Guyana’s annual gold production could “far more than double” if some of the burning issues relating to the efficient management of the sector can be tackled and corrected, a well-placed source in the sector has told the Stabroek Business.
Earlier this week the Ministry of Natural Resources disclosed gold declarations for 2019 at 634,905 ounces, labelling last year “another record-breaking year” in the process. However, when asked to comment on the gold declaration for last year the source told Stabroek Business that “people who are aware of the potential of the gold-mining industry would not be overly impressed with the volumes of gold produced last year.
“It can be higher. If we begin by tackling some of the deep-seated problems in the gold mining industry like the miners’ concerns, that high levels of smuggling and the problems we are facing in the running of the GGMC we could see a steady and significant rise in the volumes of gold produced annually,” the source said.
Gold production for 2019 not only surpassed the 2018 target, according to the Ministry’s media release, but “foreign revenue simultaneously increased by 11.8%. The volume of gold declared for 2019 amounted to 18,682 ounces more than what was declared in 2018. The Ministry’s release named two foreign companies, Guyana Goldfields and Troy Resources as two mining operations which, “despite severe challenges and constraints managed to have reasonably good production. Licensed Gold Dealers who purchase from small and medium scale gold miners, contributed approximately 57.69% of actual declarations, the Ministry said.
While historically it has been the small operators in the mining sector that have posed challenges resulting mostly from environmentally unfriendly mining practices, last year it was the year of one particular big operator to hit hurdles. Last October, in the wake of the death of a geologist on its work site on account of an accident, Troy Resources announced a suspension of mining at its Region Seven operations, a move that created a condition of temporary unemployment for hundreds of workers and giving rise to longer-term worry about a time frame for the restart of operations. The following month, news from the Board of the Australian company that it was cash-strapped and needed amounts in the vicinity of US$5 million a month in order to sustain further operations again generated anxiety with amongst the workers. Troy has since announced that financing has been secured and its operations will restart.
The industry source told Stabroek Business, meanwhile, that “whatever the Ministry might say,” a proper assessment of how well or otherwise the sector performed cannot be properly determined “unless we are able to determine how successful we have been in turning off the smuggling tap. The reality is that accurate figures pertaining to smuggling may alter the numbers significantly,” the mining source said.
