THE Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) intends to encourage and support members in placing greater emphasis on the prospecting phase of their operations this year. If efficiently done, it will enable miners to determine whether there are commercially viable deposits in a given area before committing resources to the establishment of a mine and commencing extraction and recovery, the President, Mr. Patrick Harding said.
He hailed 2012 as a great year for mining and noted that the industry is moving forward at a rapid pace.
“What we would like to do, this year, is to get our small and medium-scale operators to move away from the hit or miss approach to mining. We would like them to receive geological information, training and even be able to hire prospecting equipment, where feasible, for use to get the necessary information prior to committing themselves to any particular location,” Harding posited.
He said: “The  issue of exploration and prospecting techniques and training in these  techniques and even hire of prospecting equipment will be one of the main items on the agenda of the GGDMA this year.”
Harding said the GGDMA will be working closely with the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) on acceptable methods of exploration and prospecting at the small and medium-scale level.
He said the GGDMA, felt, for example, that excavators can be very effective tools in exploration and prospecting but there would have to be agreement by the GGMC on this.
Harding said, too, that the GGDMA was aware that the GGMC has done prospecting in some areas and the former will be seeking information on the results of these exploratory activities on behalf of its members.
The GGDMA will also seek to get the GGMC to train members and rent, to them, where practicable, some of its prospecting equipment for their use prior to making decisions about establishing a mine and subsequent extraction and recovery of gold. Harding congratulated members who helped to ensure that the Association surpassed its gold declaration target for 2011.
The amount declared, 360,000 ounces, was 17 per cent higher than the record 308,438 ounces in 2010.
Harding said the GGDMA will be attending a consultation on the natural resources sector being held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (NRE) next Monday.
The forum is expected to discuss the policies, opportunities and challenges within the sector, which includes mining and will give the GGDMA greater visibility on the way forward.
The venue is the King’s Plaza Conference Room, Main Street, Georgetown, beginning  at 08:00 hrs.