The agreement on the Merian project covers 25 years and the government will get 6% royalty, to be paid in gold.

CARACAS – Suriname’s National Assembly has approved a mineral agreement with U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corp and Alcoa Worldwide Alumina to develop the South American country’s Merian Gold Project.

The agreement covers 25 years and the government will get 6 percent royalty, to be paid in gold, lawmakers said after agreeing the bill late on Friday. Merian is about 40 miles (66 km) south of the town of Moengo and 19 miles (30 km) north of the Nassau Mountains.

The deal was reached a day after the government and another gold miner, Canada’s Iamgold Corp, signed an agreement to expand Suriname’s Rosebel gold mine and extend a partnership to develop it until 2042.

A sparsely populated former Dutch colony on the northeast shoulder of South America, Suriname produces gold and bauxite, which dominates the economy, and has a nascent oil industry.

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Suriname/Iamgold sign deal to expand Rosebel mine

The Rosebel gold mine in Suriname is one of Iamgold’s biggest, producing 385,000 ounces of gold in 2011.

Ank Kuipers – Reuters
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/content/en//mineweb-fast-news?oid=193459&...

7 June 2013

PARAMARIBO – Canadian miner Iamgold Corp and Suriname’s government signed a deal on Thursday to expand the South American country’s Rosebel gold mine and extend a partnership to develop it until 2042.

The mine is one of the Toronto-listed company’s biggest, producing 385,000 ounces of gold in 2011. No details were made public, but Iamgold had previously proposed a seven-year program that would cost around $185 million.

Steve Letwin, the company’s chief executive officer, told the ceremony the global gold mining business was facing falling prices and rising operating costs.

“Despite the challenges facing Rosebel, I have never been more confident … due to the strength of our partnership with the government,” he said, alongside President Desi Bouterse.

A sparsely populated former Dutch colony on the northeast shoulder of South America, Suriname produces gold and bauxite, which dominates the economy, and has a nascent oil industry.

On Friday, its National Assembly will continue discussing a draft law for a mineral agreement with U.S.-based Newmont Mining Corp to develop Suriname’s Merian Gold Project.