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about everyone failed,†Harden said. The Guiana Shield of north-east South America is home to numerous multimillion ounce
“They found good anomalies early on gold deposits but only three have been discovered in Guyana to date
then drilled 2,000m but didn’t get what
they wanted and so walked away.†If it is difficult to establish an explora- they are overshadowed by the rewards
tion concern in Guyana, development on offer.
As well as the jungle vegetation and and operation bring even further chal-
lack of infrastructure, much of Guyana lenges, as Troy has found out. Harden has worked extensively in
is covered by sand, making early-stage West Africa and ranks Guyana as high-
exploration even more of a task. Purvis admits the company was “a bit ly as anywhere he has explored while
naïve†when building Karouni and has Schwertfeger – who spent more than 15
“Sand cover has been an impediment been caught out by not building dura- years with Newmont Mining Corp – re-
to exploration,†Purvis said. “Troy is try- ble enough training and logistics frame- tains his conviction that Guyana com-
ing to unlock the jigsaw below the jun- works and procedures to withstand Guy- pares favourably with any gold districts
gle and sand cover to give us the best ana’s unique environment. across the world.
chance of success.â€
“At that development stage, when you Troy scoured the globe when look-
Richards believes the sheer prolifera- have to start building roads and things, it ing for new acquisitions in 2013, finally
tion of gold in Guyana can also make ef- can be easy to underestimate the chal- choosing Azimuth Resources and the
fective exploration difficult. lenge,†Richards said. Karouni project because it handed it ac-
cess to an enviable gold-prospective
“The whole country is littered with gold Schwertfeger and Harden also point land package.
and gold deposits but that can also be a to Guyana’s tenement structure as a
problem,†he said. “You could go almost partial impediment to greater invest- “Troy went to Guyana in the first place
anywhere in Guyana and pan for gold ment. because of the massive opportunity it
and there are lots of quartz veins but the presented for exploration,†Purvis said.
problem comes in sorting through a lot “There is a real patchwork of landown- “We have some of the best and most
of red herrings. Golden Star spent hun- ers who then lease out ground to indi- prospective ground in what is arguably
dreds of millions and couldn’t follow up vidual alluvial mining operators, which one of the world’s up and coming gold
on Omai.†makes access negotiations quite difficult jurisdictions.
at times,†Schwertfeger said.
Harden agrees, with Alicanto the ben- Richards agrees, saying Guyana still
eficiary of previous explorers’ inability to Alicanto has spent its four years in the held vast untapped potential when com-
hone in on targets. country building relationships and strik- pared to other gold regions.
ing low-cost access deals which have al-
“We’re determined not to drill 2,000m lowed it to tie up some of the largest land “When you look at the potential for
and give up,†he said. “Even when previ- packages Guyana has seen. plus-10 moz deposits, the prize is worth
ous explorers drilled [on the company’s [those barriers],†he said.
Arakaka project] it didn’t kill the prospec- It is a process that not every company
tivity, just the company.†is capable of undertaking. Politically, it is also attractive. Since
independence in 1966, Guyana has en-
The cover and access issues also “I think it is a barrier to entry and his- joyed a largely stable democracy – albeit
make establishment difficult. torically companies have come unstuck, with governments demonstrating some
wanting exclusive rights and pushing socialist tendencies. Richards said the
“I think a lot of the reason why Guy- people off their artisanal workings,†sovereign risk profile of the country was
ana is underexplored is down to access,†Harden said. “It could also be consid- in stark contrast to other regions.
Richards explained. “When you go there ered a barrier to entry for larger compa-
you wonder how you would explore at all nies. They wouldn’t be able to have the “If you look at West Africa; there have
but if you have got the commitment to set in-country presence needed without the been next to no positive political risk de-
up the infrastructure, the logistics, the associated expense.†velopments in the last decade and sov-
people and the team you can achieve a ereign risk is still very high. I think Guy-
lot for your money. The barriers to success may be real ana’s sovereign risk is much lower than
but for those involved in the country,
“Getting to the Aurora project [now
an operating mine owned by TSX-listed
Guyana Goldfields Inc], took three days
via boats. To resupply, we had to use
a river plane and then carry everything
10km through the jungle. We even had to
drag the drill rig by hand through the jun-
gle. In comparison, West Africa is much
drier and more accessible and Ghana
had had an active mining industry for
hundreds of years with all the associated
infrastructure.â€
Harden has spent four years in-coun-
try doing exactly that and both he and
Alicanto managing director Travis Schw-
ertfeger believe the company is now ben-
efitting from that establishment period.
“We’ve spent a lot of time establish-
ing ourselves in-country,†Schwertfeger
said. “You need to be constantly on the
ground, speaking to local people, setting
your procedures up to ensure you can
function.â€
AUSTRALIA’S PAYDIRT MAY 2017 PAGE 21
