In a bid to improve Region 9 miners’ livelihoods, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman, will be considering opening new mining lands in the Rupununi.
A press release from the Ministry of Natural Resources yesterday stated that as part of the Government’s commitment to ensuring that miners are afforded opportunities to improve their livelihoods, Trotman has indicated that he is considering opening new mining lands in Mining District 6, Rupununi, Region 9.
It explained that Trotman’s consideration arose after listening to the “consistent cries of miners who were displaced from mining in the Marudi area…Such an opening of lands could have spinoff economic benefits for the entire Region 9 and miners in particular,” the statement said, while adding that the consideration is being done with respect to the potential implications for Amerindian titled lands and for biodiversity conservation in the region.
“Irregular mining had threatened to pervade the Marudi Mountain area, as small miners occupied lands associated with Romanex Guyana Exploration Ltd in 2016,” the statement explained, while explaining that as such, more than 300 small-scale gold miners in and around the Marudi Mountain area had called on the government to intervene and take urgent action to regularize their operations in light of the Canadian-owned company resuming operations in the area.
As a result, the statement pointed out, Trotman assembled a team that had verifications, engagements and a formal mediation with the mining company, the Rupununi Miners’ Association, the Guyana Women Miners’ Organization and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission along with his Ministry where an order was made for the reactivation of the Romanex Guyana Exploration Ltd, mining licence.
It added that one of the agreed terms of the agreement was that when the company resumed their exploration and mining, they would have to accommodate miners who want to mine in the area, given that they follow the rules of the company and the laws of Guyana, which includes the non-use of mercury in their recovery.
“The Ministry of Natural Resources is committed to doing what is necessary to ensure that miners have a livelihood and are able to work without compromising the integrity of the environment or infringing upon the rights of communities within Mining Districts,” the statement said.
