of geologist, Ryan Taylor, at its “Hick’s One Extension” pit. It laid off all but some 137 employees, on October 12. Overall, the company has approximately 500 employees, including approximately 80 contracted workers.

Following a meeting with Minister of Social Protection (MoSP), Amna Ally, last week Thursday, the company has been cleared to resume operations and employees have been anxious for word on the future of their employment.

STRUCTURED PLAN
The company said resuming operations is not just a matter of going back in the pit since a structured plan is first needed.
According to the executives, for the past few months, the company has been experiencing downward projections but is banking on future forecasts.
As such, resuming operations require much deliberations and clearance from the Australian principals.

“If you have a business and it shuts down, you have to have a good business plan for it to open back up; so that’s what my team and I have been working on for the last three-four weeks. It is about coming up with a business plan that makes sense for the board,” Olson conveyed

He added: “So, I think we have a plan that makes sense and that’s what we’ve been putting together for the board to decide. We don’t operate without plans approved by the board. For the last six months, we’ve had more mining people than we need, but part of what we’re going to do… is another project, so we need those people. It’s [the project] not fully permitted and that sort of stuff, so that’s where the juggling comes in.”
Olson further said that even when the company resumes operations, it will take some time before the first income is realised, and all of that has to be taken into consideration in plans going forward.

“When we start back, the first ore we put in the system won’t come out for six-seven weeks. From the day that first ounce of gold that we put in, we won’t see that revenue for six weeks, so basically you have to pay all the wages and so for that six weeks,” he noted, pointing out that “it’s not a desirable situation and we are obviously working very hard to resolve it so that everybody is reasonably happy. And we get back into production.”

REHIRING
The company said when it resumes it will be looking to take on back all laid off employees once they are willing to return.
“They have an option whether they want to work for us or not; we can’t force anybody to come back. These are people we have, we’ve spent massive amount of money in training. Obviously, if we have to go back and do that all over again, we’ll set ourselves back a long time, so that’s not really desirable,” Nilsson explained.
Following Taylor’s death, investigations were launched by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and Occupational Health and Safety Department (OSHD) into the company’s mining operations.

Despite initial reports of investigations also being conducted by the Guyana Police Force (GPF), acting Crime Chief, Michael Kingston, earlier this week noted that he has no knowledge of such investigation.

The company had also launched its own investigation into the incident.
The GGMC report has been completed since October 17. The state of the OSHD report is unclear, and the company’s executives said they would not be releasing the findings of their report now until the government agencies release theirs.