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Merian
Suriname
Main commodities: Au


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The Merian gold deposit is located ~66 km south of the town of Moengo and ~100 km SE of Paramaribo, in southeastern Suriname (#Location: 5° 7' 30"N, 54° 32' 55"W).

The Merian gold deposit lies within the Palaeoproterozoic Guyana Shield, the northern half of Amazon Craton, comprising a Palaeoproterozoic granite-greenstone terrane, considered to be the extension of the Birimian System of West Africa. The Guyana and West African shields were continuous prior to their separation in the Cretaceous as a result of the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. The Guyana Shield is composed of a series of distinct, east-west trending belts of low-grade metamorphic rocks separated by large areas of granitic rocks and gneisses.

The bedrock geology at Merian consists of inter-bedded greywackes, mudstones, siltstones, sandstones and minor volcaniclastics of the north-west trending and south-east plunging Armina Formation. Gold mineralisation occurs within saprolite, saprock and un-oxidised rock.

The saprolite zone within the host sedimentary rocks is oxidised to a mixture of clays e.g., kaolinite, and iron oxides to a depth of 100m below surface above the saprock interval.

Fresh rock from the mine is crushed onsite, whilst the saprolitic rock is directly screened before being transported to the processing plant. A blend of saprolite and fresh rock is processed at the plant. The milling capacity of the plant is eight million tonnes per annum (Mtpa). The crushed ore will be ground, mixed with cyanide and limestone and treated by carbon in pulp (CIP)', and the gold recovered by electrowinning.

Published reserves and resources of Newmonts 75% attributable share at 31 December, 2015 (Newmont, 2015; 0.3 g/t Au cut-off) were:
    Proved + probable reserves - 100.3 Mt @ 1.19 g/t Au for 119 t Au (recovery 89%)
    Measured + indicated resources - 25.1 Mt @ 0.78 g/t Au for 19.6 t Au
    Inferred resources - 33.4 Mt @ 1.03 g/t Au for 34.2 t Au.

The deposit is operated by Suriname Gold Company LLC, Surgold, which is a joint venture between Newmont (75%) and the Suriname Government (25%). Production commenced in 2016.

The most recent source geological information used to prepare this decription was dated: 2015.    
This description is a summary from published sources, the chief of which are listed below.
© Copyright Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd.   Unauthorised copying, reproduction, storage or dissemination prohibited.


Merian

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Porter GeoConsultancy Pty Ltd (PorterGeo) provides access to this database at no charge.   It is largely based on scientific papers and reports in the public domain, and was current when the sources consulted were published.   While PorterGeo endeavour to ensure the information was accurate at the time of compilation and subsequent updating, PorterGeo, its employees and servants:   i). do not warrant, or make any representation regarding the use, or results of the use of the information contained herein as to its correctness, accuracy, currency, or otherwise; and   ii). expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or conclusions contained herein.

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