Following a meeting with President Donald Ramotar on Thursday, miners yesterday won assurances from the mines commission on two key recent demands: no bans on river mining or on the use of mercury.
Miners had ratcheted up the pressure on the government over these issues by declaring a vote of no-confidence in Minister of Natural Resources and Mining Robert Persaud and had vowed to step up action.
Their aggressive stance had followed a June announcement by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) that effective June 1, 2012 no application for river claims would be processed. Following an outcry by miners, the government later said that the prohibition of river claims was to last only one month to allow a review in light of reports of irresponsible mining. It is unclear what this review found. Similarly, on the question of mercury, the government had signalled in an answer to a question in Parliament that it was looking at alternatives to mercury in light of the looming 2013 ban on the use of the metal.
Yesterday, a joint statement from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the miners association said that the GGMC will start accepting applications for river claims from Monday and government has agreed that there will be no ban on river mining or the use of mercury in mining.
The Joint Statement by the ministry and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) following a meeting on Thursday with President Ramotar. The president caucused with the miners following an outcry over a moratorium on the processing of applications for river mining, which was prompted by complaints of extensive pollution of rivers including some used by indigenous communities for domestic purposes. Miners subsequently declared that they had no confidence Persaud and were planning further action to protest some decisions by the Ministry. The mining sector has gained increasing clout in the local economy as annual earnings from gold in recent years have been in excess of those from sugar and rice.
GGDMA President Patrick Harding, when contacted yesterday, said that they were satisfied with the outcome of the meeting “at this time.” He noted that they are to have further discussions with the Ministry and the GGMC and they are open to dialogue.
Questioned on whether any action that the GGDMA may have planned to protest some of the actions being taken, is off, Harding responded in the affirmative “for now” and noted that they are in dialogue on some of the issues.
The Thursday meeting between GGDMA executives accompanied by some leading miners and Ramotar at the Office of the President saw discussions on some contentious issues affecting the local gold and diamond mining industry. The miners’ delegation was led by Harding. Also present at the meeting were Persaud and Head of the Presidential Secretarial, Dr. Roger Luncheon.
The statement said that the GGDMA representatives expressed to the president, a number of issues that they feel are threatening the existence of the industry and sought a way forward that will allow the sector to continue to be productive. It said that the president and his team assured them of the government’s full support for the mining sector and committed to work in partnership to address current challenges.
The statement said that the issues discussed and agreed to included that there will not be a ban on the use of mercury and avenues will be explored for viable alternatives and that there will be no ban on river mining and no refusal to accepting monies from miners by the GGMC for river claims. GGMC will be accepting river claim applications from August 06, 2012, the statement added. These issues were among the most contentious for the mining industry.
It was also agreed that the issue of extensions of Amerindian lands into areas held by miners will be further discussed while Persaud will meet monthly with the GGDMA to discuss and resolve issues facing the industry. “The GGDMA also highlighted what it feels is a conflict of interest situation with Maj. Gen (rtd) Joe Singh who was described as an environmentalist and who it believes has taken some “anti-mining” positions,” the statement said.
Further, it stated that President Ramotar encouraged the mining community to work closely with the regulatory body and other stakeholders to ensure sustainable mining in Guyana. He extended an invitation to meet with the miners` representatives more often and it was agreed that monthly meetings between the GGDMA and the Minister will be scheduled to seek solutions in resolving issues and concerns affecting the local mining industry, the statement said.
Harding said that among the concessions won was another miners’ representative on the GGMC board of directors.
