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Guyana Goldfields Inc. and its evolution of recent events
DEAR EDITOR,
Permit me to express my understanding of the evolution of events at Guyana Goldfields Inc in the last three months in which the former chairman Mr. Patrick Sheridan attempts to mislead the public and folks like myself, a former employee who is following the recent developments.
GGI since commencing operations in September 2015 has been consistent in reaching its quarterly and yearly targets enabling both shareholders and financial lenders to have satisfactory returns on their investment and at the same time allow for reinvestment in assets to enable the maximization of production across the company. In February 2018 the company projected a production a production target of 190,000-210,000 ounces for the year. This was subsequently adjusted in July 2018 with Patrick as Chairman of the Board to 175,000-185,000 ounces, which we now know was due to an inaccurate Mine resource model that Patrick approved in 2012. It is very disingenuous for the concerned shareholder to try to present to the public that the drop-in share price was because of poor management practice, when as the sitting Chairman, he would have approved the operational decisions taken to revise the yearly target. The concerned Shareholders referred to over CDN $ 1 billion in shareholder value being loss since 2016. If this is so, then this is an indictment on the then Chairman, Mr. Sheridan who was active until July 2018 and would have done nothing to stop the decline of share value that he alluded to.
I was reliably informed that Mr. Sheridan who held both the Executive Chairman and CEO positions, only relinquishing the CEO position to Scott Caldwell in 2013 has always during his tenure as Chairman had a hands-on approach when it comes to major decision-making so he was intimately aware, and part of all financial decisions taken. It was his idea that the company purchase its own fleet of trucks as a means of reducing the cost paid to contractors to haul cargo from Buckhall to Aurora. As a former employee, we were told that he was the key architect in the decision to purchase the company’s Twin Otter Aircraft as again he saw this as a means of cutting cost paid to the local air service providers. The Chairman was the one who insisted on the removal of Procurement from Georgetown to Toronto, which affected local content. When the issue of pension benefits was raised for the local workforce, he sternly resisted leading to the shelving of an initiative that would have brought great value to the Guyanese workforce. He was also instrumental in developing the policy forcefully retiring and unfairly terminating persons over the age of sixty (60) as he saw no value in them as productive employees. He was an integral player in the exploration and operational decisions, Mine planning and the approval of both feasibility studies on the viability of the project. Mr. Sheridan needs to be forthright with the shareholder and clearly narrate his managerial role as head of the organization from its inception and what he did to alleviate the operational challenges that were emerging.
As an outsider intrigued by the recent internal developments within the organization, Patrick insinuation that the company relationship with the state is tenuous is inaccurate with his assumptions. As it relates to the issue of deteriorating relationship with the government of Guyana and its agencies, GGI management has always maintained an amicable and healthy relationship with the state and its regulatory bodies as can be seen with the recent site visit by the head of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) who at a recent press conference has acknowledged that his agency is in receipt of all the necessary documentation and has committed to expeditiously reviewing such.
The management team should be congratulated for its quest to continuously improve the efficiency of the company as can be seen in the recent elevation of a large percentage of the local workforce to supervisory management positions, which is a clear attestation of the management confidence in the local employees to successfully provide managerial leadership needed.
The sudden public antics by the ‘Concerned Shareholders’ is designed to cause panic and confusion among share holders and other stake holders.
Yours respectfully,
Shawn Barker
Former Employee.
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