Former Canadian Manganese Company sitting on 4.2M oz gold estimates in Guyana

Oct 23, 2023 News

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…Announces new positive gold results

Kaieteur News – Canadian mining company Reunion Gold Corporation, which previously held the license for manganese mining operations in Matthews Ridge, North West District (NWD) is now sitting on an estimated 4.2 million ounces of gold estimates in Region Seven.

The company initially began exploring in 2010 in the Matthews Ridge area for manganese resources under a 25-year agreement with the Government of Guyana. However, the company had said, “there can be no assurance that the company will be able to complete a financing or other type of arrangement to fund its ongoing obligations and develop its Matthews Ridge project”. As such, the company had applied and was granted government’s approval in 2017 for the sale of the manganese project to the Chinese-owned Bosai Minerals Group.

The Canadian company recently revealed a promising update from its ongoing drilling efforts in its Guyana-based Oko West project, which it fully owns in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Mining District.

Previously, in 2021, Reunion Gold Corp. garnered attention with a greenfield gold discovery in the Kairuni zone within the Oko West project.

Fast forward to June 2023, after nearly two years of resource definition drilling, the company disclosed an initial mineral resource estimate, boasting 2,475,000 ounces of gold in indicated resources and 1,762,000 ounces of gold in inferred resources. The company’s current goal is to identify additional satellite deposits.

In a company statement, it was explained that the ongoing infill program is intended to reclassify inferred mineral resources in the maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) as indicated resources. Concurrently, a deep drilling program is exploring the potential for an underground resource at depths exceeding 500 meters beneath the surface.

The company clarified that within the MRE pit constraint, drilling efforts are continuously converting inferred resources to indicated category resources with expected high-grade results. Additionally, drilling below the MRE pit shell, at depths ranging from 500 to 800 meters below the surface, aims to define an underground resource.

Significantly, buoyed by the strong results from the deep drilling program, Reunion Gold Corp. has chosen to postpone the release of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) until late Q2 2024. According to the company, this extension will encompass an underground resource and assess the potential for a combined open pit and underground mining operation.

Rick Howes, President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the mining firm, expressed optimism, stating, “We are greatly encouraged by the results of the deep drilling program, which indicate the potential for a high-grade zone at depth.”

He added, “With these results, we see the potential to add substantial value as a combined open pit and underground project. Therefore, we intend to continue the depth extension drilling program and delay the release of the PEA to allow for inclusion of an underground resource and evaluation of a combined open pit and underground option in the PEA study, which we expect to release in Q2 of 2024.”

It’s worth noting that the infill drilling program is steadfastly upgrading inferred resources within the MRE pit shell to indicated mineral resource status, with completion expected by year-end.

Justin van der Toorn, Vice-President of Exploration, mentioned, “Ongoing structural work is continuing to demonstrate a steep northerly plunge to our high-grade zone, which is located within the larger volume of mineralization extending along the two km trend from Block 1 through Block 4 to blocks 5 and 6. The high-grade zone appears to have a relatively sharp boundary along its southern margin, an orientation confirmed through structural analysis of our oriented drill core, although we are confident that drilling to date is demonstrating a 150 m to 300 m wide high-grade zone of mineralization that plunges well below the drill holes reported in this release.”

The company’s decision to delay the PEA release allows for further exploration of the high-grade zone’s depth, with ambitions to reach depths of approximately 1,000 meters. This deep drilling will be crucial for incorporating an underground mineral resource into the PEA and opens the door to investigating a combined open pit and underground mining operation.

In parallel with the Kairuni zone drilling, Reunion Gold Corp. is actively advancing its exploration programs within the Oko West prospecting license. These programs encompass ground magnetics, IP geophysical surveys, RC drill programs, and follow-up diamond drill initiatives.

Notably, the company’s efforts to the south of Block 4 on blocks 5, 6, and 7 aim to continue the Kairuni mineralized trend and contact zone, with follow-up diamond drilling yielding additional zones of mineralization.

Several Canadian gold mining companies, including OMAI, have shown interest in Guyana’s mining industry. OMAI, which produced over 3.7 million ounces of gold in the past, is making a comeback in Guyana.

Guyana Goldfields Inc., led by a Chinese consortium, is another major player in the Guyanese mining sector. However, the country has experienced declines in annual gold declarations since 2017, despite billions in incentives given to the industry.

Efforts have been made to request the release of mining contracts from the Government of Guyana, particularly large-scale contracts, as per Guyana’s commitment to the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Despite these requirements, the administration has been slow to disclose these agreements.

 

 

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• Cuyuni-Mazaruni, expressed optimism, President and Chief Executive Officer, Rick Howes, stating, the mining firm

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