November 16, 2008, Guyana Chronicle Online.com,
Missing aircraft search area widens, by Sharief Khan,
November 17, 2008, Carib Daily,
News Crew may have perished - official,
November 17, 2008, The Quilt Rambler,
Update 18 on Missing Plane - keep praying!, by Karen E. Overton,
November 17, 2008, Kaieteur News,
Missing aircraft; Crew may have perished,
November 18, 2008, Kaieteur News,
Search called off for missing aircraft
November 21st, 2008, Canadaeast News Service,
Mom holds onto hope missing son will be found; Patrick Murphy, 20, missing after small plane crash in Guyana, by Adam Huras,
December 20, 2008, Kaieteur News,
Missing aircraft's possible crash site located,
January 10, 2009, Kaieteur News,
Search team to check new site for missing plane,
April 12, 2010, Guyana Chronicle,
Prometheus Resources (Guyana) Inc. estimates 50M pound uranium find in next three years …found 7M pounds in last three years, by Vanessa Narine,
April 13, 2010, Stabroek News,
Guyana could begin uranium exports by 2014; Canadian company emphasises environmental, worker safety,
April 17, 2010, Guyana Chronicle,
U308 Corp committed to following any leads; Main concern is finding closure for those affected,
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November 16, 2008, Guyana Chronicle Online.com,
Missing aircraft search area widens, by Sharief Khan,
THE search area has widened for the light survey aircraft that disappeared in the Mazaruni earlier this month but no sign of the missing plane has emerged, officials said yesterday.
Police and other officials are to check reports that miners and other persons heard the sound of an aircraft further northwest of where the aircraft was operating when it went missing, they said. Foot patrols mounted by a
Guyana Defense Force (GDF) Special Forces team backed by personnel from firms linked to the aircraft have been scouring an identified area surrounded by a mountain range.
Police are also checking with persons in Chi-Chi who said they heard the sound of an aircraft in the area around the time the plane went missing, an aviation official said.
Aiding the search are other light aircraft taking high resolution pictures of the area for detailed analysis, officials said. The Special Forces team was inserted into the area by helicopter Sunday and was joined by the others for a more detailed ground sweep within set boundaries,
Mr. Zulficar Mohamed, Director of the Guyana Civil Aviation Authority told the Sunday Chronicle.
The ground party is following lines, including creeks and valleys, parallel to the flight path of the aircraft while it was doing the survey, he said.
He said the area over which the aircraft was to have been doing the survey includes the Eping River gorge near the Mazaruni River, and two valleys between the Merume Mountains and the Tomasing Mountains.
He said the search has now been widened further northwest of this area.
Two Beechcraft aircrafts outfitted with specialised equipment, including heat-sensing cameras have done sweeps over the area with no sighting. The
United States-registered Beech King aircraft, registration number N87V, went missing while conducting geophysical surveys for uranium deposits.
A Rescue Coordination Centre has been established at the Control Tower at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.
On board the missing aircraft were Captain James Wesley Barker, 28, a U.S. citizen, First Officer Chris Parris, 23, also a U.S. citizen and
Geophysics Technician, and
Patrick Murphy, 20, a Canadian citizen.
The aircraft was chartered from
Dynamic Aviation Group Inc. by Terraquest Ltd to do the geophysical surveys on behalf of
Prometheus Resources (Guyana) Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Canadian uranium company, U308 Corp.
Prometheus has contracted a helicopter from Suriname to help in the search.
U3O8 Corp last September announced that the Guyana Government had granted Prometheus Resources Inc. a one-year extension on the company's reconnaissance permits for uranium exploration in Guyana.
The company said it contracted
Terraquest Limited, a specialist in airborne geophysics based in Markham, Ontario, to conduct a geophysical survey in the interior of Guyana under the permission of the Guyana authorities.
Terraquest contracted a twin-engine, turboprop Beechcraft King Air from Dynamic Aviation Inc. of Bridgewater, Virginia to undertake the airborne survey, it said in a statement received here.
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November 17, 2008, Carib Daily,
News Crew may have perished - official,
It’s been 15 heart-wrenching days since a U.S. twin-engine aircraft and its three-man crew disappeared over the Mazaruni jungle. It has also been a week since the search team picked up any signals from the plane's Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), and an official from one of the companies that are coordinating the search and rescue operation says that this may indicate that the crash victims have not survived their ordeal.
"The signal has not been heard since Monday, and this may be a sign that they have perished, and we now have to recover them," the official, who declined to be identified, told Kaieteur News yesterday.
"Even if you are optimistic, you also have to be pragmatic."
And Azad Khan, an official for Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., said that the team is still conducting its ground search in the area where the aircraft is believed to have crashed. "We are still conducting the ground search. We intend to search for the next month; we are in this for the long haul." He had suggested that the intermittent signals from the ELT could mean that a survivor was switching it on and off to conserve on battery power.
But search and rescue expert and veteran pilot Captain Gerry Gouveia believes that the time is “fast approaching” when the search will have to be called off.
"It's very difficult at this time (for the company with which they are employed). They are spending millions searching for these people. They don’t want to give up.
"I don't rule out the possibility of the crew being alive. People have been known to survive in harsh territory. "I don't believe in giving up, but…there comes a point when a decision has to be taken, and I believe that time is fast approaching. "My heart goes out to the people conducting the search, especially their friends. It is a heart-wrenching thing."
Captain Gouveia described the Mazaruni area where the ill-fated aircraft vanished as harsh territory, and said that any survivors would face several challenges. “The challenges are exposure to the elements, rain, being wet in the jungle most of the time, running out of supplies; and the biggest thing they may be running out of is hope, if you sense they have stopped searching for you.”
Captain Gouveia knows first hand the odds that the missing crew faces. In 1994, Gouveia was flying some eleven miles west of Timehri when he crashed. He spent 15 agonising hours, including nightfall, in the jungle, before he was finally rescued. “The night after they searched and could not find me and the place silent, I felt myself sinking into a state of depression. A sense of hopelessness swept over me, but I felt a burst of excitement the next day when I heard the planes overhead.
"I was very lucky. I was testimony to the fact that people can crash and survive."
However, others have not been so fortunate, and their bodies have never been found. He recalled that one pilot crashed in the Mazaruni jungle some two decades ago. Despite a massive air and land search by Civil Aviation Department and the army, he was never found. Another plane, with its pilot and about six European passengers, disappeared while flying between Anna Regina and Mount Roraima. A third disappeared while flying to Kaieteur.
The ill-fated twin-engine Beechcraft King Air disappeared two weeks ago while doing uranium survey work for Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., a subsidiary of U308 Corp. of Toronto. Those missing are pilot James Barker, First Officer Chris Paris, and Canadian technician Patrick Murphy.
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November 17, 2008, Kaieteur News,
Missing aircraft; Crew may have perished,
- official
It's been 15 heart-wrenching days since a U.S. twin-engine aircraft and its three-man crew disappeared over the Mazaruni jungle.
It has also been a week since the search team picked up any signals from the plane's Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT), and an official from one of the companies that are coordinating the search and rescue operation says that this may indicate that the crash victims have not survived their ordeal.
"The signal has not been heard since Monday, and this may be a sign that they have perished, and we now have to recover them,"
the official, who declined to be identified, told Kaieteur News yesterday.
"Even if you are optimistic, you also have to be pragmatic."
And
Azad Khan, an
official for Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., said that the team is still conducting its ground search in the area where the aircraft is believed to have crashed.
"We are still conducting the ground search. We intend to search for the next month; we are in this for the long haul."
He had suggested that the intermittent signals from the ELT could mean that a survivor was switching it on and off to conserve on battery power.
But search and
rescue expert and veteran pilot Captain Gerry Gouveia believes that the time is "fast approaching" when the search will have to be called off.
"It's very difficult at this time (for the company with which they are employed). They are spending millions searching for these people. They don't want to give up.
"I don't rule out the possibility of the crew being alive. People have been known to survive in harsh territory.
"I don't believe in giving up, but…there comes a point when a decision has to be taken, and I believe that time is fast approaching.
"My heart goes out to the people conducting the search, especially their friends. It is a heart-wrenching thing."
Captain Gouveia described the Mazaruni area where the ill-fated aircraft vanished as harsh territory, and said that any survivors would face several challenges.
"The challenges are exposure to the elements, rain, being wet in the jungle most of the time, running out of supplies; and the biggest thing they may be running out of is hope, if you sense they have stopped searching for you."
Captain Gouveia knows first hand the odds that the missing crew faces.
In 1994, Gouveia was flying some eleven miles west of Timehri when he crashed.
He spent 15 agonising hours, including nightfall, in the jungle, before he was finally rescued.
"The night after they searched and could not find me and the place silent, I felt myself sinking into a state of depression. A sense of hopelessness swept over me, but I felt a burst of excitement the next day when I heard the planes overhead.
"I was very lucky. I was testimony to the fact that people can crash and survive."
However, others have not been so fortunate, and their bodies have never been found.
He recalled that one pilot crashed in the Mazaruni jungle some two decades ago.
Despite a massive air and land search by Civil Aviation Department and the army, he was never found.
Another plane, with its pilot and about six European passengers, disappeared while flying between Anna Regina and Mount Roraima.
A third disappeared while flying to Kaieteur.
The ill-fated twin-engine Beechcraft King Air disappeared two weeks ago while doing uranium survey work for
Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., a subsidiary of U308 Corp. of Toronto.
Those missing are
pilot James Barker, First Officer Chris Paris, and
Canadian technician Patrick Murphy.
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November 18, 2008, Kaieteur News,
Search called off for missing aircraft
Crew believed dead – Minister Robeson Benn
The two-week search for the missing US aircraft has been called off, and the three passengers that were on board are now presumed dead.
Minister of Transport, Works and Communication, Robeson Benn, made the grim announcement yesterday while expressing condolences to the men’s families and stating that the Government had done all that it could to locate the victims.
“As difficult as it may seem, we have expended all the resources, the time and the effort that we could at this stage. There is nothing more that we can do,” Benn told journalists during a press conference. "We aren't in a position to recover them. We have no specific knowledge of their whereabouts.
“That is distressing in itself, but I want to assure the public, the organisations concerned, and the families of the occupants of the aircraft that we have done everything that we could under the circumstances, and that our thoughts and hopes and best wishes are with them. “The basis of our calling off the search is that we believe that they have perished.”
Missing and presumed dead are
US pilot James Barker, First Officer Chris Paris, also from the US, and
Canadian technician Patrick Murphy.
A statement issued to journalists following the press conference stated that the search was "the longest and most intense" search for a missing aircraft over the last 20 years, "using such a large diverse collection of resources."
Minister Benn disclosed that an investigation will be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the mishap.
Kaieteur News understands that a decision to discontinue the search was made since Saturday, and the search and rescue centre that was set up was closed.
However, spokesman for
Prometheus International, Shazadh Khan, told Kaieteur News yesterday that the company is not abandoning the search.
"We are going to cut 'lines' (trails) and search the survey area. We will continue for a month. Whatever we find, we will bring out." Benn said that there were 200 hours of aerial search that covered some 28,260 miles.
During the press conference, Minister Benn repeatedly stated that the search team did everything it could. "I'd say that everything that we did, we can do better. We have procedures which are internationally mandated, which we have been following."
Benn also said that, despite having sophisticated equipment, the team was unable to locate the missing aircraft, since the ELT signals they were picking up were 'bouncing around.' "An expert came down with sophisticated equipment and he could not locate the specific area."
He confirmed that the search began at around 09:00 hrs the day after the plane went missing, but explained that weather conditions prevented the search aircraft from venturing to the area sooner. "There was no flight out of the GDF helicopter that evening (when the plane disappeared).
"There were issues of range and weather, and I think that it would have been unconscionable at the time, our knowing the terrain in which they had to fly, the time of day, it would have been risky for them to go out."
However, the pilots of two planes that were in the area at the time were asked to try to make contact with the missing aircraft.
In the meantime, the skytrack information was being examined, and the
US Mission Command Centre was being asked for any signals and information with respect to this kind of problem. At some time around midday, the choppers were over the area.
"The difficulty was that we had no firm location and we had the issue of the weather yesterday."
According to the statement issued to journalists, while the search for information was being conducted, GCAA personnel along with the GDF, British Military, Terraquest and local aircraft operators began planning for search and rescue mission.
The two British Lynx helicopters, a fixed-wing aircraft, and GDF Special Forces were put on standby.
However,
due to the absence of an ELT signal, the nature of the terrain, a poor weather report in that area, and other logistics, it was considered unsafe to launch a search on the night of November 1.
The search commenced with eight aircraft — two Britten Norman Islanders, one Skyvan, two Lynx helicopters, one Piper Cherokee, one Piper Navajo, one Cessna 172, personnel from GCAA Air Corps and Special Forces, Guyana Police Force, British Military, private operators and flight crew.
The search area was sectorised, and each aircraft carried out a systematic search within its assigned grid. A total of 33.73 hours in aerial search was completed for this day.
On Monday November 3,
Dynamic Aviation Beech King Air joined the aerial search. A total of six aircraft continued aerial search in areas assigned.
The aerial search continued with the additional resources, including helicopters, two Beech King Air and electronic equipment (thermal heating infrared camera, day camera, direction-finding device GPS) from Dynamic Aviation.
Ground searches commenced in tandem with aerial searches in identified areas of interest. Information received from residents, miners, observers flight crews etc, were verified, and search crews were updated accordingly.
After nine days of intense aerial search using specialised equipment, there had been no positive sighting of the aircraft, and helicopters and other resources were placed on standby.
"After a total of approximately 200 hours and 28,260 miles of aerial searching, with no sighting of the missing aircraft, it was decided that the search will be continued using ground patrols only. "Other reports received are being investigated by ground patrols."
Helicopters and other resources continue to be on standby in the event of a positive sighting of the aircraft,” the statement said.
The
Beech King Air N87V, chartered from Dynamic Aviation Group Inc by
Terraques Ltd,
disappeared on November 1 while conducting geographical surveys in the Mazaruni area.
The aircraft, with fuel for five and one half-hours, was scheduled to operate in the Chi Chi-Imbaimadai area for approximately four and one-half hours before returning to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
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December 20, 2008, Kaieteur News,
Missing aircraft's possible crash site located,
One month after the search for the aircraft that went missing in the Mazaruni was ended, pilots believe that they have found the crash site.
Yesterday, one of the more
prominent domestic pilots in Guyana, Capt Gerry Gouveia, in a conversation with
a former local pilot, Miles Williams,
who currently resides in Florida, USA, spoke about a number of pilots examining the hundreds of photographs they took during the extensive search of the Mazaruni.
They believe that, after scrutinizing these aerial photos of the area, they have identified what is possibly the tail of the Beech King aircraft plane protruding from amongst some trees in the jungle.
The aircraft was plotting potential mineral deposits at the time of the crash. It was reportedly near the escarpment in the Middle Mazaruni, and often flew over the escarpment to plot turns, since it was "flying lines."
One reason for the crash was that the pilot apparently was taken by surprise at the elevation of the escarpment, which borders the Middle and Upper Mazaruni. Capt Gouveia suggests that the pilot underestimated the steepness of the escarpment and was forced to climb faster than he actually could, and the aircraft stalled, then dived down into the dense vegetation.
He noted that the aircraft might have plummeted vertically, nose first, hence the failure to create any significant clearance in the vegetation and so make the crash site easily visible.
Although the locally-organised air and ground search was halted,
Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc. continued flying, taking aerial pictures which were later posted online and scrutinized by a barrage of pilots.
The sight of the possible tail section has prompted local pilots to fly into the coordinates where the tail is believed to have been spotted, to make visual contact. This could be done today, Capt Gouveia said.
The
Beech King Air N87V, chartered from Dynamic Aviation Group Inc by Terraques Ltd, disappeared on November 1 while conducting geographical surveys in the Mazaruni area.
Missing and presumed dead are
US pilot James Barker, First Officer Chris Paris, also from the US, and
Canadian technician Patrick Murphy.
When the search for the missing US aircraft was called off,
Minister of Transport, Works and Communication, Robeson Benn, had expressed condolences to the men’s families and stated that the Government had done all that it could to locate the victims.
"As difficult as it may seem, we have expended all the resources, the time and the effort that we could at this stage.
There is nothing more that we can do," Benn told journalists during a press conference. "We aren't in a position to recover them. We have no specific knowledge of their whereabouts.
“That is distressing in itself, but I want to assure the public, the organisations concerned, and the families of the occupants of the aircraft that we have done everything that we could under the circumstances, and that our thoughts and hopes and best wishes are with them.”
Minister Benn had disclosed that an investigation will be conducted into the circumstances surrounding the mishap.
Following the announcement by Benn,
spokesman for Prometheus International, Shazadh Khan, told Kaieteur News that the company was not abandoning the search.
"We are going to cut 'lines' (trails) and search the survey area. We will continue for a month.
Whatever we find, we will bring out." Benn said that there were 200 hours of aerial search that covered some 28,260 miles.
The aircraft, with fuel for five and one half-hours, was scheduled to operate in the Chi Chi-Imbaimadai area for approximately four and one-half hours before returning to the Cheddi Jagan International Airport.
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November 21st, 2008, Canadaeast News Service,
Mom holds onto hope missing son will be found; Patrick Murphy, 20, missing after small plane crash in Guyana, by Adam Huras,
The mother of a young Bathurst man is holding onto hope that her 20-year-old son will be rescued alive more than two weeks after the plane he was aboard went missing over the jungles of Guyana.
Patrick Murphy, a recent electrical engineering technology graduate of NBCC Moncton, was one of three men on board a US chartered aircraft which disappeared over dense Amazonian forest Nov. 2.
Murphy, an employee of Ontario-based Terraquest Ltd., was conducting geophysical surveys for Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc., when the twin-engine Beechcraft King Air plane he was on was last heard from.
"We just want to remain positive; we want people to continue their prayers because we truly believe that, through God, all things are possible," said Wendy Murphy, Patrick's mother. "We are waiting for them all to come home."
"What we are going through is very private, but it is very, very, very much appreciated -- all the prayers that are being given for the retrieval of all three boys."
Also on board were Americans James Wesley Barker, 28, and Chris Paris, 23, the captain and first officers of the plane.
Hope of their rescue appeared to narrow earlier this week when Guyana Civil Aviation suspended its search for the aircraft. Some 200 hours and 28,260 miles of aerial searching with no sighting of the plane prompted the government to end efforts. Guyana's Transportation Minister Robeson Benn said government teams had unsuccessfully scoured mountainous forests near the Venezuelan border.
But Dynamic Aviation, owners of the lost aircraft, and Terraquest Ltd. have now vowed to continue searching with no end date in sight. Steve Barrie, general manager of Terraquest said the search is continuing on the ground and in the air exploring "areas of interest," but did not elaborate on what that meant.
Murphy said knowledge that the search continues and other details not released publicly, amounts to the possibility of her son's safe return.
"There are a lot of details that you guys (the media) may not be privy to," Murphy said. "The Guyanese government has stopped their search, that's public knowledge, but the search continues regardless of the Guyanese government's involvement."
Search efforts were continuing as of yesterday.
Errol Persaud, department head of NBCC Moncton's engineering technology department, said Murphy's alma mater remains positive of his safe return home. Born in Guyana himself, Persaud said the Amazonian forest presents the capabilities for survival.
"The way the canopy is built down there, basically what happens is you have these tall trees and when an aircraft drops in, trees sort of open up and then closes up," Persaud said. "It's difficult to locate anything but, you know, if they survived the crash, there are plenty of things to eat, plenty of vegetation and it doesn't freeze at night like here."
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January 10, 2009, Kaieteur News,
Search team to check new site for missing plane,
Prometheus Resources Guyana Inc. is mobilizing a team to conduct ground searches at Eping, Cuyuni/Mazaruni, after aerial photographs indicated that the Beech King Air plane which went missing last year may have crashed there.
Company official Shazadh Khan told Kaieteur News yesterday that the team is expected to reach the area by Monday.
According to the official, the search party will be operating in extremely harsh terrain and in inclement weather.
He said that the persons who are perusing the photographs identified three other areas where the plane may have crashed.
However, the Eping area is the most promising one, since the army's Special Forces ranks had searched the other locations "back and forth" and found nothing.
Mr. Khan explained that the four sites were identified by members of
the recently-established organization InternetSAR.org.
This US-founded organization enlists the help of volunteers who log on over the Internet and download aerial photographs from the search areas.
The volunteers then scan the image looking for signs of the missing airplane.
Volunteers from InternetSAR.org had assisted in the search for
missing US millionaire Steve Fossett, who perished on September 3, 2007 while flying his private plane over the Nevada Desert.
Khan said that other aviation experts are still examining
LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) images which were recorded by a US plane that flew over the Mazaruni area last year.
The search had appeared to have ended in late December, when aerial photographs had appeared to show part of the Beechcraft plane protruding from trees in the Middle Mazaruni area.
However, this turned out to be a tree limb.
The almost two-month search had offered several leads in the quest to locate the missing plane. Several other promising leads have yielded nothing.
The Beech King Air N87V, chartered from Dynamic Aviation Group Inc by Terraques Ltd,
disappeared on November 1 last while conducting geographical surveys in the Mazaruni area.
Missing and presumed dead are
US pilot James Barker, First Officer Chris Paris, also from the US, and Canadian technician Patrick Murphy.
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April 13, 2010, Stabroek News,
Guyana could begin uranium exports by 2014; Canadian company emphasises environmental, worker safety,
Guyana may soon be one of the world’s uranium suppliers if a Canada-based company finds at least 50 million pounds of the radioactive material in Region Eight, a spokeswoman for the company said yesterday.
Nancy Chand-Palmateer, Vice President for Investor Relations of U308, also assured that the local subsidiary, Prometheus (Guyana) Inc. was conducting exploratory work in accordance with international safety standards.
U308 and Prometheus, which both came to prominence two years ago when an American survey plane disappeared with experts and crew aboard, reported that the company discovered probable traces of the metallic chemical, estimated at 7 million pounds, through surveys conducted at the Kurupung/Aricheng area in the Cuyuni/Mazaruni earlier this year. The company said it has so far spent CDN$20 million on exploratory work here.
Ongoing exploration in the area indicates that the Kurupung Batholith could host 50 million pounds of uranium and to date Prometheus has identified five uranium-bearing structures with potential growth. Mineralisation in the area by the company encompasses drilling activities with the maximum depths utilised being in the vicinity of 200 feet.
Concerns were raised several months ago in the Stabroek News‘ letter columns about the environmental safety during mining of the radioactive material. But Chand-Palmateer told Stabroek News that the company was ensuring the safety of workers and the local environment as the company sought to start its operations here “on the right foot.”
She stated that of all mining activities, uranium exploration is one of the safest, in which the parties involved must comply with stringent environmental, safety and occupational health standards which are increasingly governed by international standards and external audits. At the same time, a government-held bond as security for estimated cost of rehabilitation of the environment is also of paramount importance and is on the agenda of the company.
Employees work in a safe and healthy environment, she stated, with protective measures such as frequent malaria tests for employees, use of worker radiation monitoring devices and protective gear by employees as well as contamination control measures and monitoring being utilised.
While it carries out its activities in the Aricheng/ Kurupung area, Prometheus has been working in tandem with the Amerindian Affairs Ministry as regards the interest of the communities/locals in the area and to date 80% of the company’s employees are Guyanese, with 65% of them being from Amerindian communities.
U308 has been exploring uranium projects in the Roraima Basin in Region 8, and at Kurupung in the Cuyuni, for the naturally radioactive metal since 2007. The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has granted exploratory rights to the company for a total of 1 million hectares.
If the company strikes the potential 50 million pound mark through additional field work including drilling, it intends to expand its operations here, in accordance with the mining regulations, conduct feasibility studies, undertake environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and outline its mine plan for the area. After that, Prometheus (Guyana) Inc. will apply to GGMC for a mining license to commence mining of uranium in 2014, eventually making Guyana an exporter of the energy-source in compliance with United Nations (UN) protocols.
Prometheus predicts that in another three years, the expected demand for nuclear power worldwide is expected to climb with demand perceived at that time to outweigh supply.
The company is currently in its growing stage and it is working towards achieving the goal of providing uranium to the world market through “mining in a peaceful environment,” said Chand-Palmateer.
She said the world’s growing demand for clean and safe nuclear power is projected to double by 2030. Further, global demands to reduce greenhouse gases due to global warming concerns are also among the reasons Prometheus is hoping to build its reputation as a competent uranium provider to the international market.
Chand-Palmateer said that with U308’s acquisition of the Australian company Mega Uranium Limited’s South American uranium properties, funds from that deal are currently being channelled towards Prometheus exploration activities here. The company holds CDN$8M on its balance sheet to advance resource expansion and exploration activities locally.
She explained that the Kurupung/Aricheng and Roraima projects are being separately administered by the company, with the difference at the two locations being the type of uranium present at each location. At Kurupung, the project termed the “Kurupung Batholith,” albitite-hosted uranium-bearing structures are being analysed, while at the Roraima Basin, an area west of Guyana which expands into Venezuela and Brazil, unconformity-related uranium is being examined.
Chand-Palmateer said that the Kurupung project seems more viable, and Prometheus has been capitalising on studies conducted in the area by French company Areva, which were undertaken in the 1980s. Areva is one of the largest providers of nuclear energy resources on the world market. She elaborated that the 7 million pound initial resource find in the area was complimented through compliance with NI 43-101 standards, the internationally accepted benchmark for the presence of uranium and characteristic of the resource typically in the 50 million to130 million pound range.
In the Roraima Basin, Chand-Palmateer stated that uranium target structures there are similar to the Athabasca Basin in Canada, which contains one third of the world’s uranium reserves.
The company has been working with another company which carried out exploration exercise for gold in the area recently. Prometheus plans to drill target areas in the area sometime this year as it explore the area.
As regards the company and its ability to undertake projects of this magnitude, Chand-Palmateer said that U308 was formulated via inputs from proven professionals.
Its board comprises three administrators of Mega Uranium, three from U308 and others subject to shareholder approval among others. Locally, the subsidiary is headed by Shazadh Khan, who has some 10 years experience in mineral exploration projects.
From an economic standpoint, the company has been contributing to the communities in the area, including schools, tools, generators, mechanical assistance as well as training in the field of information technology and it has provided sponsorship to some 11 persons to pursue studies in the field of geology at the University of Guyana.
U308 operations are South American based, with similar projects being undertaken in Colombia and Argentina, the latter economy has been utilizing nuclear energy as the government there allocated funding to expand its nuclear program recently.
In Colombia, significant quantities of uranium have been identified but analyses are to be conducted by external bodies to verify same.
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April 17, 2010, Guyana Chronicle,
U308 Corp committed to following any leads; Main concern is finding closure for those affected,
TWENTY-eight-year old Captain James Wesley Barker, 23-year-old First Officer Chris Paris, and Patrick Murphy, a Geophysics technician; unfamiliar names for most people, but not for the families who wait for some absolution to come their way.
Caption: Captain James Wesley Barker First Officer Chris Paris Patrick Murphy, Geophysics technician
In a recent interview with
Vice President, Investor Relations, Ms. Nancy Chan-Palmateer of
The Uranium Discovery Company - U308 Corp, she made it clear that were there any leads to surface the company would pursue these in the interests of the missing men.
On November 2, 2008 an aircraft that was undertaking a geophysical survey for
Prometheus Resources (Guyana) Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of
U3O8 Corp., was reported missing in Guyana with three people on board.
Palmateer recalled that the last communication from the aircraft was on Saturday, November 1, 2008. Reports were that the last contact was made with the Control Tower at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA), Timehri, at 3:06 pm that day to report the commencement of normal operations over the survey area. The aircraft departed Timehri at 2:14 pm on November 1st.
Search and rescue efforts were led by the
Guyana Civil Aviation Authority and assisted by members of the
British Royal Air Force,
who were in the area on a training mission.
According to U3O8 Corp.,
Terraquest Limited, a specialist in airborne geophysics based in Markham, Ontario, was contracted to conduct a geophysical survey in the Region One (Barima/ Waini) area of Guyana under the permission of the local authorities.
Terraquest contracted a
twin-engine, turboprop Beechcraft King Air from Dynamic Aviation Inc. of Bridgewater, Virginia to undertake the airborne survey.
The Pilot and First Officer are American citizens working with Dynamic Aviation, and the third person is an airborne geophysical operator with Terraquest from Canada.
Four fixed-wing aircrafts and two helicopters, including a plane and crew from Dynamic Aviation, were involved in the search and rescue operations, but nothing was ever found.
In addition, U3O8 Corp. had two field teams in the survey area to provide ground support as required.
The twin-engine aircraft, coloured in white with red stripes, was expected to return at around 6:15 on the day it disappeared.
Hope
Mr. Shazadh Khan, Officer Manager/ Project Management Consultant with the local subsidiary of U308 Corp – Prometheus Resources, said, in an invited comment, that at present the hope that burns is for badly-needed closure.
"We are waiting for something concrete, a sighting from a pork-knocker or so. We do not want to go on a wild goose chase, but what we do want is closure. Closure is very important," he said.
Khan explained that, for those affected by this tragedy, some amount of closure will serve to disperse the dark cloud that shadows their lives.
He said,
"We are not saying this for the sake of saying it. We are committed to this effort."
Khan affirmed that monies have been set aside in the Company's budget to facilitate any search operation.
"We are hoping for some closure," he reiterated, "not only for the families and friends of the men that have disappeared, but for the Company too."
Khan recalled that there have been other incidents of aircrafts going missing in the same region, but maintained that technology has moved a far way since then and so what was not possible then can be so now.
"The canopy has met a match with today's technology," he opined.
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April 12, 2010, Guyana Chronicle,
Prometheus Resources (Guyana) Inc. estimates 50M pound uranium find in next three years …found 7M pounds in last three years, by Vanessa Narine,
SEVEN million pounds of uranium, in the last three years, have been found in Guyana, and the exploration company Prometheus Resources (Guyana) Incorporated is estimating a 50 million find within the next three years. In an interview with the Vice President, Investor Relations, Ms. Nancy Chan-Palmateer, from the parent company,The Uranium Discovery Company U308 Corp, she said, “The investment is worth it because seven million pounds is the tip of the iceberg…we are at the beginning of a potential 50 million find.”
The uranium has been found in Kurupung, Region One (Barima / Waini), and according to the Vice President, drilling for the first targets has commenced in the Roraima Basin, Region Seven (Cuyuni/ Mazaruni).
“Apart from the 50 million pounds that we are expecting from Kurupung, the Roraima Basin has the potential to be a home run,” she opined.
Chan-Palmateer noted that U308 Corp, listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange, had been able to raise CDN$30M at the start of its operations and since then has invested an additional CDN$20M.
However, before making the investment, the Vice President said major checkmarks that needed to be considered included government’s position on mining and the jurisdiction stipulations.
“We have confirmed the seven million pound deposit and have identified six other structures, but we have not drilled sufficiently enough. It would take us another two to three years to reach the 50 million pound target,” she said.
After that, she pointed out, an independent estimator will come in to verify the work done by Prometheus Resources.
Chan-Palmateer highlighted that Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, with responsibility for mining in Guyana, visited the operation in Kurupung, and this is an indication of the potential of Prometheus Resources’ work.
Responsibilities
The Vice President made it clear that in conducting uranium exploration, responsible operations is factored in with the aim being sustainable development.
She explained that relative to employees, a safe and healthy working environment is of utmost importance.
Among the protective measures, she pointed, out are successful malaria control, worker radiation monitoring devices, protective gear and contamination controls and monitoring.
Chan-Palmateer added that the creation of tangible, long-term benefits is another area of focus that will benefit the local communities in areas of exploration.
She said 80 per cent of employees are from Guyana, 65 per cent of whom are Amerindians.
Contributions to the community, according to her, include school supplies, tools, generators, solar panels, mechanical assistance and computer training.
"A big way of giving back is the scholarship programme we sponsor to the University of Guyana for the Geology Degree Programme…This is their third year now, so we have about nine persons at the University," she said.
In her view, establishing early communication and relationships with the local communities in the exploration areas is important.
Chan-Palmateer noted too that her company is committed to environmentally responsible exploration and is aiming to minimize their carbon footprint by using and improving on exploration roads and limiting disturbance around new drill pads.
“We even have our own vegetable farm at the camp. The extra we have goes to the local community,” she said.
The rewards of the exploration activity, she said, are twofold: the locals benefit from enhanced opportunities, and the company benefits from its efforts.
“At the end of the day, our investors, our shareholders, want to see value in the investment that they have made. They want to see appreciation in the share prices…If we are able to make an investment that is economic, it would be the first uranium discovery in Guyana, a potential source of revenue for the state...There are good benefits,” she said.
However, the Vice President acknowledged that it has not been a completely smooth road. Rather there have been “hiccups” involving the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Chan-Palmateer termed these "operational" difficulties.
Regardless she said, “We are on to something potentially significant and are at a stage where we are making progress.”
The Vice President posited that her organisation is committed to exploration for uranium for the long run.
U308 Corporation is described on its website as a Canadian junior mineral exploration company based in Toronto, Canada.
The company is currently focused on uranium exploration in Guyana, with its primary business objective being to acquire and explore, with the intent of developing, mineral resource properties.
To date, its subsidiary, Prometheus Resources (Guyana) Inc, has been granted two Reconnaissance Permits, the CM Permit (Permit A) and the PMCR Permit (Permit B), by the Guyana Geological and Mines Commission (GGMC), to conduct geological and geophysical surveys on adjacent lands covering an area of approximately 1.33 million hectares in western Guyana.
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