Guyana Goldfields

Guyana Goldfields is a Canadian company that owns and operates the Aurora gold mine in Guyana. It is a publicly-traded company with shares listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and previously TSX Venture Exchange. Beginning in 1996 the company acquired exploration rights to the former Peters and Aurora mines with the objective of utilizing modern exploration technology to re-evaluate the potential gold reserves. Following positive exploratory results, the company received financing from the International Finance Corporation and other investors and conducted economic and technical feasibility studies. The Aurora gold mine began commercial production in 2015 and has produced approximately 125,000 to 160,000 ounces of gold per year from the mine since then. These lower than expected results and a revised technical study that significantly lowered the recoverable reserves estimates, led to the removal of the CEO and directors involved in making the investment decision and a class action lawsuit alleging misrepresentations in public disclosures.
Operations.
Guyana Goldfields owns and operates the Aurora Gold Mine in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region, along the Cuyuni River, of Guyana. Guyana Goldfields oversaw its development in 2014-15. While they produced 35,901 ounces of gold in 2015, commercial production began in January 2016. The mine produced 151,600 ounces in 2016 as the company again transitioned to a company focused on mine operation. During 2017, 160,500 ounces were produced, 150,450 ounces were produced in 2018 and 124,200 in 2019. It is an open pit mine that uses a semi-autogenous mill and carbon in pulp processing. The company's March 2020 updated life of mine plan estimated 2.2 million ounces of proven and probable reserves where the gold is dispersed at an average 2.7 grams per tonnes of ore. The plan estimated a 14-year mine life assuming the transition to underground mining can be achieved.
The company is also investigating the feasibility of developing its Aranka/Sulphur Rose deposit, located 23 km from the Aurora mine, as well as exploring at other properties in Guyana.
History.
Guyana Goldfields Inc. (Champs D'Or De Guyana Inc.) was founded in December 1994 by J. Patrick Sheridan Jr. for the purposes of exploring mineral properties located in Guyana. In 1996-97 the company acquired exploration rights to the Peters Mine and Aurora Mine properties which had last produced gold in the early 1900s.
The company had also acquired exploration rights to the Coronation Gulf project near the Coppermine River in Nunavut, Canada, which had last been explored in 1967-69 but moved that property in 2000 to a subsidiary company called Coppercorp, and later to Coronation Minerals (later renamed Guyana Precious Metals and then GPM Metals Inc.) which would be separately listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. The company's stocks moved from the TSX Venture Exchange to the Toronto Stock Exchange in 2003. In 2009 the company would acquire Sheridan Jr.'s other company Aranka Gold Inc. and its properties around the Aremu River area in Guyana to conduct similar exploration work as being done in the Peters and Aurora properties.
The company funded new exploration and, in 2004, reported result that indicated the discovery of a significant deposit in the Aurora Mine area. The company's stock price rose from $0.70 per share in May to $3.50 in November, as Goldcorp bought into the company, that acquiring 8.7% of its shares. The share price peaked in late-2006 at $11.90 as the company had raised funds for proceeding with scoping and feasibility studies. Over several years, as the studies outlined the feasibility of mining and they were issued a license to mine, the company was considered for acquisition by larger companies experienced in developing and operating gold mines, such as Agnico-Eagle Mines, however, the deals did not take place and Guyana Goldfields transitioned from a mineral exploration focus to a mine development company and sold some of its non-core assets to focus on its Aurora and Aranka deposits.
In 2012, they released an updated mine plan for Aurora that had them producing 3.29 million ounces of gold over a 17 year mine life. They raised sufficient funds to pay for the mine through private placements, stock offerings, and borrowings, much of it from International Finance Corporation and Export Development Canada. They began construction of the Aurora gold mine in 2014 after the board of directors approved the $238 million expenditure. In August 2015, Guyana announced its first gold production at its Aurora mine and began commercial Commercial production started in January 2016. However, also in 2015, a revised study lowered the mine's reserves to 2.86 million ounces of gold and a mine life of 16 years, and also the government of Venezuela made a territorial claim for the land underlying Guyana Goldfield's Aurora mine, and threatened the company with legal action.
Guyana Goldfields was listed on the S&P/TSX Composite Component from June 2016 to Dec 2018. During that time, the Aurora mine under-performed and the 2018 third-quarter results were released, Sheridan Jr. was removed from the company causing its share price to fall to $1.62. A new technical study revealed that the 2012 studies had over-estimated the amount of recoverable gold reserves and a proxy fight, led by Sheridan Jr., resulted in the CEO Scott Caldwell and the remaining directors who were present in 2012 also being removed from the company. While Alan Pangbourne took over as CEO in January, the company faced a class action lawsuit in 2020 alleging misrepresentations were made by the company in its public disclosures.