Infrastructure construction at the Guyana Goldfields Inc., Aurora Gold Project is expected to start next year and key feasibility studies are currently ongoing.

A release from the company early last month described the project as “a multi-million ounce gold discovery” which is being advanced through key studies with infrastructure construction expected to start in 2010.

The company has applied to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for permission to open a large-scale mine at Aurora, Cuyuni River, which if approved could see the construction of a hydropower facility across a section of the river. The proposed project will entail the operation of open-pit and underground mines, mineral processing to recover gold, the construction of a hydroelectric plant to provide power to the processing plant and the construction of an access road and wharf to service the operation.

Guyana Goldfields Inc is a Canada-based mineral exploration company primarily focused on the exploration and development of gold deposits in Guyana, where it has operated since 1996.

Last month it awarded what it said was two key feasibility studies for the Aurora project. The Definitive Feasibility Study, the statement said, will be completed in two phases with Phase 1, which runs from March to August 2009, will conclude with a Preliminary Economic Assessment NI43-101 report, and Phase 2, which will run from August 2009 to February 2010, will conclude with the issue of the NI43-101 report and Definitive Feasibility Study. That project was awarded to AMEC of Oakville, Ontario.

A Technical and Economical Feasibility Study for the Cuyuni Hydroelectric Project was also awarded to Montgomery Watson Harza (MWH) of Argentina. This study will evaluate a clean-energy alternative to operating the future mine on diesel generated power, offering significant benefits from both environmental and cost perspectives, the statement said.  Guyana Goldfields is sharing the cost of the study with the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group of Washington, D.C.

AMEC is an international project management and services company with over 20,000 employees worldwide. AMEC’s Mining & Metals unit provides a full range of services to the mining industry, including strategic planning and market assessments, mine planning and design, feasibility studies, process development, environmental services, simulations, geotechnical, engineering design, procurement, project and construction management, plant start-up and commissioning, operator training and mine support services, the release said.  The Aurora Definitive Feasibility Study will be executed out of AMEC’s Oakville, Ontario Mining and Metals Office.

Meantime, MWH is a Denver, US, based global provider of environmental engineering, construction and strategic consulting services with an office in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The company provides water, wastewater, energy, natural resource, program management, consulting and construction services to industrial, municipal and government clients around the world, the statement said.

“After detailed review of proposals submitted, we are pleased to award these two key studies to such world-class firms as AMEC and MWH. I look forward to working closely with the teams from these two firms to advance the Aurora project”, Claude F. Lemasson, the President and Chief Operating Officer of Guyana Goldfields was quoted as saying.

The company on its website said that due to the remote location of the Aurora deposit, “developing a robust and reliable infrastructure has been a critical element to Guyana Goldfields’ success since the Aurora Gold Project began. It is anticipated that this will be the premiere project of its kind and will serve as a model for future development in Guyana. Project plans include a 10-15 megawatt hydroelectric facility, 26 miles of new all-weather roads, and a port facility.”

As regards the hydroelectricity project, two prefeasibility studies were done in 2007 and last year and three possible sites for the hydroelectric generation facility were investigated with the optimum site both technically and economically identified was the Julian Ross Itabu River location. At this site, the installed capacity was calculated to be 11MW.

An EPA notice in the Monday edition of the Guyana Chronicle said that in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required for Guyana Goldfields Inc before any decision to approve or reject the proposed project is taken, since the development may have significant impacts on the environment. The EPA invited members of the public to make written submissions to the agency within 28 days of the notice being published, setting out questions and matters which they require to be answered or considered in the EIA.

Guyana Goldfields has already done some preliminary construction at the location including the building of a camp and it has also built a 2000 feet airstrip at the Aurora site.

According to the project summary, the development and operation of the mine site will involve construction and operation of the mine site, construction and operation of a hydropower plant on the Cuyuni River, construction of an access road to the mine site, and construction and operation of a wharf at Buck Hall on the Essequibo River.

Ore recovery will consist of a combination of open pit and underground mining and the combined schedule will result in a mine life of approximately 12 years. Power for the process plant operation and ancillary services, according to the summary, will be provided by a run-of-the-river pondage hydropower plant to be constructed on the Cuyuni River, 8km away from the mine site.

The company, in the release last month said that it has $20 million in cash and short-term bank guaranteed investment certificates and no debt but in another release on Thursday said that it has approximately $13.8 million in cash and short-term bank guaranteed investment certificates and no debt.