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in gold and/or diamonds and you can’t do

that by simply going to California.”

Richards has documented his Guya-

nese exploits in his recently published

autobiography, Gold Rush: How I Made

and Lost a Fortune, and he remains con-

vinced the country is host to the kind of

large-scale gold deposits every explorer

hopes to discover.

“If you took a map with all the multimil-

lion ounce gold deposits on it, there is al-

most a gaping hole where Guyana is,” he

said. “The idea of Guyana as a last fron-

tier is as true today as it was in the 90s.”

Why, then, has Guyana missed the

gold exploration rush of the last decade

and will the trend change?

Troy Resources Ltd operates the Ka-

rouni gold mine in central Guyana. Chief

executive Martin Purvis believes a lack

of infrastructure and associated access

issues in a country which is largely cov-

ered by almost impenetrable jungle is

“For all its gold prospectivity, Guyana’s interior remains difficult to penetrate, one reason for the lack of exploration.
as highlighted by this isolated artisanal mining operation “The physical conditions of the coun-

I was aware of Guyana as a sort of last try – the jungle environment – and the
frontier, with unexplored areas with gold small population mean it has seen little
infrastructure development in the past
and diamonds in remote locations. That was the 100 years, so it has been left behind,”
Purvis said. “As a result, it has been diffi-
cult for major miners to progress projects

attraction for me. I wanted to make my fortune in because there is a lack of information
gold and/or diamonds and you can’t do that by compared to that which can be found in
regions where there is a lot of commer-

simply going to California. cial mining activity.”
Alicanto Minerals Ltd is the most ac-

tive junior explorer in Guyana. The com-

world. Although located on the South time before others were prepared to go,” pany’s chief geologist, Marcus Harden,

American mainland, its status as a for- Richards told Paydirt. “I was aware of points to previous interest by a host of

mer British colony – Britain took control Guyana as a sort of last frontier, with un- companies as evidence that the gold

of the country from the Dutch in 1815 – explored areas with gold and diamonds world knows what the country is capable

places it culturally and politically as part in remote locations. That was the attrac- of producing.

of the Caribbean. Indeed, for most Aus- tion for me. I wanted to make my fortune “Lots of companies have tried but just

tralians, Guyana is perhaps best known

for producing cricketing greats such as

Lance Gibbs, Clive Lloyd, Carl Hooper

and Shivnarine Chanderpaul; a fact in-

congruent with its geographic location in

Latin America.

The country is underlain by the Gui-

ana Shield, a Proterozoic-aged craton

that was contiguous with the Leo Mann

Shield of West Africa prior to the opening

of the Atlantic Ocean, meaning it shares

much the same lithology and style of

mineralisation as the Birimian gold belts

of West Africa which host more than 200

moz gold. It also has a thriving small-

scale gold sector which produces more

than 400,000 ozpa from licensed artisa-

nal operations.

Poz Minerals Ltd executive chairman

Jim Richards launched his mining ca-

reer in Guyana in 1990, seeing its “Lost

World” status as a major attraction. Even in the remote areas of Guyana’s north-west, there is still opportunity to

“I went there in the early 90s, a long find a cold beer at the end of a hard day’s prospecting

PAGE 20 MAY 2017 AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT