Chinese company operating in Guyana to buy out Suriname gold mine

Oct 25, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Zijin Mining Inc, a Chinese company, that owns the Aurora Gold Mines in Guyana is currently making a deal with a Canadian company, Iamgold Corp. to buy out a gold mine in Suriname for some US$360M.

News of the deal was disclosed by Iamgold Corp. during a recent statement it had released about its future plans. The mine to be sold is the Rosebel mines located in the Brokopondo district in North Eastern Suriname.

According to Iamgold, the Chinese company will be acquiring a 95% interest in the Suriname mines. The reason why the Canadian company has decided to sell out its operation is because it needs cash to assist in develop its Côté Gold project in Canada. Iamgold wants to pump more capital revenue into Côté because the project is expected to produce some 489,000 ounces of gold a year in its first five years.

The Canadian company is hoping to close the deal with Zijin during the first quarter of next year. Meanwhile, Zijin is getting ready to spend US$360M for a new gold mine in South America even as it continues to operate in Guyana and has not been declaring much gold to the government. Guyana’s Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh during the 2022 budget speech he made in January had disclosed that small and medium scale miners had produced more gold in 2021 than all of the large-scale operators.

A photo of the Suriname Gold Mine, Rosebel that the Chinese company will buy.

His exact words was the “the combined output from the large operators declined by 31.7 percent in 2021 to 68,268 troy ounces.” Zijin Mining Inc. is one of foreign companies currently conducting large-scale mining in Guyana. The minister did not reveal how much of the 68 thousand ounces of gold was produced and declared by the Chinese company but the amount is meagre one when compared to the over 400, 000 ounces declared by small and medium scale miners.

Kaieteur News had reached out to the company to find out how much gold it has been producing from the Aurora concession that encompasses some 3000 acres of land but instead of stating the quantity, company representatives would only say that mine is still in construction phase and works had been hindered by floods and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Zijin had bought the Aurora Gold Mines (AGM) in August 2020, from its previous owners, Guyana Gold Fields, a Canadian owned company, for C$323M. It also benefitted from the same contract that the Canadian company had signed with Guyana – one that allows the company the luxury of duty-free concessions on fuel and equipment. The contract also gives Zijin the authority to determine how much royalties Guyana gets paid for its gold and this is because it has the privilege to choose a buyer for its gold.