Reunion: mining the global economic prospects

LUCAS STOCK INDEX (LSI) The LSI fell by 0.34 percent in the first week of trading in March 2012 even though four stocks traded in the session. The stocks involved in the trades this week were Banks DIH, Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), Republic Bank Limited (RBL) and Sterling Products Limited (SPL). Of the four, DDL, RBL and SPL recorded no change while, DIH declined 2.14 percent. As a result, the three consecutive weeks of gain came to a halt.

Mood

The mood is upbeat at Reunion Manganese Incorporated (RMI) about the prospects for achieving economic success from its Matthews Ridge mining operations.  The picture that was presented to a group of stakeholders, which included investors and policy makers who visited the area on February 24, 2012, was one of optimism based on the production potential emerging from current exploration studies of its prospecting claims.  A team that included the Executive Chairman of the company and other senior managerial and technical staff provided the visitors with an assessment of the production potential of the mining area and the opportunities and likely threats it could face in seeking to maximize the benefits of its mineral licence.  Amidst important but limited infrastructure work, RMI believes that it would be able to shorten the time between exploration and the commencement of production activities, and hit the global market in a well timed intervention.  Notwithstanding the optimism, Guyanese must wonder if RMI is raising its hopes too high, especially given the reported oversupply of the product and the bottlenecks in its supply chain operations arising in part from poor work habits and the bureaucratic chokehold of Guyana’s regulatory system.

Confidence

RMI is a subsidiary of Reunion Gold Corporation whose stock trades under the ticker symbol RGD on the Venture Exchange, a Canadian stock exchange.  Reunion has placed its confidence in the mineral potential of the Guiana Shield.  With investments in Suriname and Guyana, Reunion Gold Corporation, has staked its future, and that of its investors, on nature’s precious and base metals lying amidst the rocks and vegetation that could be found in part of the northern reaches of South America.  In the case of Guyana, Reunion Gold, through its subsidiary RMI, has taken control of 45,729 acres of