Manganese company taps railway, port facilities for Region 1

Jan 27, 2012 News

-criticizes delays at Customs, work permits issuance
-face shortage of skilled staffers

By Leonard Gildarie

The revival of manganese mining in Guyana will spur major growth in the North West District, Region

Chief Operating Officer, Joachim Bayah

One, with a Canadian investor yesterday signaling intentions to explore the establishment of a vessels’ facility, railway linkages and improved roads.
Reunion Manganese, which has taken over the once-abandoned Matthews Ridge mining location, was yesterday upbeat over its prospects in Guyana, disclosing that it has spent over US$21M so far, locally, and plans to start full scale mining of the ore in early 2014.
But Chief Operating Officer, Joachim Bayah, also complained of bureaucratic sloth, Customs processes and delays in acquiring work permits for specialists.
Bayah was at the time addressing business leaders and other executives during a luncheon organized by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) at Regency Suites, Brickdam.
Reunion Manganese, in September 2010, was awarded by the Government of Guyana, four prospecting licenses (PL) to conduct exploration and development activities for manganese in the North West District. The PLs cover an area of 45,729 acres and are centered in and around the abandoned manganese mine at Matthews Ridge and Pipiani, 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.
According to Bayah, the company will be investing around US$250M in the coming years and it is projected that annually, up to two million tonnes of manganese will be produced.
Reunion Manganese is also targeting up to US $440M in revenues.
Manganese is the fourth most used metal in the world, behind iron, aluminum and copper, and is a critical alloy in the production of steel.

US$21 investment
Last year, Reunion invested US$21M, paying over 300 employees, for drilling and assaying costs, capital equipment and other local costs, which included camp construction, barging and supplies.
It has also built a US$1.2M “world class analytical laboratory”.
According to Bayah, next year, during planned construction, it is expected to hire over 700 more persons and will consistently maintain over 500 staffers on a permanent basis when the mining operations come fully on stream.
However, the executive told the gathering yesterday, there has been challenges like road access, airstrip problems at Port Kaituma, and a silted waterway.

Reunion Manganese, a Canadian company, is busy rebuilding the Matthews Ridge mine site and is hoping to commence operations in 2014.

It took the company four months, in some cases, to receive work permits for key personnel from the Ministry of Home Affairs.
The company is experiencing problems finding Geologists and despite advertising locally over several months, there was no response. Reunion, the official revealed, is investing in a number of projects to boost local skills at the university level and even the Government Technical Institute. The company is even experiencing problems in finding qualified persons to manage the company’s inventory and supplies.
Also at the forum yesterday were Minister (ag) of Trade, Tourism and Commerce, Irfaan Ali; Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana, David Devine, and Chairman of the Private Sector Commission, Ramesh Dookhoo.
Leaps and bounds
Bayah yesterday disclosed that activities in the North West District has increased significantly in recent months with the number of daily flights jumping from two to around 10. However, the Port Kaituma Airstrip is now out of operation because of potholes.
The company, in addition to finding success with its prospecting for manganese, is looking to spend money to improve roads along the Matthews Ridge/Port Kaituma/Arakaka/Pipiani corridor and is even mulling the possibility of building a rail link between Matthews Ridge and Port Kaituma; both Region One areas.
However, there are challenges facing the company such as the problem of how to transport the mined manganese from the area.
According to Bayah, it is contemplating dredging and expanding the facilities along the Kaituma canal to the Waini River mouth. However, the waterway is heavily silted. The establishment of an ocean-going vessels facility at the Waini mouth has also not been ruled out. The other option is barging the ore to Trinidad before it is shipped out.
Reunion Manganese said that investing in manganese mining makes sense at this time as forecast for production/consumption to 2015 indicate a shortfall of around two million tonnes of manganese concentrate- a shortfall that Guyana can make a significant contribution to.
GMSA’s President, Clinton Williams, yesterday stressed that business luncheons is an ongoing series to expose Guyanese entrepreneurs to developments in the wider world of business.
“Business today is heavily influenced directly by the recent European financial meltdown and a lingering global economic downturn resulting in severe limitations on foreign direct investment possibilities due to restrictions in market opportunities and scarce financial resources,” Williams said.