Guyana gold mine aiming for September start-up

Dual-listed Troy Resources (TSX, ASX:TRY) says its Karouni gold project in Guyana should begin wet commissioning in early September, about six months after construction started in February.

The Australian company started building the site, which envisions two open pits and one underground mine, soon after the environmental permit was issued in January.

"The past month or so has been an extremely busy period at Karouni as the construction team of over 500 employees and contractors worked through heavy seasonal rainfall to push completion of the plant as far as possible," Troy Resources stated in an operational update published on Friday. "At the end of June, the only major items that were still under construction were the Mill and the Thickener, with all the other major components and site facilities ready for power connection and commissioning. All site infrastructure work is complete and all the Administration buildings are functioning."

A preliminary economic assessment (PEA) issued in January, 2014, has the mine in north-central Guyana producing 90,000 ounces a year for seven years, with production of 102,000 ounces gold in its first year. The average grade is 4.13 grams per tonne and the all in-cash costs are $805 per ounce.

Troy says the first gold would be poured around 3 to 4 weeks after the start of wet commissioning. The project will be developed initially as an open-cut operation at the Smarts and Hicks deposits, followed by underground mining at Smarts.

Despite the positive news, investors were not moved to bid up Troy's stock price. The company was off slightly on Friday on the ASX, slipping 1.35 percent to 36.5 cents a share, at a market cap of $104 million.