Projects

Guyana is an English-speaking democracy, with a vibrant population of approximately 786,000 people, and is located in northeastern South America. Guyana has a parliamentary-style government, based on British Law and has a long-standing and stable Mining Act. The 1989 Mining Act, clearly stipulates licensing, permitting and environmental obligations which are managed by the Guyana Geological and Mines Commission (GGMC).

A Brief History of Gold Mining in Guyana

Guyana has a long history of resource extraction, particularly in bauxite, diamonds, and gold production. In 2016, gold accounted for 15.4% of GDP (Guyana Office for Investment). A large portion of previous and current gold mining efforts are related to small-scale alluvial and artisanal gold production by local miners. However, several world-class gold deposits have been discovered throughout Guyana including:

• Omai (Omai Gold Mines; 1992-2005):
  • 3.7 Moz produced at an average grade of 1.5 g/t Au
  • Open Pit
• Aurora (Zijin Mining Corp.; active mining)
  • 5.7 Moz at an average of 2.8 g/t Au
  • Open Pit
• Toruparu (Gran Colombia Mining; development stage)
  • 7.35 Moz indicated at an average grade of 0.91 g/t Au
  • 3.15 Moz inferred at an average grade of 0.76 g/t Au
  • Open Pit

Geological Upside

Guyana, and surrounding countries, Suriname, French Guiana, Venezuela and Brazil host the Guiana Shield. The Guiana Shield stretches over 900,000 sq. km across northeastern South America and contains multiple greenstone belt assemblages. Greenstone belt assemblages, composed of metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks, have the potential to host large, multi-million-ounce gold deposits as typified by both the Abitibi Greenstone belt of Canada and the Birimian Greenstone belts of the West African Shield. The Guiana Shield and the West African Shield are inextricably linked. These sister formations were once connected and formed a contiguous stretch of greenstone belts from northeastern South America to modern-day Mali and Nigeria (Goldfarb, 2017).

The Guiana Shield is relatively unexplored and has seen only a fraction of the exploration dollars in comparison to the West African Shield. Currently, the Guiana Shield hosts 110 Moz Au, in comparison to the 275 Moz hosted in West Africa. This indicates large exploration potential, with the possibility of discovery of notable gold mineralization in the country of Guyana.

Adapted from Goldfarb et al., 2017, West Africa: The World’s Premier Paleoproterozoic Gold Province: Economic Geology v. 112, p. 123-143.

The Right Time for Guyana, the Right Time for Golden Shield

Why Guyana? Why Now?

1. Rapid economic growth: Guyana was the fastest growing country in the world in 2020 at 30.9% GDP growth¹
2. Oil Boom: Oil discovered in 2015. GDP is predicted to increase by 8-50% year-on-year for the next decade¹
3. Growth Infrastructure: Growth is expected to result in an estimated US $30B investment to improve country-wide infrastructure²
4. Stable English-speaking jurisdiction: Guyana has a favourable regulatory environment with a stable mining act and long history of bauxite, gold and diamond production

Sources:
1: IMF; International Monetary Fund Data
2: Guyana Office for Investment – Rapid Economic Growth

The Future of Gold Mining in Guyana

Guyana has seen significant M&A activity over the past 24 months with the region being viewed as one of the safer and more established jurisdictions for mining.

The list below describes M&A activity in Guyana over the last few years and underlines work that is actively ongoing in the country.

• February 2019 - Barrick JV with Reunion Gold for ~$10M
• August 2020 - Zijin acquires Guyana Goldfields for C$323M
• June 2021- Gran Colombia Mining acquires GoldX for C$315M
• June 2021 - SilverCorp share position in Omai for 15.2% stake
• July 2021 - Barrick established an operational office in Guyana and has taken a position in Troy Resources