President of the GGDMA Patrick Harding said while the gold mining industry has grown from strength-to-strength; even recording significant production levels in 2013, it has been a year of mixed fortunes.
At the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Assoc-iation’s (GGDMA) annual Christmas dinner and dance held at the Pegasus Hotel on Wednesday night, Harding said the industry took a beating with the price of gold plummeting almost 50 per cent when compared with last year’s prices.
However, the association will press forward and the GGDMA plans to meet with President Donald Ramotar to map out a new course in this regard.
In his address, Ramotar heaped praised on the association for setting a new world record in gold production but noted that miners must ensure they discharge their civic duties by paying taxes as investments are continually being made in education and other areas to ensure that mining is done sustainably.
According to the Government Information Agency (GINA) the president was referring to statistics which revealed that gold output stood at 461,000 ounces, the highest production ever, surpassing a previous high level of 455, 918 ounces, recorded in 2001; which included the declarations of both Omai and small scale operators.
Ramotar suggested that the increased use of new technology aided the production increase. “The industry itself has a great future,” he said, adding that it must be further developed sustainably.
“The question of preserving our environment, preserving what we have, we also see that it has great benefit for our people, economical but, moreover it provides a service for the whole world as far as fighting climate change is concerned. We all know that climate change is upon us, and if we can make a contribution to slow it down and to reverse it, that is very important to us.”
Significantly though, Ramotar noted that mining is a finite operation and as such stakeholders must ensure that investment going into mining must also be used to develop human capital.
“I have mentioned on several occasions, several forums, that it [is] the quality of people that will ensure the quality and level of development of our country, and therefore, I would like to see more money going into developing the human capital, that means, I am asking you to also discharge your patriotic duty and ensure taxes are paid so that we provide education and the best quality of education for our people, so that they could go on and continue to build our country long after some of the resources would have been exhausted,” he said.
In his address, Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment Robert Persaud said the 2013 production speaks to the ‘resilience and commitment’ of the small and medium scale miners.
“There is absolutely nothing wrong in pointing out the challenges, and there are many challenges, and there are many issues in the mining industry that we will have to confront, because all is not well, but that is not to say that we must discount the success and the progress and misrepresent what is taking place in the industry,” he said, noting that around this time last year the ministry was dealing with a no-confidence vote in mining.
