PARAMARIBO – Late February, the School of Mining and Mineral Processing will start its first bachelor-level course in mercury-free gold mining in Snesi Kondre (Langa Tabiki). Twenty graduates of the secondary technical school NATIN and bachelor students of mining have already been selected for the six-month course. Construction of the school started in December last year and is expected to be finished late this month. The funds for the building and the school’s equipment were provided by gold mining multinational Iamgold. After finishing the course, the students will teach gold miners to use mercury-free methods. “If we don’t teach the workers in time to work without mercury, restructuring the gold sector is almost a waste of time. Mercury never breaks down, but keeps accumulating”, says John Courtar, who took over on Wednesday as the new chairman of the foundation Mining and Mineral Processing that runs the school. His predecessor Glenn Geerlings has resigned for health reasons. New technology will be taught on the mining school’s campus for introduction in the gold fields, and Courtar says students will gain mainly practical knowledge. Part of the training includes restoration of old mining areas through the use of special plants that can hold mercury and pioneer plants that can be the basis of new forest. The foundation plans to build campuses in Benzdorp and Brokopondocentrum. In December last year, the Suriname Environmental and Mining Foundation (SEMIF) and the School of Mining and Mineral Processing (SMMP) signed an agreement. SEMIF is a foundation that manages a fund which Iamgold is obliged to keep in gold with the Royal Canadian Mint of Canada. This fund is intended for the development of Suriname’s gold sector and now it is worth over US$ 12 million. The project in Snesi Kondre costs some US$ 244,000.
