China is to help Guyana with the mapping of its mineral resources, it was announced today by the Ministry of Natural Resources.
The announcement will be greeted with some concern considering the view that China’s overriding interests in such assistance is to pave the way for these resources to be mined largely for its economy and not always under environmentally conscious standards.
A release today from the ministry said that Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud participated at the 2014 China Mining Conference and Exposition at the invitation of the Minister of Land and Resources of the People’s Republic of China, Jiang Daming.
The release said that during his presentation at the Mining conference, Persaud stated that Guyana encourages green mining and investments that are environmentally safe and sustainable. He said this is guided by policies and programmes that are aimed at maximizing the benefits of the extractive sector. The release said that he cautioned that all investors must adhere to the various Acts and Regulations governing the mining sector and respect the laws of Guyana.
Persaud pointed out that numerous opportunities exist for investment in the mining sector, but investors have to comply with “strict environmental guidelines which are being enforced by several regulatory government agencies.”
As a result of Guyana’s participation at this global event, the release said that China Geological Survey has committed to assisting the government here to undertake a “mineral property assessment to gather geological data as vast (tracts) of land have not been geologically mapped.”
The release added that it must be recalled that major stakeholders within the sector have been making “fervent representation” to the Ministry via the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission for such a survey to be undertaken so that all miners can benefit from geological data.
In 2010, Iran had offered to assist Guyana with mineral mapping but the initiative appeared to have been snagged by the international sanctions that had been applied against Tehran over its nuclear energy programme.
Speaking about the project in June 2013, Foreign Affairs Minister Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett had said that Iran’s mapping of the mineral resources had been shelved.
“The Iranians have promised that they will map our natural resources. It was a number of years ago but we didn’t move far with the whole issue because there are other countries that are also more experienced in this area… it has nothing to do … with this matter… we just didn’t move far with that,” Rodrigues-Birkett told Stabroek News.
In one of his several outreaches to the Middle East as a counter to thorny relations with the west, former president Bharrat Jagdeo had struck a deal in 2010 with Tehran for a mineral mapping exercise.
This deal had raised eyebrows then because of Iran’s international isolation over concerns that it was developing a nuclear weapons programme. Given Guyana’s uranium deposits there was a view that any Iranian involvement in mineral mapping here would put this country at risk of breaching the international sanctions.
