Dear Editor,
THE sensational headline “Concessions Galore” in the Kaieteur News newspaper of May 17th, 2018 surprised me greatly, more so since my NGO had benefitted tremendously from assistance from this company. I found the article written by Ms. Kiana Wilburg had no

balance and in reality was very deceptive.
For example, the title of the article says “Guyana gives away $42 billion in tax breaks to gold company and gets $5 billion in Royalties”. The reporter failed to state the time frame of which she was referring. A quick glance through the list she gave on centre page showed that all of the items were specifically for mine and mill use, unlike the thousands of gallons of paint that were exposed in the Bai Shi Lin’s reports.

My understanding by attending the public information sessions given by the Company and reading about the company, showed that this mine has an operating life of over 18 years and is expected to yield 3,600,000 ounces and pay a royalty of eight percent on that amount over 18 years. That royalty is a substantial state asset. The reporter is aware of these facts since she had attended the press breakfast hosted by this company just a few months ago.

First, the concessions were given to build the mine and are part of an agreement with the government, as no gold was being produced and could not have been produced without the mine being built at an investment of over 60 billion dollars. Not counting the billions spent in exploration before gold was found.

Second, the mine has been in production for only two years and therefore it is deceptive to compare two years of royalties when the life of the mine is 18 years minimum. The first year had limited production as the mine began producing in September of 2016. If the

reporter was honest and not seeking sensationalism, then she would have stated that over the life of the mine, the Government of Guyana would receive over $100 billion in royalties plus billions in corporate taxes, employment taxes and billions in procurement would have been placed into the economy. Also, 800 plus high-paying jobs would have been maintained during that 18-year period, with high technical skills being developed in Guyana through training and exposure to state of the art technology.

Guyana is lucky to have Guyana Goldfields. Ask its employees, its vendors and the many organisations that benefit from the company. This is irresponsible and sensational journalism. Well in my judgement it is not even journalism.
Regards
Joel Braithwaite