-as court action continues to recover debts
Even as government continues to pursue court action to recover monies from the defunct Australian-owned gold mining company, Troy Resources, some 112 small miners have been given permits at the Karouni, Region Seven concession while talks are ongoing with four consortiums who will do their own feasibility studies and tests at the site.
“One hundred and twelve Guyanese small miners, whether they were miners before or looking to get into mining, they have been awarded a small mineral property in the former Troy Resources property at Karouni. The Karouni district is back with the state. The state is in control of that property which includes the living accommodation, the administrative section, as well as the processing plant and mining pits,” Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat said on Wednesday as he and head of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Newell Dennison updated on the issue.
“We have been speaking with a number of companies that have expressed interest in the operations, met with three or four companies that is a mixture of Guyanese and foreign investors that are interested…,” he added
Bharrat said that two companies have begun their own “independent assessment of the mining pit and will do some amount of drilling to determine the resources in the area.”
“So at least two companies will be afforded that opportunity to go into the site and do an assessment,” he added, while pointing out that two more are to do the same, after which they all will “come back to us with a proposal making advancement with regards to seeking out an investor for that company.”
Initially government, according to Bharrat, was looking for a local consortium but with proposals from foreign interests and the fact that the operation requires heavy financing, the partnerships will be looked at.
President Irfaan Ali had last year told this newspaper that in addition to Troy Resources going to some 50 small miners, the government was in the process of having a local consortium formed to work the main mining pit, even as he urged local businesses not to be afraid of forming partnerships.
The Minister of Natural Resources said that government still wants the larger operation reopened and “We are committed to restarting that operation …,” he said.
Troy Resources Limited, the Australian parent company of TRGI [Troy Resources Guyana Inc], abandoned its large-scale mining operations last year leaving large debts including to the Guyana Revenue Authority. The government here has taken flak for allowing a large-scale operator to simply abandon its mine at Karouni.
In October of last year, government announced that the agreement with the Australian gold mining company had been cancelled with swift action taken to secure the Region Seven mining site.
The announcement followed a report the day before in the Stabroek News that Troy Resources appeared to have abandoned its Guyana operations without abiding by the terms of its agreement (including payment of royalties) and reclamation of the area which was mined at Karouni since 2015. These have a significant cost attached.
At the height of its operations, Troy Resources employed hundreds of workers and produced thousands of ounces of gold per annum.
Troy Resources had commenced operations in Guyana in 2015 in a blaze of high expectations. It encountered major difficulties in October 2019 after geologist, Ryan Taylor, died when the cave he was working in collapsed. The then APNU+AFC government caused the mine to be closed for an investigation and hundreds of workers were laid off.
Then, in November 2022, the company announced plans to return to gold mining and production at its Smarts Underground site in the fourth quarter of 2023 and had said that it was in the preparatory phase of its resumption timeline. The Australian mining company had also notified that it was revising its business model and was looking at an immediate capital investment of US$10 million for its Karouni operations.
This was not to be and the company then advertised that it was liquidating its assets. On August 11, 2023, this newspaper reported that the company was closing its gold mining operations in Guyana as it did not find the market feasible anymore.
Sources had said that the power generation plants on the Troy Resources facility at Karouni were to be moved to the Onverwagt Power Station for use while other assets such as the gold processing mill and machinery remaining would be sold to recoup some of the monies owed.
Bharrat had told this newspaper in October last year, “The Government of Guyana has taken possession of the entire property, including the processing mill/plant, camp site… et cetera.”
A petition by Nigel Bacchus et al, creditors of the company, was presented on January 11 of this year to the High Court for the winding up of the business.
