Lindeners rush to jobs with Guyana Goldfields
Enid Joaquin, April 13, 2014, By KNews, Filed Under News, Source
Scores of Lindeners, including several youths out of school, flocked the Egbert Benjamin Hall at Spieghtland, Linden, on Thursday to submit applications for jobs with Guyana Gold Fields.
The mining company recently advertised vacant positions in several areas as the company embarks on its mining operations in Cuyuni.
According to a Senior Executive of the Company, Peter Benny, the company will be employing people from Linden, as well as residents of other communities across Guyana.
“This is a Guyanese company, so we will be employing people from Linden, Berbice, Essequibo and Lethem; as long as there are skills, we will be employing people.”
A section of the persons who turned up to hand in their applications
Benny said that he was happy when Regional Chairman, Sharma Solomon, approached him with the initiative of having the application forms available in Linden, where they could be easily accessible.
He said that it was a good idea, and one that he did not even think about, but one that would save Lindeners thousands of dollars.
As regards the employment opportunities Benny noted, “We would only require the skills as they are needed. Right now we’ve started construction, we’ve started some earth work, so we’ll need more earth work operators.
“We would need a few more mechanics and drivers. But we can’t hire everybody from Linden, because we are a national Company, and so we have to spread it.”
Benny said that there will be opportunities for other types of skills during the construction phase, and that as early as this week, works to clear the site in preparation for construction, will commence. A contractor has already been engaged to execute that part of the project.
Country Manager, Violet Smith, said that the project will start as an ‘open mining pit’ operation and that within another five years, it is envisaged that there will be an underground mine- which will be the first in the country,
“We have a commitment and an undertaking that we must be in production by June 2015– We’re on a push to get this mine built, so persons that are sitting here that are not prepared to push– maybe you can come when the mine is built, because that is another level of expertise.
As it relates to the new jobs that are and will be available, Smith said, “The Company not only believes in opportunities, but we also try to encourage employees to create opportunities for themselves.”
GGI has embarked on attaining a total 3.29 million ounces of gold, averaging 194,000 ounces per year. Aurora is at the second stage, of a four phase mining project. At the first phase of exploration and pre-development, more than 250 Guyanese were hired.The next phase, development and construction is expected to see some 900 locals being gainfully employed. Actual operations are expected to start in 2015.
Two technical training institutions – the Guyana Industrial Training Centre and the Linden Technical Training Institute— have received support for the acquisition of teaching equipment and tools. This was part of the company’s efforts to network with such institutions which could eventually supply some of its skill needs, as the construction and mining phases of its operations commence.
Jobs range from health and safety officers, environmental officers, carpenters, masons, electricians, drivers and heavy duty operators, among others. The project consists of the construction of a processing plant, an open pit mine, tailings and water retention/control structures and associated support infrastructure.
It is expected to take approximately two years to engineer, procure, construct and commission and will, primarily be executed through engineering.
The Aurora Mine Project is being implemented under international standards and best practices for health, safety, environment and community.
Strategic partnerships have been formed, too, with the help of the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the overall support of objectives.
The Government of Guyana (GOG), in late 2011, signed a mineral agreement allowing GGI to develop and operate its Aurora Gold Project in what was described as the largest single private investment in Guyana eclipsing even Omai Gold Mines.
Guyana Goldfields Inc. is a Canada-based mineral exploration company, primarily focused on the exploration and development of gold deposits in Guyana, South America where the company has operated since 1996.
It is one of South America’s largest gold mines and Guyana’s second largest gold extracting operation since the departure of OMAI in 2005. The project will see its first ever underground mining set up extracting ore to be processed.
Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon thanked the mining company executives for coming to Linden, and opening “doors of opportunities” for the residents.
On Wednesday, Solomon was a guest on the popular midmorning radio programme the “Pepperpot Hour”, where he had exhorted Lindeners to come out in their numbers, to submit applications for the numerous positions available within the company’s operations.
He had also alluded to the proposal that he had made to the mining company, to make their application forms available in Linden to eliminate the need for residents to commute to Georgetown- a costly exercise for unemployed persons.