A Canadian gold mining company is seeking a partner or funding for a project that would result in mineral extraction from Guyana and a silico-manganese plant in T&T, according to a release from the Toronto-listed Reunion Gold Corporation. The corporation had entered into a memorandum of understanding with the National Energy Corporation of T&T (NEC) to explore the feasibility of setting up a silico-manganese plant in T&T.As of March 31, the company had a working capital of CA$0.9 million, excluding loans from related parties.The company said it "will require additional funds to carry out its activities and to this effect, is evaluating various financing alternatives, including the issuance of equity, debt financing, partnership or joint venture arrangement, or other means."
Reunion Gold told investors: "There can be no assurance that additional funds will be available, or available on terms acceptable to the company."Upon yesterday's filing of its audited consolidated financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the year ended March 31, Reunion Gold provided an update on its Matthews Ridge manganese project located in Guyana."The company retained the services of consulting firms to assess the viability of reducing the output of the Matthews Ridge Project and converting the manganese concentrate into silico-manganese alloys in T&T."The results of these studies should be available by September 30, 2014," Reunion Gold said.
Subject to the results of the ongoing studies and available financing, Reunion Gold's focus during the balance of the year will be to carry out essential work for the full feasibility study of the Matthews Ridge Project, including completing additional drilling, if deemed necessary, on the Matthews Ridge footprint area and at other surrounding prospects, the statement said.
On January 20, Reunion Gold nnounced that it had "retained Worley Parsons to conduct a scoping-level study to assess the parameters relating to the possible development of a silico-manganese plant that would be located in T&T."G Mining Services Ltd had also been retained to combine the results of the Worley Parsons' scoping study with the results of a July 2013 pre-feasibility study related to the production of manganese (Mn) concentrate from the Matthews Ridge Project located in northwest Guyana.
"In addition to its proximity to Guyana, T&T offers numerous benefits including competitive power costs, deep sea port facilities, dedicated areas for industrial projects and proximity to silico-manganese markets," the company said.
The Matthews Ridge Project consists of four prospecting licenses covering an area of 185 square kilometres in northwest Guyana, in and around the former Matthews Ridge mine.
In July 2013, the company announced a proven and probable reserve estimate of 26.3 million tonnes of manganese with an average grade of 14.2 per cent Mn. Manganese is the fourth largest metal consumed in the world, behind iron, aluminum and copper. It is a key component in steel and iron production.Reunion Gold's shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (Toronto's junior stock exchange) under the symbol RGD. It last traded on June 20 for CA$0.07, less than half its value (CA$0.15) when the announcement was first made.
Reunion Gold chairman David Fennell, had said in the statement: "This is a significant development for the company."While Matthews Ridge as a stand alone mining operation is an attractive investment opportunity, we believe that the construction of a silico-manganese plant in T&T to be supplied by Matthews Ridge ore may potentially allow us to create a vertically integrated operation which could become one of the world's lowest cost producers of silico-manganese."National Energy, a subsidiary of the state-owned National Gas Company (NGC) of T&T Limited, is engaged in the promotion of new energy-based industries and the provision and management of industrial estates, port and marine facilities to support the industries in T&T.