Woolford assures…
GUYANA Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Acting Commissioner, Mr. William Woolford has assured that the management framework for compliance enforcement in the local small and medium scale gold and diamond mining is user friendly and miners need not have any fear about it.
He said: “Miners need to understand that we are not merely going to go to them and say that you must adhere to these regulations or else we will penalise you. We are going to go to them and say we are here to help you get it done, to show you how to get it done.
“We are coming to you and saying: ‘Miner you have to move this stone over here but like you are not sure how to move it. Come let us show you how to do it’.”
“No miner needs to be afraid of the compliance programme,” Woolford reiterated, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle last.
He was asked about the GGMC policy in relation to mining and the demands of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) and he also spoke about upcoming programmes in support of all miners to ensure that the compliance enforcement remains user friendly.
Woolford said the actions include the completion and distribution of codes of practice on several aspects of mining; technical assistance to miners in exploration for gold and improving recovery as part of 18 months long education awareness regimen, targeting every general manager of gold and diamond mining operations locally.
There is also a code of conduct for GGMC professional staff, addressing issues such as  conflict of interest, among others, to be completed by year end for compliance by all.
Woolford said the latter is expected to give the mining public an increased level of assurance that the GGMC is serious about helping them move ahead.
With respect to the codes of practice for miners, he said GGMC is putting finishing touches to 12 of them that relate to best practices for mining, like mining effluents waste management and disposal, mine reclamation and closure plans, among them for re-vegetation, contingency and emergency response and use of mercury.
Comments
He said they would be ready within a month and, with draft stamped on them, they will be distributed to representatives of the miners, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) for comments, prior to the 18 months education programme for getting all reasonable miners to understand and buy in into the required methods of improved operations.
Woolford said, in the continuing process, GGMC technical officers out in the field providing that support to miners.
“We have had our geologists in the field showing the miners the importance of exploration; talking to them about the geology of the areas in which they are operating, the minerals they find, improving recovery and how to take samples and get test results,” he said.
“We are working with them every step of the way to show them how to get it done. And these are not draconian measures, these are common sense and reasonable practices and procedures,” he stated, adding that the response of miners to education and awareness on requirements for the LCDS has been extremely positive.
Woolford said miners have been seeking their assistance for testing, using flocculants, building better tailings ponds and how to improve waste management.
The 18 months long education and awareness programme on mining and the LCDS will target miners, generally, as well as mining camps general managers, specifically.
Woolford said GGMC believes those managers are very important to helping the process of improvement and intends to target every one.