Name of the Project
Aurora gold project.

Location
Guyana.

Client
Guyana Goldfields.

Project Description
The Aurora gold project has proven and probable reserves of 36.71-million tonnes grading 2.99 g/t gold, and measured and indicated resources of 59.73-million tonnes grading 3.25 g/t gold. Inferred resources have been estimated at 16.58-million tonnes grading 3.27 g/t gold.

An updated feasibility study on the project envisages an openpit mine, with a life of eight years, based on 19.6-million tonnes of ore mined at an average grade of 2.87 g/t gold.

Average gold production over this period is estimated at 230 000 oz/y.

Saprolite ore accounts for 2.9-million tonnes or 15% of total openpit ore tonnes and is expected to be largely mined out by mid- 2019.

About 60% of the ore tonnes will be sourced from Rory’s Knoll and 30% from Aleck Hill, with the remainder coming from the Walcott Hill, Mad Kiss and North Aleck Hill satellite deposits.

Mining activity over the near term will be focused on fresh rock ore at Rory’s Knoll and saprolitic ore at Aleck Hill.

The average strip ratio over the life-of-mine is 8.4:1.

The strip ratio will peak in 2019 and 2020, averaging 14.6 over these two years. As a result of the increasing strip ratio during these years, the mining rate is expected to increase from about 35 000 t/d in 2017 to about 95 000 t/d in 2019 and 2020.

To accommodate this increase and reduce overall mining costs, Guyana Goldfields plans to transition to a mining fleet with larger equipment in 2018 consisting of 90 t haul trucks.

The larger equipment will primarily be used for prestripping activities and mining activity higher in the pit.

The use of 41 t haul trucks will continue deeper into the pit to reduce the overall strip ratio.

Following a two-year preproduction period, underground mining at Rory’s Knoll will start in 2024 as openpit mining operations wind down.

The mining rate will average 5 500 t/d at an average grade of 3.02 g/t gold over an eight-year mine life for a total of 1.4-million ounces.
Vertical development is envisaged to be completed by an underground contractor, while all lateral development will be completed by the Guyana Goldfields.

The Aleck Hill underground project is expected to contribute 153 000 oz to the overall mine plan beginning in 2025 and continuing until 2030.

Aleck Hill will be mined through a combination of transverse and longitudinal long hole open stoping (LHOS) from a depth of about – 160 metres below sea level (mRL) to about – 500 mRL.

The Mad Kiss underground will contribute 104 000 oz to the overall mine plan.

The deposit will be developed concurrently with the Rory’s Knoll underground mine, with initial production expected in 2024 and continuing until 2027.

Mad Kiss will be mined using longitudinal LHOS from a depth of about –40 mRL to about –380 mRL.

The existing process circuit has a capacity for 5 600 t/d and includes a cyanide leach and carbon adsorption process comprising crushing, single-stage grinding, gravity, cyanide leaching, carbon adsorption, carbon elution and regeneration, gold refining, cyanide destruction and tailings disposal.

The proposed plant expansion will be completed in two phases.

The first phase will increase the throughput rate from 5 600 t/d to 8 000 t/d incorporating a saprolite portion of the mill feed of between 25% and 50%. The second phase of the expansion will allow for the processing of 8 000 t/d of hard rock.

The first phase of the expansion consists of debottlenecking the back end of the circuit and includes the addition of three leach tanks, a preleach thickener, carbon management systems and the expansion of the elution circuit.

As a result of additional retention time within the leaching circuit, the Phase 1 mill expansion is expected to increase recoveries by about 1% to an estimated average recovery of 92.5%.

The second phase will include the addition of a ball mill, an expansion of the existing gravity circuit, the addition of one new cyanide detoxification tank and the installation of four new generators with total capacity of 6 MW.

Overall gold recovery is expected to increase to 94% following the completion of Phase 2 of the expansion based on these upgrades to the mill.

Jobs to be Created
Not stated.

Net Present Value/Internal Rate of Return
The project has a pretax net present value, at a 5% discount rate, of $1.05-billion.

Value
The mine fleet is expected to cost $24-million.

Phase 1 of the mill expansion is expected to cost about $21-million and Phase 2 about $27-million.

Duration
Openpit mining will be conducted from 2018 to 2024. Development of the underground operation is scheduled to start in 2022, with production expected in 2024.

Latest Developments
Guyana Goldfields is progressing with the mill expansion and has started engineering and long-lead time purchases to secure prices and deliveries.

The ordering of long lead-time items for the Phase 1 mill expansion has started and detailed engineering was expected to start in February 2017.

The first phase of the expansion is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2018.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Not stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Guyana Goldfields, tel +1 416 628 5936, fax +1 416 628 5935 or email info@guygold.com.