Guyana’s next large-scale gold mining operator has awarded contracts for the engineering and design drawings for its tailings storage facility,Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys, river dike, and water diversion dams, taking the project a step closer to reality.According to the Canadian-owned, Guyana Goldfields Inc. (GGI), it has awarded its detailed engineering contract for early works at the Aurora Gold Project, in the Mazaruni area, Region Seven to Tetra Tech Inc.Tetra is the leading author of the updated Aurora feasibility study. GGI has planned an early 2015 start of full scale operations with a US$205M investment over time.“Detailed engineering of the early works will be completed over the next two months and will include the construction drawings for the tailings storage facility, river dike, and water diversion dams,” the company said yesterday.In addition, GGI has carried out direct discussions with a number of potential consultants and contractors that have designed or constructed mines of similar size, scope, geographical, and climatic conditions to Aurora.“The company is currently performing site visits in Guyana which are scheduled to conclude within the next two weeks. Thereafter, GGI will perform its own due diligence site visits of projects currently in operation from the qualifying candidates.”Contracts for the construction are expected to be awarded in the second quarter, GGI said.The company, which has been in Guyana since 1996, said in January that it will be looking to plunge up to US$205M in the startup, a reduction from over the US$500M it originally wanted to invest.An earlier estimate for the project in northern Guyana had proposed a $525 million cost for a mine with a life of 22 years and total production of nearly 4.4 million ounces of gold.The new mine plan calls for production of 3.29 million ounces of gold over an initial 17-year mine life at an operating cash cost of US$527 an ounce.Average annual gold production over the life of mine is expected to be 194,000 ounces and 231,000 ounces a year over the first 10 years.Since the departure of Omai Gold Mines a few years ago, Guyana has been without a large scale mining operation. Last year, in the face of high gold prices, productions from the small and medium scale mining operations broke new records, reaching 438,000 ounces.
