Guyana Goldfields Inc supports LCDS

– to build hydro to power operations and neighbouring communities

Canadian-owned Guyana Goldfields Inc is to construct a hydro plant to power its multi- million- U.S.-dollar gold mine, in keeping with its commitment to support Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), Guyana Goldfields Inc’s Chief Operating Officer Claude Lemasson has announced.

Lemasson said the feasibility study for the project, estimated to cost between US$75 million and US$100 million, is currently being undertaken.

“Our objective is to provide 100 per cent of our power needs for the Aurora Gold Mine in line with the LCDS,” he noted. “The benefit is that we replace the consumption from power generators on site with cleaner and cheaper green hydropower technology.” The 15- megawatt hydro-plant will feature three or four horizontal turbines that will require relatively small carbon footprints and have minimal impact on deforestation.

It will be located less than 10 kilometres from the underground mine site at Aurora.

As it relates to financing, Lemasson explained, while some of the funds will come from Guyana Goldfields, players like the World Bank have also expressed an interest.

Several other development agencies as well as private investors are to come on board.

Guyana Goldfields Inc said it fully supports the government’s efforts to achieve a strategic balance between the values created by other sectors of the economy, as highlighted in the National Development Strategy (NDS).

The Canadian company believes that the NDS and LCDS provide adequate bases for the integration of ideas, ideals and reality in making Guyana a prosperous country.

The Aurora project requires the clearing of 5,719 acres, but according to the company, the actual footprint of the Aurora area to be cleared for environmentally- sustainable production of gold is approximately 600 hectares.

Lemasson explained that most of the mineral extraction will be under ground, as deep as 1,350 metres. As such, much of the vegetation will remain untouched.

Guyana Goldfields Inc claims to have met all requirements and expectations of the Guyana Geology & Mines Commission (GGMC), Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), and the Ministry of Labour (ML) throughout its exploration and  developmental phases.

An environmental and social impact study which was completed in 2010 specifies that, at the close of operations, Guyana Goldfields Inc will engage in replanting activities, which will restore the area to its former state several years later. This is an obligation that government has imposed on many miners as it pushes an initiative that promotes the sale of the country’s forests for service to the world.

The company believes that giving greater impetus to its support of Guyana’s LCDS is its relationship with the International Finance Corporation (IFC). IFC, a shareholder in Guyana Goldfields Inc, is a member of the World Bank Group, which is one of the biggest drivers of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+).

Earlier this month, the IFC announced that it bought shares worth Gy$4.7 million in Guyana Goldfields Inc.

Guyana Goldfields will, over the years, employ up to 700 persons when its US$175 million underground mine kicks into gear. And Lemasson has committed that between 90 and 95 per cent of these workers will be Guyanese.