Dear Editor,
Various media reports indicate that the government is considering giving concessions to small-scale gold miners because of financial distress.
This distress is caused primarily by the inefficiency of their operations, not unlike the situation in the sugar and rice industries, where the cost of production makes our products uncompetitive on the global market, and where we have for way too long failed to add sufficient value to our products, but I digress.
My point is that whatever business we run, our profitability has to be based on the most appropriate and available technologies, and sound business practices. High world market prices can only mask inefficiencies for so long before the bubble bursts.
We cannot keep bailing out businesses that do not improve their performance.
When it comes to gold mining, under-performance harms our environment, our health, our Indigenous peoples, and our Treasury.
Should the government support our miners, and I think they should, we must insist on improved performance from small-scale miners in return for concessions. We must see evidence in the short-term that small-scale miners are actually improving their performance. Such evidence could include:
* Reduced pollution
* Declaration of all gold production lawfully in Guyana
* Reduced worker deaths and injuries
* Payment of taxes, NIS and other financial obligations
* Retention of worked material for future extraction of remnant gold
* Replacement of mercury as the main method of retrieval
On this latter point, Editor, it is worth noting that the inefficiency of mercury means that retrieval rates from gold-bearing ore are unacceptably low. Mercury also can impact one’s health negatively, a large risk given how casually many miners use mercury.
For all the loans taken by miners to buy new equipment, trucks, and so on, they have failed to sufficiently invest in new technologies that would improve extraction rates to in excess of 90%.
Had improved technologies been adopted when gold prices were higher, the gold mining industry would have been more sustainable than it evidently is now.
Perhaps a reformed GGMC could increase their technical and monitoring support (using global best practices from UNIDO, UNEP and others) to help small-scale miners run more efficient businesses. Our environment, health, Indigenous peoples and Treasury could use this help.
Yours faithfully,
Lawrence Lachmansingh
