Travel ban halts Guyana Goldfields’ underground development operation

Mar 23, 2020 News

As a result of the travel restriction imposed by the Government on March 18, last, Canadian mining company, Guyana Goldfields Inc. has temporarily suspended underground development at its 100% owned Aurora Gold Mine. While that aspect of its operation is on pause, Guyana Goldfields did note that its open pit and processing plant operations are currently unaffected and are continuing as planned.

Guyana Goldfields’ CEO, Alan Pangbourne

The Canadian company explained that its underground development is affected by the international travel restrictions since its underground development contractor has a specialised workforce consisting mostly of expatriate personnel. In consultation with the Company, the contractor is suspending its operations and demobilising all its on-site personnel, except for certain individuals who will remain on site temporarily to supervise the backfilling of certain open underground stopes.
Alan Pangbourne, Guyana Goldfields’ President and CEO stated that the health and safety of its workers remain a priority. And while they have no confirmed COVID-19 cases, Pangbourne said they are proactively taking steps to protect its people and business during this global pandemic. Further to this, he said that some of the company’s expatriate staffers are already working remotely. He added, “We are well prepared to keep the Aurora open pit and processing plant running as previously disclosed, and are maintaining critical safety and environmental activities, notwithstanding Guyana’s international travel ban.”
Guyana Goldfields said that it will continue to monitor the situation and will provide further updates if necessary as events unfold.
The decision by the Government to close its airports to all international air travel except for cargo flights for 14 days is part of its effort to contain the global outbreak of the coronavirus. To date, there have been five confirmed cases here.