Golden Star is no stranger to the Guiana Shield

An old hand at exploring the Guiana Shield, Golden Star Resources (TSE) established a presence in 1984 when it began looking for gold in Guyana.

It is a veteran explorer in this area of South America and is concentrating on exploration, leaving the development and running of mining operations to its more senior joint-venture partners.

Aside from its 30% interest in the Omai gold mine, Golden Star is involved in numerous gold and diamond exploration plays which are at different stages of development.

In January, the Guyanese government granted reconnaissance permits to Golden Star to explore for gold in two areas and diamonds in two other areas, covering, in total, 1.3 million hectares.

In October, the company must let most of the ground go, but it can select from the original permits up to 20 areas as individual prospecting licences. Each must consist of 52 sq. km.

To help evaluate their large land holdings and identify new exploration targets in Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, the company is completing a 6-to-8-month airborne geophysical survey covering most of the company’s project areas in the Shield.

The Wenamu and Five Stars gold permits are underlain by greenstone sequences which host the Omai deposit and are the source of historical gold production in both Venezuela and Guyana. Ground geophysical work, together with stream and soil sampling, is in progress on these permit areas.

The Upper Mazaruni and Upper Potaro diamond permits are underlain by Roraima Supergroup rocks which have been recognized as the source of alluvial diamond deposits. Exploration here includes intense selective stream sediment sampling for diamond indicator minerals.

Contiguous with the Upper Mazaruni permit is Golden Star’s Saganang prospecting licence, where the hunt for diamonds continues as part of the Upper Mazaruni exploration program.

The Aranka property, a 50-50 joint venture with Roraima Mining, consists of two prospecting licences. Work completed last year indicated the presence of a gold-bearing saprolite which has yet to be fully outlined. Hand-trenching and hand-augering have been carried out and diamond drilling will begin shortly.

Earlier this year in Suriname, the government approved the Gross Rosebel mineral agreement, which establishes favorable fiscal and legal conditions for the Gross Rosebel “right of exploration” (an area of 170 sq. km). Golden Star acquired this property in 1992 after extensive work had been completed by previous owners. The objective of this year’s program is to define bulk-minable surface and near-surface oxide ores which could be mined by open pit with little stripping.

The surficial deposits of the Royal Hill-Roma-Mayo trend, the Rosebel zone and the Koolhaven-Pay Caro trend are being tested this year on a 50-by-50-metre grid using 10-cm-diameter mechanical augers, followed by alluvial Banka drilling (a labor-intensive, hand-operated drill for sampling alluvial and eluvial deposits) and shallow diamond drilling. The calculation of an initial resource estimate is under way, which should lead to a prefeasibility study. Reconnaissance geological mapping and geochemical sampling are also under way in an effort to identify other zones. The Headley’s Reef “right of reconnaissance,” covering 2,000 sq. km, has been converted to three rights of exploration, allowing the company to proceed with trenching and drilling of selected targets. The area is underlain by Proterozoic metamorphic granite-greenstone terrains. Several mineralized gold zones and a number of gold prospects are being explored.

The South Benzdorp right of reconnaissance is a 1,940-sq.-km property which, historically, has been an alluvial gold producer. Golden Star has defined two soil gold anomalies, each covering an area of about 1.5 by 1 km, and is evaluating them by detailed auger sampling, trenching and diamond drilling. Further target delineation will be based on airborne geophysical results. Golden Star’s operations in French Guiana have been placed under the direction of Guyanor Ressources S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary. Guyanor has been issued

an “autorisation personelle minire,” which entitles it to hold exploration permits, mining licences and mining concessions.

Guyanor and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in French Guiana have issued a “declaration of principle” which will guide the development of the company’s exploration and mining activities in the country.

Golden Star recently entered an agreement whereby Cambior (TSE) can earn a half interest in the company’s Yaou-Dorlin gold project. Golden Star will remain operator throughout the exploration stage.

At the 15,000-hectare Yaou project and the 14,000-hectare Dorlin project, extensive mapping and geological reinterpretation are being followed by a program consisting of geochemical, airborne and ground geophysical surveys, trenching and drilling. All gold occurrences are being re-evaluated, and new occurrences are being sought.

Asarco (NYSE) can earn a half joint-venture interest in Golden Star’s St-Elie concession by spending US$10 million during the next five years and producing a feasibility study. The area hosting the St-Elie concession has produced more than 800,000 oz. gold, mostly from alluvial and eluvial deposits. The 1994 program has outlined gold anomalies which will be trenched or drilled. The Esprance and Regina Est properties are at an early stage of exploration. Golden Star will be investigating known gold anomalies and occurrences, and will seek new zones of interest.

— The author is a Toronto-based freelance writer.