–proposed project undergoing environmental, social-impact assessment

A LOCAL company, Atlantic Gold Inc., has outlined plans to introduce chemical-free technology to Guyana’s gold-mining industry through its proposed multimillion-dollar project in the Mazaruni and Cuyuni mining districts.

It is the company’s hope that the project, which is undergoing an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) spearheaded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will serve as a model for development across the mining industry.

As it is now, many operators in the local gold-mining industry employ mercury, which is a liquid metal that is mixed with ore containing gold to form an amalgam. The amalgam is then heated to burn off the mercury, and the gold is left behind.

The problem, as outlined by a previous Guyana Chronicle editorial, is that the mercury vapour released when the amalgam is heated is highly poisonous, and can cause serious health problems, if it is inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

Mercury could also enter the body when it goes into streams or creeks, and the water is used for drinking or cooking, or if contaminated fish from polluted streams are eaten.

To reduce such risks, Atlantic Gold Inc., according to the EPA, has developed an Environmental Management Plan.

The intention of this plan is to mitigate the potential, negative impacts and risks and to enhance the potential, positive impacts of the proposed action.

“Environmental management measures address the environmental impacts and risks to both the physical and socio-cultural environments. A monitoring programme has been developed for the project. The monitoring programme will provide data which would serve as the basis to determine the environmental performance of the operation,” the EPA said.

The project will be monitored to confirm its adherence to sound environmental management practices and contractually established operational standards. Monitoring will be conducted during the construction and operation phases of the project.

The monitoring programme is designed to ensure that the trends for specific parameters are tracked. It will also provide information on compliance with legislation, guidelines and contractual requirements for the construction and operation of the facility.

A detailed exploration programme to determine the extent and to quantify alluvial gold deposits at the site was undertaken by the company prior to 2015.

ADEQUATE QUANTITIES
The results of that investigation verified that gold is present in adequate quantities and is of reasonable grade to warrant the establishment of a mine and mineral-processing operations at the site, which is located approximately 150 kilometres northwest of the main regional administrative centre of Bartica.

“The exploration results indicated that economic alluvial deposits are present within the mining concession,” the company said in information provided to the EPA.

The alluvial deposits will be mined by open-pit methods, and before commencement of the ore- excavation operation at any creek(s) within the area to be mined, will be diverted by excavating a channel to connect points on the creek upstream and downstream of the mineralised zone.

“Each mineralised zone will be excavated as several ponds consisting of bands. Excavation will only commence on another band after completion of the removal of paydirt from the preceding band,” the company said.

At the commencement of operations, water will be withdrawn from the creek being mined for mineral processing. The ore-recovery operation will function in a closed loop for water supply, and water overflow from the previously excavated pond will be limited by a berm maintained around the pond.

After the completion of mining, the creek beds will be restored to their original depths and alignments and the diversion channels will be backfilled. Gold will be recovered by gravity separation, using mobile screens and concentrator units.

The company said the alluvial gold process plant will recover gold totally by gravimetric separation and no chemicals will be utilised in the process.

This project, once operational, will add to the vibrant gold-mining sub-sector which represents 8.8 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) – the third largest non-oil sector of the economy – and more than 60 per cent of the nation’s total non-oil export earnings.

Guyana currently has over 25 mining companies active in Guyana, and with the country poised for exponential growth, more players are expected to enter the industry.