Canadian firm to inject US$250M at manganese project

Canadian mining firm Reunion Manganese Inc on Thursday said it will spend approximately US$250 million at its Matthews Ridge, North West District project. But the firm has lamented the paucity of skilled geologists here and the length of time it takes for foreigners to be granted work permits.

A section of the audience at the business luncheon

These comments were made by the company’s Chief Operations Officer, Joachim Bayah at a business luncheon hosted by the Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association (GMSA) at the Regency Suites, Hadfield Street, Georgetown. The manganese firm was granted exploratory licences for its Matthews Ridge project in 2010 and is hoping to commission the mine by 2014. The Canadian firm said it will extract two million tonnes of manganese concentrate per year and once fully operational, the project will create roads, a rail link and much more infrastructure the area is currently lacking.
The prospecting licenses Reunion Manganese obtained from the Guyanese government in September 2010 cover an area of 45,729 acres and centre around the abandoned manganese mine at Matthews Ridge and Pipiani, once operated by a subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation from 1962 to 1968. Exploration activities conducted by Reunion Manganese Inc since November 2010 consist of 59 trenches totalling 4700 metres, and 35 drill holes totalling 2800 metres. A total of 42 auger holes have also been completed to test the tailings from the previous operation. The former Matthews Ridge mine area consists of a 12-kilometre long series of hills within the ridge formation hosting the manganese mineralisation and extends for 40 kilometres of strike. The primary manganese zone is reportedly 150 to 175 cm thick and approximately 30 km long in a general north-east-south-west direction.
Meanwhile, Bayah told the gathering of mostly businessmen that as of last year, the exploration activities by the company created over 300 jobs and an additional 300 jobs will be created this year, Bayah said, adding that expenditures for last year stood at some US$36 million, US$14 million of which was used for capital, equipment, engineering and salary for employees.  Reunion also established a brand new state of the art analytical lab at a cost of US $1.2 million. The manganese firm said it will continue to create a wide range of jobs for Guyanese, but he lamented the lack of skilled geologists , saying the effects of brain drain was taking a toll on the sector.
Bayah said of the several jobs being created, many of them are unable to be filled by qualified Guyanese. “There is no geologist on the network,” he said, adding that currently, Guyana is not equipped with enough qualified people to fill all the positions mining of this magnitude would require.
Bayah went on to note that of the “12 geologists on site, two are Guyanese”. He said Reunion Corporation will work with the University of Guyana to assist with scholarships.
In addition, Bayah said when the full operations kick off, they will need accountants not just geologists and members at the administrative level. “The amount of work that will be required to maintain the exploration and eventual mining schedule of the Matthews Ridge area is enormous,” Bayah warned, insisting that training of workers will be required.
Bayah noted that the schedule for full manganese operations was as follows: as of mid-2012, the full amount of resources available in the Matthews Ridge area will be fully explored, the feasibility of mining the site will be assessed by the end of 2012, construction will begin early in 2013 and the operations will be commissioned by mid-2014.
Bayah stated that exploration of the Matthews Ridge site commenced in October of 2010 immediately after the firm received its first license from the government of Guyana.  After exploration of the Matthews Ridge facilities that were mined from 1962 to 1968, Bayah noted that “the initial target of 20 million tonnes of 40 per cent concentrate” was expected to be the yield. Manganese is measured in percentage of concentrate with 30 per cent and above being considered saleable. Bayah stated that with new technologies, “yield of four percent can also be washed and can be saleable,” which was previously not the case in manganese mining.
He said the drive to produce and effectively manage the manganese reserves located in Matthews Ridge is vital to the mineral characterisation within Guyana. The corporation said through manganese development, the Port Kaituma area will benefit from secondary industrialisation, noting that it is hoping to drill for manganese and is hoping that an offshore division will be developed to bypass the proposed Trinidad processing and drop off station. Stressing on the economic value of manganese, Bayah said it is the fourth most commonly used ore, and Guyana has the capabilities to compete on the international market and is well primed to do so. While acknowledging that there are challenges that will need to be addressed, Bayah was adamant that Guyana has the natural resources, the facilities and the manpower that can be turned into skilled workers who can continue advancing this sector.
Back in August last year, the company had announced that results from the completed trenching programme in March revealed continuous and thick high grade manganese mineralisation of over 2.5 km of strike, and, in June, further results revealed evidence of manganese mineralisation in over seven kilometres of strike. The company said then given the strong results of the programme, it was ready to initiate an aggressive 24,000 metre drilling programme comprising 220 holes with the objectives of confirming the historic mineral resources within the trenched zone and defining a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource by the end of 2011. Reunion said then that it would have expanded its trenching programme to test an additional nine km of strike of previously identified manganese mineralisation to identify additional drill targets.
In addition to Bayah, who delivered a power point presentation, Housing and Water Minister, Irfaan Ali and president of the GMSA also delivered remarks. The event was attended by a number of top businessmen and other private sector officials.