While miners have reiterated their calls for assistance from the government as the industry is presently in crisis, APNU+AFC Prime Ministerial Candidate Moses Nagamootoo has promised the members of the mining community a specialised committee to deal with their concerns.
At the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners’ Association (GGDMA) bi-monthly meeting, held at the Regency Hotel on Thursday, Nagamootoo declared that “mining is too big to fail” and spoke of how the mining industry has spread to affect other industries and support entire communities, such as Bartica.
“Bartica would be a ghost town if not for the mining industry,” he said.
Cognisant of this, he promised to work for the formation of a specialised parliamentary committee for the mining sector. Presently the mining sector falls under the auspices of the sectoral committee on natural resources.
“There is a need for a dedicated bilateral parliamentary committee or even a trilateral committee with members of the GGDMA and parliamentary representatives from both sides of the house,” Nagamootoo said.
“We are paying attention to what you say and we are learning. We promise a specialized committee to deal with your concerns,” he added.
Meanwhile, members of the association reiterated that the mining industry is in crisis. GGDMA president Patrick Harding told Stabroek News that the industry is presently dealing with “low gold prices, high operating cost and minimal lands which have minimal yields.”
“In 2013, lands may have been yielding 8 ounces at a price of US$1,800; today we are having yields of 6 ounces at US$1,200 an ounce, yet operating costs are still high,” he said.
Tony Shields, GGDMA member reminded that a sustainable gold price for the sector is US $1,400 an ounce.
He noted that production is down 40 % for the year and miners who had been employing 1,000 workers were now only able to employ 500 while another who was operating 22 dredges is now operating seven.
These comments are a repeat of the assertions made by GGDMA and reported by Stabroek News last August. At the time, it was noted that the steep drop in gold prices coupled with high production costs as well as a litany of other problems had made 2014 a struggle for survival.
According to the group, it had also been struggling with marginal ore bearing lands; inefficient ore recovery technology; poor maintenances/repairs to hinterland roads and airstrips; non-financing for the mining industry from commercial banks; closure of branches of the Guyana Gold Board (GGB); poor or minimal security/ police outreach for mining districts; and under staffing and the inefficiency of the Mines Division at the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
GGDMA members at Thursday’s meeting also reiterated calls for intervention from the government.
They called for the granting of duty free concessions on equipment and spares, the reduction of taxes on fuel and a reduction of the rental payments for mining lands.
These concessions had particularly been requested for small and medium scale miners. The Association has also requested a reduction on royalties.