Latest update November 8th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Guyana Goldfields targets up to 180,000 ounces this year
Some 22 percent of the gold declared last year came from Canadian-owned. Guyana Goldfields Inc.
According to the company yesterday, its gold sold for 2016 totaled 156,000 ounces
The plant at Guyana Goldfields’ Aurora gold mine. Credit: Guyana Goldfields.
at its Aurora Gold Mine. The company had revised upwards its target, between 140,000 ounces to 160,000 ounces in its first year of commercial production.
The company 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 mining outfit said.
According to Scott Caldwell, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO):
“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. 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.”
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$70M at the end of the year versus a total debt balance of US$80M.
The company also said it plans to issue an updated Technical Report Feasibility Study for Aurora later this month reflecting an expansion of the mill from 5,000 tonnes per day to 8,000 tonnes throughput.
“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.”
The company said its production is expected between 160,000 and 180,000 ounces this year.
“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.”
The 100%-owned Aurora Gold Mine achieved commercial production on January 1, 2016.
Last year’s gold declaration performance was a record-breaking one by any means, with over 705,000 ounces declared nationally. Gold sales overseas was an estimated US$850M.
The good news was that over 60 percent of the declarations were from small and medium scale miners.
Gold has remained the country’s mainstay for foreign currency earnings for the last eight years.
Guyana Goldfields is one of two large scale mining outfits. The other is Troy Resources, an Australian mining company.
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