Canadian mining company Guyana Goldfields Inc is hiring more persons as it moves towards beginning production at its large-scale Aurora gold mine next year.
In an ad in today’s Stabroek News, the company invited applications for positions in a number of areas at its operations. The positions include Camp Services Manager, accountants, procurement officers, logistics officers, environmental officers, warehousemen, health and safety officers, medex, industrial nurse, medical doctor, millwrights, welders, electricians, IT technicians, heavy duty operators, light truck drivers, sawmill operators, heavy duty mechanics, auto electricians, carpenters, masons, plumbers/pipe fitters, rebar/benders, schedulers/planners and quality control technicians.
Interested persons are being encourage to uplift application forms from the company’s Thomas Street and North Road offices and to submit same to Human Resources Department – Guyana Goldfields/AGM Inc. at 258 Thomas Street. The company’s phone numbers are 231-0710/0735/0736 or 225 0289. Each application has to be accompanied by two written references and a police clearance. Applications close on April 12, 2014.
Last December, the company announced that the US$238 million in capital costs needed to take the Aurora project towards the commercial production phase was approved and the company hopes to be able to produce gold by early 2015. The company had said that it would seek to employ some 600 persons in its construction phase this year.
The Aurora project on the Cuyuni River has the support of the World Bank and entails the construction of a processing plant, an open pit mine, tailings and water retention/control structures and associated support infrastructure.
Company representatives had told Stabroek News in December that once the capital investment aspect of the project is finalized, the company hopes to commence construction of the power plant, which will fuel the mining operation. Construction of this facility is expected to take eleven months, lasting from April 2014 to March 2015. While the plant is being built, construction works will also begin on the Open Pit Mine.
This is expected to last from April to December this year. Also, the company intends to focus on amassing a competent workforce capable of running the operation. This training will start in August 2014 and is expected to run until March of 2015. The company’s intention is to have a capable workforce in place by the time the Aurora project is brought to the commercial production phase in mid-2015.
Once completed, the mine is expected to produce 3.3 million ounces of gold over its initial 17-year life-span, and operate at a cash cost of US$527 per ounce. Further, it is expected that the open pit mine will see production levels of 5,000 tonnes per day (tpd). This amount is expected to increase to 10,000 tpd when underground mining commences in 2018.
It is estimated that over eleven hundred Guyanese would have been involved in the exploration, pre-development and development of the project by early 2014. And, as the project rolls beyond commercial production in 2015, 400 to 500 Guyanese are expected to be involved in the operations.
Overall, the company says that 90% to 95% of the operational workforce will be Guyanese. In addition to job opportunities, these Guyanese workers will also receive additional training to enhance and expand their skills, as well as health and other medical benefits.
