THOUGH it experienced a drop in gold declarations in 2017, the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) recorded several successes. The board moved from a five-year deficit position to a surplus in 2017.
Last year, the GGB recorded gold declarations of 652,000 ounces – a short fall when compared to the 2016 record of 713,000 ounces.
Chairman of the Board of Directors Gabriel Lall, in his report which was tabled in the National Assembly on Friday, explained that there was a 75.1 per cent reduction of the GGB’s longstanding overdraft at the Bank of Guyana; the overdraft went from a January 1, 2017 balance of GYD 18,929,651,009 to a closing balance of GYD 4,729,674,891 on December 31, 2017.
According to him, the then acting and now new General Manager Eondrene Thompson played a critical role in the “sterling achievement.”
Additionally, the GGB achieved a financial milestone when it moved from having an Operating Deficit of GYD 194,184,802 on January 1, 2017, to an Operating Surplus of GYD 648,370,179 on December 31, 2017.
The GGB succeeded in recording a turnaround year in 2017 despite a number of challenging circumstances. These ranged from the inherited to the existential, and tested the dedication and resolve of management, staff, and the incoming board of directors. Still, some positives were achieved.
Lall, however, admitted that 2017 had proven to be a very challenging year.
“During the year, the GGB and its new directorate were confronted by significant matters involving money laundering, workers misconduct, overdraft overhang, gold shipments to foreign partners, negative media coverage, and information security, to name a few issues of note.
“In fact, gold shipments from the GGB to the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM), its longstanding overseas refiner, were halted briefly due to conflict-free gold apprehensions,” Lall explained.
He noted that the development occurred just two weeks after the new board was inducted; but the board managed to overcome the obstacle through a combination of firm, unambiguous commitments, follow-up operational re-examinations and overhaul, and other agreed-upon curative measures.
“The priorities and emphases have been on the qualitative: standards and values, and the building of trust and confidence with all stakeholders, particularly the GGB’s core constituency in the mining sector, and the greater taxpaying base at large,” the chairman explained.
These initiatives and processes are ongoing in every area of the GGB, inclusive of laboratory operations, Accounting, Compliance, and Internal Audit. In each instance, the focus is on professionalism, increased efficiency, and principled customer interactions.
Thompson, like Lall, said while there were a number of challenges, the Guyana Gold Board recorded several “great success stories,” and its ability to have a surplus after a five-year period of deficit is just but one.
The general manager pointed out that GGB’s revenue earned in 2017 exceeded the amount earned in 2016 by approximately US$14 million, despite a decrease in gold purchases by 30 per cent.
Foreign sales for 2017 were 9,000 ounces higher than that for 2016.
“Prudent fiscal management evidences itself in the reduction of GGB’s deficit at the Bank of Guyana by 75.1%. As a supervisory authority, attention is given to stringent monitoring of the gold-trading sector to ensure that compliance with anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) legislation is effective; however, there are still legislative and regulatory uncertainties that continue to be pressing concerns — management and the board continue to engage with government to have them resolved and expect these legislative reforms imminently,” she explained.
For 2017 six of the nine licensed dealers exported their gold, as such, the GGB did not suffer from the usual off-loading when gold prices plummeted. Dealers’ exports increased by 15,710 ounces or 6.40% in 2017 over 2016. Aurora Gold Mines Inc. also increased their exports in 2017 over 2016 by 7,745 ounces and Troy Resources experienced a shortfall in 2017 by 3,433 ounces compared with 2016, Thompson reported. The GGB exported 32,472 ounces or 16.07% less in 2017 than what was exported in 2016.
