The Ministry of Natural Resources will soon lay charges against Prospect-ing Licence (PL) and mineral property holders for violations and infringements of their agreements because of illegal subleasing unearthed during an enforcement exercise.
An official of the MNR told Stabroek News yesterday that because of security concerns and not to tip off miners, the ministry did not give the names of communities targeted and the dates they were checked. However, he said that similar exercises are planned and will commence soon.
“Investigations revealed several illegal mining operations were present on a property that was intended for only prospecting purposes. The commission has since been instructed to take necessary actions against the licence holder as provided under the Min-ing Act,” a release from the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission stated.
According to the release, the MNR and GGMC are continuing Operation Eldorado to crack down on illegal mining because of complaints from PL holders and others of raiding by illegal miners.
Teaming up with the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force and the Air Corps, the two bodies carried out a series of monitoring and enforcement exercises within the mining districts.
The GGMC is reminding PL and mineral property holders to be guided by the conditions as stipulated in their licences.
The release quotes Clause 1 of the Prospecting Licence Agreement which states “The Guyana Geo-logy and Mines Commis-sion under Section 30 of the Mining Act 1989, has granted the above mentioned tract of land for the purpose of prospecting for gold and valuable minerals but not to be worked for profit, to be given out to lessees or tributors, for a period of three years”.
