The mining industry is heading to stricter environmental controls and miners are concerned about the future of the sector even as gold production continues to be strong.
This was underscored when the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) held its final members’ meeting of the year at Zoom Inn on Monday. New environmental regulations are expected to take effect shortly. Members of the association raised their concerns with Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, who has responsibility for mining, and Commis-sioner of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) William Woolford.
In his address, Hinds said environmental issues were top among the challenges facing the industry. In raising this topic, he said “mining will have to pay the cost of surface rights before it proceeds,” adding that the previous practices of gold mining will have to end and in the future adequate funds for the restoration of land after mining will be a requirement when applying for licences. Pointing to the current high price of gold on the international market, he urged the miners to form a “mining bank”.
Executive Secretary of the GGDMA Edward Shields had stated that in terms of production, the industry has “done magnificently” this year and Woolford revealed that gold production continues to be strong and as of last Sunday 231,364 ounces of gold had been declared.
Shields lamented though that the achievements of the industry were not highlighted. Stating that in some other sectors such achievements were trumpeted, he said he had hoped that a release “about what gold has done for the country this year” would be issued. He said that the GGMC had been “too silent”. He asserted that for years the association had been asking the government to do a study of the economic impact of gold mining in Guyana and the GGDMA was concerned that “the facts are not getting out there”.
Woolford in his remarks stated that internationally “as a mining country we continue to have a strong showing”. He took the opportunity to remind the miners that community consent for mining as well as environmentally sound mining practices were here to stay. Alluding to the provision of two environmental officers to be funded by the commission for monitoring mining operations, he said the GGMC was pushing for the industry to adopt strong self-regulatory practices.
Meanwhile, in an interactive session with the miners present, one member stated that the writing was on the wall for some miners with the concerns for the environment and restoration of mined areas. The miner, Charles De Freitas, said that an Environmental Monitoring Committee within the GGMC should be established and there should be some incentive for miners doing restoration as “restoration does not come cheap”.
Grey areas
Another miner, Carl Baldeo, referring to President Bharrat Jagdeo’s pledge of Guyana’s forests in the fight against global warming said the first question of concern to miners is the impact it would have on them and whether they would be allowed to continue, “what we are doing”. He said there were “so many grey areas” and asked whether mining zones in the country were going to be excluded. He declared that miners were not consulted.
In response, Hinds said that the environmental requirements for mining would be at higher levels and more tightly enforced.
Baldeo asserted that many of the miners would not be able to meet these costs, as mining was capital intensive. He said the government made decisions overnight and the miners were not being kept informed and this was worrying. Shields, in supporting this, said, “we are learning about things through the newspapers or when they are already approved”.
Baldeo also advocated an Environmental Reclamation Unit within the GGMC, which “could go a great way to help the industry”. He said that the GGMC had its coffers full and could restore these areas.
Hinds retorted, “restoration must be recognized as a cost of production”. He said the government was not proffering termination of economic activity but continuation with minimal impact and the general trend is towards reduced levels of environmental impact.
One speaker proposed that the association present a paper to the government expressing its concerns and “things we would like to see in a possible agreement”.
Another miner referring to the “environmental issue” declared “it would impoverish a lot of people in developing countries” prompting the Prime Minister to assert that he would not accept that declaration. The miner declared that some incentives should be provided from the government for miners willing to diversify as “the door is being closed, it’s just a matter of time.” He said that there was a lot of talk of good years and good prices but the industry “could do a little better with a more proactive approach from our minister”.
Another speaker said that while the PM was doing a “great job”, the miners are in the dark with the “greenhouse promise that our president has made. We are not being consulted, we are not being communicated with and it is really affecting the mining industry.”
On the issue of mining blocks being auctioned off, he said the average miner was not able to bid and therefore there would be “landlordism and so forth.”
A diamond miner pointed out that some 18,000 carats of diamonds were detained by the GGMC recently and called for a level playing field. Another stated that there were no buyers for diamonds in Guyana because diamonds took a long time to be certified. He said that there were not enough mines’ officers in the field to sign the papers and complained that he had some diamonds sealed up for over a month and he was not getting any money as a result. “We have a problem with diamonds and the Kimberly process,” he said. The Kimberly process certifies that the diamonds are not so-called blood diamonds from conflict zones.
Hinds responded, “I can see there is a problem between diamonds and Kimberly management” and maybe there would have to be consultations with the “Kimberly people”.
Meanwhile, reading a message from President of the Association Alfro Alphonso, Vice-President Norman McLean related some of the GGDMA’s accomplishments for this year. These included the acquiring of a property for the construction of a building for the association and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding related to the use of hinterland roads.
At the conclusion of the meeting, it was stated that with the concerns raised there was need for a more formal meeting with the government and it was agreed that this would be done. (Gaulbert Sutherland)
