By Ravin Singh

GUYANA continues to boast a healthy mining sector with all natural resources and related minerals surpassing production targets, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman said on Wednesday.The minister made this disclosure during a meeting of the Parliamentary Sectoral Committee on Natural Resources on Wednesday at Public Building.

In May this year, gold production increased by 92,000 ounces compared to the same period last year, despite prices being a bit sluggish.

The increase was credited to the hard work of small and medium-scale miners, Trotman said.

Gold was trading at just over US$1200 per ounce on the international market. However, subsequent to the United Kingdom’s (UK) move to leave the European Union (EU), prices went up to just over US$1300.

In early May, 243,000 ounces of gold was declared, but this amount rose to 327,000 ounces by June 30.

“As of June 30, gold declaration has been 327,000 ounces, far in excess of what has been forecasted,” Minister Trotman told the committee. He also stated that Arora Gold fields was able to produced 75,000 ounces of that amount.

Earlier this year, the Minister of Finance had projected that gold declaration would be about 550,000 ounces by year-end.

However, Minister Trotman in a confident tone told the committee that this target is likely to be surpassed.

“We will go beyond the 600,000 mark; our declarations this year are likely to spike beyond 600,000 ounces,” he boasted.

The minister pointed out that this level of success with regards to gold declaration is an indication that there is confidence in the system and that Government’s measures to curb smuggling are bearing fruit.

With regards to another pillar of Guyana’s economy – Bauxite – the minister revealed that 763,000 tonnes of the mineral has been produced thus far in the year.

According to Trotman, Rusal has been able to produced 73 per cent of this total, while the remaining 27 per cent came from BOSAI.

Guyana is currently celebrating 100 years of Bauxite production. And according to the minister, the Government is currently in the process of putting together a team to review the industry which continues to benefit thousands.

The third natural resource to record a successful production rate is diamond.

Trotman told the Commission that production thus far in the year stands at 61,552 karat which exceeds the budget by 28.2 per cent.
Again, he lauded the efforts of the relevant authorities, stating that country is doing “relatively well” in terms of diamond production.

However, because of a decline in overall construction, a spike in production of quarry stone was not recorded. Nonetheless, the minister was keen to note that the sector recorded a 3.5 per cent higher production rate than the same period last year. Production of stone to date stood at 226,000 metric tonnes.

Meanwhile, for sand, total production has reached 180,000 metric tonnes, a 15.8 per cent improvement overall from the corresponding period last year.

In light of these achievements, the minister said “the sector is in a relatively healthy position”.

Meanwhile, he said mining safety remains an issue for the Government. This year four persons have died as a result of mining accidents, a number which Trotman said is too many.

“We have been doing the best we can to reduce the incidents,” he said, adding that just a week ago, a mines safety seminar was held and this initiative will be continued.

The minister also sought to credit these successes to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), which he said, continues to do better even as it expands in its role as a monitor of oil and gas production.