While gold continues to lead the way in the overall natural resource contribution to the economy of Guyana a series of both internal and external factors combined to present imposing challenges for the country’s mining sector in 2018, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman told Stabroek Business in exclusive briefing proffered in the wake of the his Ministry’s Monday January 21 Annual Review Session to assess the respective performances of the sub-sectors comprising the country’s natural resources sector.
And while conceding that last year was “a very challenging one” for the sector as a whole, Trotman told the Stabroek Business that in the year ahead the Ministry will be focussing its efforts on increasing production and overall performance across the subsectors.
Trotman’s holistic perspective for the performance of the natural resources sector envisages robust recovery since “most of the afflictions of 2018 have been addressed.” Consistent with his upbeat perspective on the performance of the extractive sector this year Trotman alluded to the expected commencement of manganese production in Matthews Ridge as well as the impetus expected to arise out of “the full production of First Bauxite Company at Bonasika and the “roaring back to full production” of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI).