-exports at US$282m
The gold sector saw 305,178 troy ounces being declared last year to the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) by small and medium scale miners which represented a 17.2 percent hike over the 2008 figure.
Last year’s declaration also exceeded the projection in the 2009 Budget which was 257,503 ounces.
However, the GGB sales on the local market remain a challenge and the GGB has pointed to the “existence of a strong parallel market” as a key reason for this.
The GGB says that the increase in declarations can be attributed “to further capitalization in the industry, supported by strong market prices.” According to the Board, during last year, prices recovered from a low of US$810 in January to a high of US $1218.25 in December. At the end of the year, the price of gold was US$ 1,104 per ounce.
Meanwhile, according to the Board, the value of gold exports for last year was US$281.68 million –US$255.19 million of which was by the GGB and US$26.49 million by licensed dealers. “This represents an increase of 38.41 percent over 2008”, the Gold Board says. According to the release the GGB returned US$243.86 million in foreign exchange, from overseas proceeds to the Central Bank for the account of the Finance Ministry.
The performance of gold has been improving in recent years, with actual production exceeding the budgetary projections. In 2008, budgeted production was 230,000 ounces while actual production was in excess of 260,000 ounces. In 2007 the budgeted gold production was 200,000 ounces while actual production reached 246,199 ounces.
However, the GGB said that local sales “remained a challenge with jewellers buying less than 500 troy ounces” from the Gold Board in 2009. “Indications are pointing to the existence of a strong parallel market which would have distorted the true production and declaration figures for gold in Guyana.”
