– project will demonstrate efficacy of dry mining techniques

THE Guyana Environmental Capacity Development Project (GENCAPD) has targeted gold mines on privately owned lands at Isseneru in Region 7 (Cuyuni/Mazaruni) for a “tailings management” demonstration project which will be done for collaborating miners, free of charge.

The area for this “environmentally friendly mining project”  is the “backdam” of Isseneru, Middle Mazaruni where over twenty miners operate hydraulic dredges.

Members of the Isseneru Village Council with Toshao Dhaness Larson (second from right).

The aim is to show them how to conduct their operations  without damaging the creeks and rivers within their environment.

GENCAPD Engineer Mr Peter Hutson said the Isseneru project will also demonstrate the efficacy of dry mining techniques and will be similar to one  recently completed  at White Hole Mahdia in Region 8 (Potaro/Siparuni).

“The only difference is that location at  White Hole were state lands and this one   at  Isseneru is  on  privately owned lands,” he said.

The miners at Isseneru are working on lands owned by the Village Council at a rental of ‘an agreed on’ percentage of their production.

The miners are also obliged to purchase fuel and food supplies from the Council as part of their  agreement.

The funds for the Isseneru  dry mining and tailings management project are being provided by the Canadian Government  through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

The Canadian Centre for Minerals and Energy Technology (CANMET), a division of Natural Resources Canada, is providing  technical and management assistance.

The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) are  two  other  major stakeholders collaborating on it.

The GENCAPD intervention at Isseneru also includes a demonstration on rehabilitation of mined-out areas including re-plantation of  trees, provision of training and overseas  markets for aquarium fish as an alternative source of revenue, fish consumption advisories for pregnant and nursing mothers, monitoring of mercury levels and upgrades of the Skype Satellite  communication system in the village.

The disclosures were made during a visit to the Village by a team comprising Mr. Richard Couture, Scientific Adviser of CANMET; Dr. Shamdeo Persaud, Chief Medical Officer; Mr. Mortimer Livan, Soil Scientist; Mr. David Peters, Aquarium Fish Expert; Mr. Devon Agard, Environmental Officer at GGDMA; Mr. Hutson, and two media representatives.

The team was met on arrival by Toshao Dhaness Larson who pledged the support of the Council for the aims of the project.

Mr. Couture of CANMET said the dry mining and tailings management project will get going  within a month.

Arrangements for the  aquarium fish project and the re-plantation of mined-out areas are ongoing.

The ownership of a satellite communication system which provided twenty-four-hour internet access to residents was a very noticeably modern feature at Isseneru.

As part of the visit, Couture also installed Skype software on the  system to allow residents to make local and international voice calls  from the village.