Puruni miners on March 11 took part in a training workshop by the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) where environmental issues were at the forefront.
As part of its Mainstreaming Biodiversity in the Gold Mining Sector project, a release from the MNR said that it coordinated with the University of Guyana and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) on the workshop entitled ‘Support to Uptake of Biodiversity Friendly Practices by Miners’.
It took place at the Two Blessed Sisters Restaurant in Puruni, Region Seven, Cuyuni-Mazaruni. Over 39 miners attended the workshop.
Delivering the training were Denise Simmons, Assistant Dean of the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Guyana and Heetasmin Singh, Lecturer of the Faculty of Natural Sciences of the University of Guyana.
The release said that among the topics discussed were turbidity limits, settling ponds, disposal of petroleum products, responsibility for environmental damage, disposal of effluent, tailings dams, protected areas, the safe use of mercury and contingency and response plans.
In the discussion that followed, the release said that miners raised several issues on environmental stewardship and human health.
The miners also called for an even hand in meting out penalties to errant miners, positing that while the small miners are penalised, larger operators seem to get away with committing similar offences.
A similar workshop is to be held in the mining town of Bartica on Sunday March 19, 2017.
