As a result of travel restrictions in and out of Guyana, Guyana Goldfields Inc. has announced that it has temporarily suspended underground development at its 100% owned Aurora Gold Mine. It was keen to note however that open pit and processing plant operations are currently unaffected and are continuing as planned.
The decision by the Government to close airports to all international air travel except for cargo flights will last for a period of 14 days effective and is part of Guyana’s effort to contain the global outbreak of COVID-19.
Guyana Goldfields said that the underground development is affected by the international travel restrictions because the Company’s underground development contractor has a specialized workforce consisting mostly of expatriate personnel. In consultation with the Company, Guyana Standard understands that the contractor is suspending its operations and demobilizing all its on-site personnel, except for certain individuals who will remain on site temporarily to supervise the backfilling of certain open underground stopes.
“Our priority is to the health and safety of our workers,” said Alan Pangbourne, Guyana Goldfields’ President. The Chief Executive Officer added, “While we have no confirmed COVID-19 cases amongst our workforce, we are proactively taking steps to protect our people and our business during this global pandemic and some of the Company’s expatriate staff are already working remotely. We are well prepared to keep the Aurora open pit and processing plant running as previously disclosed, and maintaining critical safety and environmental activities, notwithstanding Guyana’s international travel ban.”
The official said that the company will continue to monitor the situation and will provide further updates if necessary.
