C

reated in 2004, Auplata (IM, December

2006), is attempting to bring the gold
mining industry of Guyane (French
Guiana) into the industrial age. This French
department produces somewhere over 3 t of
gold annually, but has the potential for much
more. The Juilland brothers have plans for
more operations in Guyane, through Goldplata
Resources Guyane. At present they are
negotiating with Auplata the acquisition of the
Dorlin project and are looking at other
interesting prospects. This will bring much
needed employment and development of the
mining sector. At the request of President
Sarkozy a special mining committee has been
named to develop a new mining charter
(schema minier), which should have its
preliminary recommendations ready by the end
of the year. This will clarify which areas are
available for mining and exploration and allow
all the different companies, local and
international, interested in mining in France
and its overseas departments, like Guyane, to
make progress with confidence.
Having established this production base, the
brothers are now moving to revitalise some of the
familys many assets on the South American
continent. The Juilland family owns Goldplata
Mining International in Panama, which currently
owns 28% of Auplata. It also wholly-owns
Goldplata Resources, which controls Goldplata
Colombia and its three worldclass copper-gold
porphyries of Titirib, Murindo and Acandi. It also
owns 94% of Goldplata Peru, which has the
Suckuytambo/El Diablo (Cusco/Arequipa area),
Condoroma (Puno area) projects in southern Peru,
which show considerable silver, gold and base
metal potential. These are well known mining
districts which have seen intermittent operations
since colonial times.
The Guyane challenge
Guyane has substantial geological potential for
primary gold, on a scale comparable to West
Africa, and at the same time offers an attractive
and protective legal framework. Guyane is on the
eastern side of the Guiana shield, which covers an
area of over 1,500,000 km
2
from the east of
Colombia to the northeast of Brazil. In addition to
Guyane, it also covers Brazil, Suriname, Guyana
and part of Venezuela. It is a two-billion year old
geological formation which is the oldest and most
stable in South America.
The region was once attached to the coast of
West Africa, forming part of the Gondwana
supercontinent, and was gradually split off as the
Atlantic Ocean opened up. As a result, most of the
Guyanese subsoil closely resembles that found in
West Africa (and Ghana in particular). Guyanes
gold mineralisation potential is therefore similar to
that of the West-African craton, as the two land
masses were attached before the Jurassic era.
Most of the West African gold deposits have been
mined to considerable depth, whereas those in
Guyane have barely scratched the surface. They
are completely open at depth. The deepest shaft
sunk there was only down to 60 m.
Auplatas Dieu Merci mine is in northwest
Guyane, 90 km from Cayenne (the capital). The
concessions cover 136.5 km
2
and the current
operating capacity is 700 t/d (17,500 t/month).
Resources (to no international standard) include 5 t
of gold estimated in tailings and a 1998 study that
demonstrated the presence of 2.5 t of gold over 8
ha at 3.9 g/t Au to a depth of less than 5 m. There is
thought to be potential of 21 t of gold over 67 ha.
To the south, 230 km from Cayenne, lies
Auplatas Yaou operation, with a capacity of 800
GOLDPLATA:
big plans
HIGH PROFILE
8 International Mining OCTOBER 2008
John Chadwick talks with Michel and Georges Juilland, cofounders of Auplata
and Goldplata, about how their respective projects in Latin America are progressing
Goldplata Mining International currently owns 28%
of Auplata, which has producing gold mines in
Guyane. The Juilland brothers have plans to expand
activities in this overseas department of France. They
are also advancing projects in Peru and Colombia
HIGH PROFILE:proof 2/10/08 09:16 Page 1
10 International Mining OCTOBER 2008
t/d (20,000 t/month). Some 14 million has been
spent on exploration here, over 15 years and the
inferred resource is 46.4 t of gold at 2.4 g/t Au.
Since Auplata can only use gravity processing
(at about 35% recovery) on Dieu Merci and Yaou,
the tailings retreatment potential of these two
properties is increasing all the time. Juilland
currently estimates it at some 200,000 oz of gold
worth over 100 million. Auplata is devoting a
great deal of attention to alternatives to cyanide
treatment, particularly thiosulphate. Some studies
that were sponsored by Goldplata in the University
of Liege, Belgium, for the Yaou tailings do not
show much promise. But a report from the
university states: For the case of the laid
gravimetric tailings of Dieu Merci, the data
available about their total volume and gold
content (higher than Yaou) indicate a definite
perspective for economic gold recovery. Separate
tests are currently being run by Auplata in France.
Not far away is Auplatas Dorlin operation, which
presently has a non operating installed capacity of
500 t/d (7,500 t/month) mill, 190 km from
Cayenne and 55 km northeast of Maripasoula.
Here some 8.3 million has been spent on
exploration over 15 years generating an indicated
resource of 15.8 t at 1.3 g/t Au and an inferred
resource of 29 t of gold at the same grade.
Guyanes gold production has more than
quadrupled since the creation of Auplata when it
was around 360 kg in the years of 2004 and
2005. By the end of the third quarter of 2006,
following the start of production at Dieu Merci,
output was approaching 150 kg. Then the Yaou
mine came into production and by the end of the
second quarter of this year, gold production was
some 260 kg. In 2007, Auplata produced 867 kg
of gold and posted revenues from metals (gold
and silver) of 14.1 million, up 81% on 2006.
In total, Auplata has mining permits and
licenses covering over 300 km
2
. Its development
and mining plans involve close collaboration with
local players. Auplatas aim is to offer a sustainable
alternative for the Guyanese gold-mining industry,
one that respects the countrys environment and
protects the interests of the local population.
A highlight of 2008s second quarter was the
implementation of the operational reorganisation
plan announced in April. This plan led to an
overhaul of the companys two operating mines,
Dieu Merci and Yaou, as well as geological and
extraction studies targeting improved resource
planning over the coming quarters. In June
Auplata also announced plans to restore
profitability via company-wide job cuts that
together with the work to overhaul the mining
facilities and to bring them up to standard will
slash annual costs by 4 million.
Restoring operating profitability is a key goal. As
Auplata is waiting for the future departmental
mining guidelines to be implemented by the end
of 2008, plans formulated by the French President,
the company will focus its production efforts on
the Dieu Merci and Yaou mines.
Peruvian precious and base
metal promise
Goldplata Resources Perus Suckuytambo,
Condoroma and El Diablo project tenements are
100% owned by Goldplata and consist of some
31 mining concessions totalling about 10,000 ha
in area (see figure 1). These are old mining
districts, known since colonial times. Together they
have produced over 100 Moz of silver.
El Diablo is in the District of Caylloma, near the
town of Caylloma, approximately 145 km from
Arequipa via a combination of sealed and dirt
roads of varying condition.
The project is in the Andes at an elevation of
about 4,000 m. Relief ranges from moderately
steep to steep with incised streams and gullies
commonly accommodating run-off in the area. Soils
are poorly developed and vegetation is generally
sparse to moderate, consisting primarily of shrubs
and grasses established on exposed slopes of ridges.
El Diablo is a polymetallic vein-hosted system
located in a gently folded sequence of volcanic
rocks. Veins strike to the west-southwest and dip
steeply to the northwest at 80-85. El Diablo, El
Angel and El Santo are the three structures of
significance in the area. Quartz veins outcrop for
over 200 m in the area and are between 1 and 2
m wide. These quartz veins are sulphide-rich and
sulphides include pyrite, galena, sphalerite, native
HIGH PROFILE
The Juilland mining men -
Michel (sitting) and Georges (standing) with their late
father in St Elie-Dieu Merci
The grandfather, Pierre Delaitre (far left) of Georges
and Michel in a picture in virtually the same spot in St
Elie-Dieu Merci taken 70 years previously in 1932
HIGH PROFILE:proof 2/10/08 09:16 Page 2
silver, arsenopyrite and chalcopyrite. Stockpiles
from smallscale mining also appear to contain
significant Fe and Mn.
El Diablo underground project (El Diablo and El
Angel) has estimated Proven reserves of 71,229 t
at 3.12 g/t Au, 65.5 g/t Ag, 3.6% Pb and 4.2%
Zn. Possible reserves amount to 35,776 t at 2.83
g/t Au, 64.1 g/t Ag, 3.62% Pb and 4% Zn.
Geosure Geological Consultants completed an
independent geological report on Goldplata
Resources Perus projects. In that Principal, Michael
Montgomery, said of El Diablo: El Diablo
represents a significant potential, not only because
it is open along strike and at depth but because
no one has looked at the copper potential of the
deposit previously (hand specimens examined on
site seemed to have high quantities of Cu
minerals). These types of deposits typically have
better copper and gold grades at depth. Logistically
the placing of holes at El Diablo is the easiest
amongst the three deposits described in this report.
Given all these reasons I feel that the potential to
add to the resources at El Diablo quickly and cost-
effectively exists.
Access from Caylloma to
Suckuytambo at 4,800 m is
by dirt track of varying
condition. These tracks are
in poor condition in places
and despite the fact that
there is only about 20 km
between the project and
Caylloma the travel time is
1.5 to 2 hours.
The important structures
are Veta Carmen- Santa
Ursula which strike
northwest and dip
subvertically towards the
southwest. This fault is
interpreted to be analogous
to the Chila Fault and is
infilled with sulphide-rich
QC veining, up to 4 m
wide. And a group of
parallel fractures (some
veins) striking northwest
and located a few dozen
metres to the south of the
Veta Carmen. The
economic mineralisation is
contained within two
systems of veins a system of
seven veins striking
northeast and Veta Carmen.
The northeast striking
veins are Blanca, Santa Ines,
San Pablo, San Pedro,
Potosi, Corona, Nueva
Corona. This set of veins is
where Hochschild realised more than 1 Mt of ore.
These veins have strike lengths ranging between
100 to 200 m and widths ranging from 0.50 to
2.30 m. The main mineral constituents of the veins
are quartz (> 80%), red and silver polybasite,
pyrite, sphalerite and calcite.
Past production from Suckuytambo started in
1950 until 1991 (when it was stopped due to a
dropping head grade). Between 1950 and 1966
about 80,000 t/y were produced at an average
grade of approximately 435 g/t Ag and 5.3 g/t Au.
Then, in the late 1970s and 1980s some 0.5 Mt of
similar grade ore were mined out of the
Suckuytambo and San Miguel mines.
In Montgomerys opinion, Suckuytambo
represents significant potential. The potential to
identify new reserves and grow existing ones is
considerable. However, he cautions against using
the current in-house resource estimates on which
to base operations. More work is required.
Goldplata Peru is in the process of consolidating
the whole Suckuytambo-San Miguel area once
again, and will control over 20,000 ha of highly
prospective ground.
Condoroma deposit is in southern Peru located
in the area of Ingenio, Condoroma district,
province of Espinar, Cusco department, at an
altitude between 4,700 and 5,000 m. The new
town of Condoroma (population approximately
200) is situated near the project area (about 10
km). Goldplata has offices and accommodations in
the town and has established telecommunications
and internet connections available.
Caylloma is located some 75 km from the
project.
Several veins are visible within the Condoroma
property though the historical mining focus was
on four main vein systems the Bonanza,
Carmen, Santa Rita and Mercedes veins. The
principal elements are silver with associated minor
gold, and lead and zinc. The veins strike
approximately 290-310 and dip 60 to 90 to the
south. The northeast striking Santa Rita vein
intersects the Mercedes vein in an area known as
the Triangle and hosts significant sulphide
mineralisation. Numerous stockwork veinlets exist
within this area and sampling by previous workers
has shown the veinlets to be mineralised.
Montgomerys comments were that
Condoroma shows great potential not only in
respects to the definition and continued expansion
of the resources associated with the primary vein
system but in particular, in an area known as the
Triangle. The Triangle is an area of over 40,000 m
2
at the confluence of the Mercedes, Carmen and
Saint Rita veins. Here a stockwork has developed
and manganese oxides abound. Anomalous
trench results have been received from the area
and it has the potential to host a large volume
deposit.
12 International Mining OCTOBER 2008
HIGH PROFILE
Map showing the
detailed location of the
Peru projects and
highlighting the other
project countries of
Colombia and Guyane
Drilling underway in the mountains behind Titiribi in
Colombia.
South America
Condoroma
El Diablo
Suckuytambo
Titrib
Murindo
Acandi
HIGH PROFILE:proof 2/10/08 09:16 Page 3
In addition to the old Condoroma mine, there
is, nearby, the Cata and Cata Alto project, which
has had a reserve calculation estimate of 223,000 t
at 0.6 g/t Au, 120 g/t Ag, 1.49% Pb, 0.9% Cu
and 1.18% Zn. There is also known to be at least
1 Mt of 1% Cu ore in this concession, close to
Tintaya, which indicates a deep porphyry system.
Goldplata Colombia
Windy Knob Resources entered into a binding
terms sheet with De Biera to acquire its rights and
obligations to earn a 65% project interest in
GoldPlatas Titiribi project in the district of
Antioquia, northern Colombia. Windy Knob
completed all due diligence and gained
shareholder approvals for the agreement at a
general meeting of shareholders in April this year.
Goldplata will retain 35% of this project.
The Titiribi project consists of various
concessions in excess of 3,000 ha surrounding the
Titiribi township. It is an important historic gold-
silver producing region with a formal mining
history extending over at least 200 years. Historic
production is estimated at between 3 and 5 Moz
of gold and silver. At the turn of the century it was
the largest gold mine in Colombia and the two
companies Cia Minera Zancuro and Otra Mina
were the biggest employers (around 5,000 people)
in Colombia at the time. There are about 500,000 t
of slag dumps (containing palladium) at the old
smelter sites of Sitio Viejo (pictured) and Zavaletas.
Historically, mineralisation was mined from high-
grade Au-Ag replacement-like mantos and fault-
controlled veins contained within schists and
continental-marine sediments. But low-grade
mineralisation is widespread being found as auro-
argentiferous disseminations and replacements
within silici-clastic portions of the sedimentary
sequences, and as porphyry-style disseminations
and stockworks within hypabyssal intrusions. The
cluster of porphyritic rocks underlying the Cerro
Vetas, Cerro La Candela and Cerro Margarita areas
to the south and west of Titirib townsite has
received attention in recent years.
The Titirib mining district is about 70 km (1
hour) southwest of Medelln on the northwestern
margin of Colombias Central Cordillera. The
district has paved-road access to the town of
Titirib, from where numerous gravel roads traverse
the area and access many of the historic mining
and more recent exploration sites. Titirib is a
traditionally cultured, modern town of some
15,000 inhabitants that subsists on a mixed
agricultural (coffee, sugarcane, dairy cattle) and
smallscale coal mining economy. Full infrastructure
is available throughout the region.
From 1993 to 1998 La Muriel Mining Corp, fully
owned by Goldplata Mining International, re-
opened several old workings and ran extensive
geochemical and geophysical surveys which
prompted a joint venture with Gold Fields, which
conducted a 3,500 m drilling program that
delineated an Inferred resource of 200 Mt of 0.4 g/t
Au and 0.2% Cu. Gold Fields withdrew from this
project at the time because of the low metal prices.
In its July 2008 quarterly report, Windy Knob
stated that results from the drill program at Titiribi
confirm it to be a prospective target for large
tonnage, low grade copper-gold mineralisation
with significant intersections as follows:
CV004 374.8m @ 0.41g/t Au and 0.21% Cu
from 3 m
CV005 116.5m @ 0.54 g/t Au and 0.24% Cu
from surface
CV006 447m @ 0.44 g/t Au and 0.16 % Cu
from 3 m, including 167 m @ 0.78 g/t Au and
0.28% Cu from 283m.
The objective of the 2008 drill program at
Cerro Vetas is to deliver a JORC compliant
resource by the end of the year. The holes
noted above were from the completed Phase 1
Diamond Drill program of 1,500m with an
initial four holes drilled into the Cerro Vetas
porphyry.
During the quarter Windy Knob established a
Colombian based technical team and completed a
heli-bourne geophysical survey through an
agreement with Anglo Ashanti Colombia. A
remote sensing targeting review was conducted by
Earthscan that has identified various targets
including the Candela, Margerita and Porvenir
anomalies. Candela and Porvenir are potentially
bigger systems than first interpreted. Another
porphyry located to the southeast of Porvenir has,
potentially, been identified.
Murindo and Acandi
Local residents knew of the presence of copper
and gold in the low hills north of the Murindo
River, in the northeastern corner of Choco, for
centuries. However, it wasn't until 1975 that
INGEOMINAS, under a UN-sponsored program,
undertook the first formal, investigation of the
region. A comprehensive program of stream
sediment sampling, followed by soil and rock
sampling and preliminary mapping delineated
extensive areas north of the Murindo River, very
high in copper, molybdenum and, locally gold,
each ranging from 1 to 5 km
2
in size. Very little
rock was exposed.
In the mid-1990's Cyprus AMAX initiated
serious exploration of the area, aided by an
earthquake in the area in 1993, exposed
mineralisation. A comprehensive program of
geochemistry, geophysics and mapping further
delineated, expanded and defined the known
target areas and found a new zone south of the
river, lengthening the string of mineralised zones
to 15 km. Soil samples in the anomalies carried
from 300 to 4,200 ppm Cu and up to 700 ppm
Mo. Surface rock samples in 2 areas exceeded
1% Cu, up to 700 ppm Mo and 2.5 ppm Au,
with 37 rock samples from one 800 by 1,400 m
area averaging 0.94% Cu and 0.36 ppm Au.
In the flurry of takeovers of the late 1990s,
Phelps Dodge ended up with Murindo and in
2001, sold the prospect to Muriel Mining. Muriel
Mining then negotiated an agreement with a
major mining company, which is earning a 70%
interest in the property through work expenditures
and a series of payments. Muriel Mining will be
the operator and manage the forthcoming drilling
campaign programmed to start up at the end of
2008.
The Murindo copper prospects lie at 100 to 400
m on the eastern slopes of a small group of
mountains in northeastern Choco and
northwestern Antioquia. They are mostly north of
the town of Murindo, 165 km northwest of
Medellin. There is no road access and the deposits
occur in tribal areas of several indigenous groups,
with whom a socialisation program has been
HIGH PROFILE
14 International Mining OCTOBER 2008
Bell trucks are widely used at the mines in Guyane
HIGH PROFILE:proof 2/10/08 09:17 Page 4
agreed. The area is covered in intense vegetation,
and is very humid, averages 25C heat and is
subject to 3-9 m/y of precipitation. Subsistence
farming, hunting and logging are principal
occupations in the area.
The copper deposits lie on the western margin
of the Tertiary Age Mande Batholith and west of
the Murindo fault. Most of the mineralisation
seen to date occurs within quartz-diorites intruded
into Cretaceous and Jurassic clastic and volcanic
rocks, but hydrothermal alteration, intense
weathering and heavy vegetation have prevented
a complete unravelling of geologic relationships.
The highest copper-molybdenum grades are
found in zones of low-sulphide, potassic alteration
where chalcopyrite and bornite predominate. High
gold values are associated with quartz-magnetite
veinlets, also in the potassic zone. Broad areas of
phyllic alteration have been mapped, containing
pyrite, and chalcopyrite as the principal sulphide
species, with an unknown potential for supergene
enrichment.
So far, none of the prospects have been drilled,
but a drilling campaign is being planned for the
near future in one of the areas of high potential.
If results are positive, follow-up programs will
ensue, hopefully leading to major investments and
offer opportunities for local inhabitants to escape
the crushing poverty they live in and have a
chance to create a better future for their children.
Acandi is another copper-gold porphyry which is
close to the border with Panama. The project area
covers 40,000 ha and has been subject to several
studies in the past, identifying copper porphyry
targets and black sand resources. It is near the
town of Acandi (population some 8,000), in the
far northwest of Colombia and the southeast of
Panama. The town of Acandi is accessed by air
from Medellin or by boat from Turbo, Antioquia in
the Gulf of Uraba. The project is also close to
roads and rail links.
The project lies astride the Darien Cordillera
that separates Colombia from Panama and on
the Colombian side extends down to the
Caribbean coast. Geographically, it is
characterised by mountains of moderate height
and lower coastal plains and hills in a tropical
environment. General land use is mixed
agriculture or forests. Fishing in the Caribbean is
also a principal industry. Artisanal gold placer
mining is found in the headwaters of several of
the rivers within the project. It lies at altitudes
between 0 and 1,800 m above sea level.
The region around Acandi has historically been
an area of gold production, during colonial times.
In the last half of the 20th century several general
studies were made, including some sponsored by
the United Nations, looking at the precious, base
and ferrous metal mineralisation in the region.
Several targets of potential interest were identified
by these studies. Currently only small, artisanal
gold placer mining is active in the region.
The regional geology consists of island arcs
and accreted terraines of Upper Mesozoic to
Upper Tertiary ages with both hydrothermal
porphyry related mineralisation and
magmatic mineralisation. The local
formations include sedimentary, intrusive,
and volcanic rocks. The intrusives and
volcanics grade from ultabasic to acidic in
composition. Near and along the coast are
extensive alluvial and marine placer deposits
of Upper Tertiary to present ages. Deposit
types identified to date in the project area
include copper porphyries, auriferous veins
and placers, and littoral black sands. The
project has the potential to contain other
deposit types, including volcanogenic massive
sulphides, skarns, disseminated gold, and
chrome-nickel-platinum group deposits.
From the studies that have been made it is
interpreted that the Acandi project has a strong
potential at a grassroots level to host significant
mineral resources. Goldplata has completed a
regional geochemical stream sediment exploration
program run by Bellhaven Copper and Gold
(Panamas leading exploration company) and
determined more than a dozen targets for further
exploration.
Appropriately for this issue of International
Mining (which includes a feature on the global
mining services provided by Denver-based
companies) both Georges and Michel Juilland are
graduates of the Colorado School of Mines in
Golden. After managing the family-owned mines
in Peru with his brother, Michel joined an
American mining group and undertook many
exploration and mine development projects in
South America and Africa. Between 2001 and
2004, he was President and then Director
General of Guyanor Ressources (now Euro
Ressources). Between 2004 and 2008 he was
Director General of Auplata and is now dedicated
to starting Goldplata Resources Guyane, getting
the Peruvian operations into production and is
preparing to list Goldplata Mining International
on the AIM market in London, projected for the
first quarter 2009. Georges went on to work
with major mining companies in Central America,
including Rosario Resources and is now
responsible for running the three exploration
projects in Colombia. The brothers have also
developed projects in Ghana and Central
America. IM
HIGH PROFILE
16 International Mining OCTOBER 2008
The town of Titiribi in Colombia.
Behind the three hills in the
background lie three big anomalies
being drilled by Goldplata
Titiribi smelter 1905, when it was
the largest gold mine in Colombia
HIGH PROFILE:proof 2/10/08 09:17 Page 5