Guyana Gold Board commences series of outreaches
General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board Ms Eondrene Thompson making her presentation during the outreach as miners listen
General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board Ms Eondrene Thompson making her presentation during the outreach as miners listen

…Puruni the first stop; other mining districts to be visited

The Guyana Gold Board on Saturday March 9, 2019, held an outreach at Puruni Landing (Region 7 – Cuyuni-Mazaruni) targeting gold miners, traders and dealers in the mining district. It was the first in a series of outreaches for 2019 as the Board seeks to maximize gold declarations and foster greater compliance with laws and regulations, including those to do with anti-money laundering.

Making presentations at the outreach held at the Majestic Elegance Puruni Guest House were General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board, Ms Eondrene Thompson, and a number of senior officers of the Government agency.

Among the key messages of the outreach were to enlighten persons about the benefits of selling their gold to the Guyana Gold Board, the documentation required for selling gold to the Guyana Gold Board and the role of the Gold Board in the national efforts against money laundering, especially where persons use gold trading for nefarious activities.

It was explained that, while the Gold Board had licensed a number of dealers to carry out the business of buying and selling gold, persons enjoyed a number of benefits when selling their gold to the Guyana Gold Board. The benefits included access to records for Guyana Revenue Authority or commercial bank purposes, just weights and a facility whereby the client could receive 10 percent of his or her payments in a US dollar account at any commercial bank.

Thompson stressed upon the persons gathered to sell their gold legally either to one of the eight licensed dealers who act as agents of the Guyana Gold Board or to the Guyana Gold Board itself. She however acknowledged that many persons did not have the means to get from their location to either of the Guyana Gold Board offices at Bartica or Georgetown. She informed the miners that the Gold Board would return to the community to engage in mobile purchasing, where they would visit for two or three days and conduct transactions with the miners, assuring them of just weights and fair payment.

The Gold Board General Manager also sought to quell the fears of persons who may not have all of their documentation in order. “Some of you [might believe] that if you come to us and your documents are not up to date, we will seize your gold. This is not true. We are obligated to purchase all gold that comes to us,” stressed Thompson.

It was clearly explained to the miners and other persons how payments for their gold was calculated and how taxes and royalties were deducted. Further, the formula for calculating the density of their gold was explained in detail, along with a conversion table that demystifies the conversion of grams, pennyweights and ounces.

Thompson urged the miners to pay their taxes since “nothing is free” and their tax dollars help in the development of the country.

After the presentations from Thompson and her technical officers, the miners shared a number of their burning concerns, among them access to mining lands, landlordism and the alleged destruction of their property by agents of large claimholders, and the issuing of receipts without names for gold purchases.

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