By Gerald V. Paul

So Eyesers, guess what? The Eyes guy was invited  by Guyana Goldfields’ President and CEO Scott  Caldwell to visit Guyana and witness the latest construction progress on the Aurora Gold Project, in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

Yes, I’m looking forward to it, having covered the Guyana-Brazil border with former prime minister Sam Hinds and his team. By the way, Eyesers, there are reports of increased economic activity with the Takutu River Bridge – Eyes did some swimming there when the bridge was under construction.

And The Iwokrama experience was a blast. According to Girendra Persaud on Facebook; “The Rupununi (Guyana’s interior) savannah is a paradise for the eco-tourist, housing some 80% of the mammals and 60% of the bird life to be found in Guyana.”

Caldwell, who made a presentation at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) at Metro Toronto Convention Centre, shared the latest construction progress as the premier emerging gold producer in Guyana. His presentation was part of the New Discoveries and Developments seminar.

More good news – given the final tribulations on the global market, Guyana is poised to significantly improve its economic growth, stability and development in coming years, according to the governor-general of the Bank of Guyana, Dr. Gobin Ganga.

Caldwell noted Guyana Goldfields Inc. is focused on construction and development of the Aurora Gold Project, scheduled to reach first gold pour this year. The mine plan for the Aurora Gold Project is designed to produce 3.29 million ounces of gold, averaging 194,000 ounces per year, over an initial 17-year mine life.

The Aurora Gold Project has total proven and probable reserves of 3.48 million ounces of gold (2.38 reserves). The project has a has a total gold resource of 6.54 million ounces in the measured and indicated categories (62.83 million tonnes at 3.24 g/tAu) as well as an additional 1.82 million ounces in the inferred category (16.93 million tonnes at 3.34 g/tAu).

By the way Eyesers, price volatility, geopolitical turmoil, rising costs, declining grades and a general lack of financing will make 2015 another challenging year for the global resources sector, the annual Tracking the Trends report by Deloitte shows.

Caldwell described the 10 trends and solutions of mining. Among the trends:

• Back to basics: Pursuit of operational excellence. To heighten operational excellence, miners must re-think their traditional operational processes and consider their cultural approach to costs.
• Innovation, the new key to survival: It’s about more than just cost control. Miners must overcome their traditionally conservative tendencies by embedding innovation into corporate DNA, thinking big, testing small and scaling fast, levering emerging technologies, becoming part of an innovation ecosystem, and preparing for new operational realities.
• The new energy paradigm: Reducing project power costs. Miners should consider a new approach to energy including unconventional fossil fuels and gaining stakeholder buy-in for developing renewable energy facilities.
• Engaging with government: Finding new ways to communicate and collaborate. Strategies to counter regulatory uncertainty include building better government relationships, becoming more vocal in industry associations and through social media, measuring social impact, helping set the policy agenda, and better levering mobile technologies through social media, measuring social impact, helping to set the policy agenda and better levering of mobile technologies.

See you in the trenches in the dear land of Guyana, Guyana Goldfields!