Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman yesterday disclosed that government is currently negotiating with the Canadian-owned Guyana Goldfields Inc. for compensation for environmental degradation caused by the Aurora Gold Mine.
“The government is pursuing offset with the Aurora goldmines… it would be Aurora goldmines paying to the government of Guyana a figure that we believe is sufficient to compensate for the degradation being caused by its mining,” Trotman stated, when the Committee of Supply reconvened yesterday to continue deliberations on the 2016 budget estimates.
The Natural Resources Minister was at the time replying to a question posed by PPP/C member Nigel Dharamlall.
Pressed by Dharamlall for a figure, Trotman said that he did not want to prejudice ongoing negotiations or breach an agreement by both sides not to disclose financial details until a settlement was reached.
However, he pointed out that the monies will go towards the development of the Kaieteur National Park as that was the proposed designated offset area.
Guyana Goldfields’ Aurora operation, located in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region, poured its first gold bar last August after almost two decades of development. It is projected to produce 3.29 million ounces of gold over an initial 17-year mine life.
Last month, the company announced that it had found higher levels of gold than had been projected during operations at the mine last year and that it has set aside US$3 million for further exploration this year. Its production for 2015 totaled 35,901 ounces and the Canadian firm is now in commercial production and hopes to produce at least 130 000 ounces this year.
