Guyana Goldfields expects to deliver the feasibility study for the Aurora project in mid-January 2012. Construction of the mine-site facilities and mill will begin in the first quarter of 2012 and is scheduled to be completed over a period of 24 months. The mine and mill are planned to be fully oper-ational by the first quarter of 2014

. In a September 2011 project update, Guyana Goldfields reported its feasibility study team had locked-in some key param-eters for the Aurora project. Open-pit min-ing is expected to include six pits within a square mile, with bottom depths varying from 70 to 315 m. The average strip ratio is expected to be between 9 and 10 to 1, waste to ore.

Underground mining will focus on the Rory's Knoll deposit, with access via a 1,200-m-deep shaft and a main ramp from surface to allow production from several mining areas concurrently. Some under-ground mining will also be conducted via ramps below the Aleck Hill, Mad Kiss and East Walcott Hill pits.

Milling will be through a SAG mill and ball mill combination, with design through-put of 9,500 mt/d. Ongoing design work was focused on optimization of the grinding cir-cuit and the tailings disposal system and acquiring vendor quotations for the various plant components, including long-lead items.

Measured and indicated open-pit resources for the Aurora project at a $1,200 gold price currently total 2.18 mil-lion oz of gold in 20.22 million mt grading 3.34 g/mt. Measured and indicated under-ground resources at the same price total 3.52 million oz of gold in 26.82 million mt grading 4.09 g/mt.