Sun and Sand Mining Resources Inc. plans to invest a total of US$12M into a proposed open pit mine in the Cuyuni/Mazaruni.
Named Quartzstone Gold Project, B-45, the intended mining operation is expected to have a life expectancy of 85 years, during which time initial capital expenditure for construction is projected to be in the order of US$10M, with another US$2M for sustaining capital over the life of the mine.
“Sun and Sand Mining Resources Inc. will deploy approximately 75 full time people over the next 10 to 12 years of mine life through a mining contracting company,” the company’s project proposal states, while noting that the project will employ approximately 25 people over the half a year construction and development period. Sun and Sand Mining had submitted an application to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for an authorisation for large scale mining in the Cuyuni/Mazaruni.
The EPA had published a notice in the February 17th, 2016 edition of the Stabroek News stating that in keeping with its Act, an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) was necessary and members of the public were being invited to tender questions they wanted answered in an EIA. Sun and Sand Mining has already acquired 12,512 acres of land for its proposed project though an arrangement with owner of the quarry company, BK International, Brian Tiwari.
The company anticipates that with a target of 41,900 tonnes of gravel per month, it will garner some 44kg of gold monthly.
Detailing its proposed mining scheme, the company states that the appropriate method for mining for secondary deposition “is open pit employing conventional mining cycle deploying excavator and tipper combination.”
Sun and Sand says that the ore will be processed onsite to produce a final doré bar that will be shipped off for further refining.
Processing of the gold will be done using a gravity separation circuit from a super miner plant that the company proposes to acquire.
Although it did not give a timeline, the company states that the entire project was a three-step one, with Stage 1 being Land Clearance and Preparation of Camp; Stage 2 Land Clearance and Commissioning of Processing Plant; and Stage 3 Mine Development and Operations, including interline and approach roads.
The company states that it would have completed baseline environmental studies relevant to its proposal last year.
“These baseline studies will provide the information necessary to ensure the project minimizes its environmental impact and balances the needs of the project with those of the communities and other stakeholders,” it added.
No reference was made to any of the studies in the project summary made public by the EPA.
The project summary can be accessed on the EPA’s website at www.epaguyana.org.
Sun and Sand Mining is an affiliate of Sun and Sand Hotels, which had planned to build a US$54 million five-star hotel and casino at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara before that project stalled.
In 2014, the company had told Stabroek News of its interest in gold mining. Director of the Sun and Sand Group of Companies Bhushan Chandna had told this newspaper in July, 2014, that the company was moving ahead with diversifying its business ventures in Guyana beyond the planned hotel at Liliendaal.
Chandna had revealed that the Indian company would be applying for a mining licence and had already applied for a logging licence although he could not say when exactly the paperwork was sent in.
With the hotel project stalled questions are likely to arise about the application for mining authorisation. There is a widely held view here that many companies are coming here with promises of large investments in hospitality and value-added timber but who are really interested in logging and mining.
