–as authorities continue to engage, support local miners

SHOULD the conditions in the mining sector remain significantly unchanged, gold declarations would reach 154,500 ounces for the first quarter of 2021, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat has said.

Based on available statistics, in Guyana, gold contributes 11 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), 14 per cent to the labour force, and over 50 per cent to the country’s exports, placing it at the top of the economic sectors.

It remains a commodity that could withstand severe turbulence in any economy, and this was seen locally in 2020, when it registered positive results despite the challenges presented by a pervasive pandemic, and a protracted electoral process. Again, with the country regaining stability while navigating COVID-19, gold has positive prospects for this year. The gold mining sub-sector is expected to grow by 4.2 per cent in 2021.

Of the projected 154,500 ounces to be declared at the close of the first quarter, small and medium-scale miners are projected to declare 124,500 ounces, and foreign investors (Troy Resources and Zijin Gold) 30,000.

“As such, the Ministry of Natural Resources’ Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) are working closely and monitoring the activities of Troy Resources and Zijin Gold, along with small and medium-scale miners to increase production,” Minister Bharrat told the Sunday Chronicle in an invited comment on Saturday.
The ministry and its agencies, he said, will continue to engage all stakeholders to realise the full potential of this sector, while at the same time staying in line with the low-carbon pathway outlined by the government.

“Additionally, the Ministry of Natural Resources, through the GGMC and the GGB, remains committed to working with all stakeholders, especially the small and medium-scale miners and foreign investors to enhance production, declarations and trade of gold,” Minister Bharrat related.
To ensure that stakeholders remain encouraged, and more persons are motivated to invest in this sector, the government, in its 2021 Budget, approved a series of measures and incentives to support small and medium-scale mining operations.

Among those measures are tax concessions on all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), the removal of value added tax (VAT) on all exports, and the removal of VAT on hinterland travel, among other things.
“All of this has benefitted the mining sector, and contributed to improved production and safer mining practices,” Minister Bharrat reasoned.
According to the World Gold Council, gold mining is a major economic driver for many countries across the world. Well-managed, transparent and accountable resource extraction can be a major contributor to economic growth, due to the creation of employment and business opportunities for local people.

The Council said, too, that gold mining also brings foreign direct investment, foreign exchange and tax revenues to countries.
Often operating in remote locations, gold mining companies invest in infrastructure and utilities. In addition to supporting the needs of a gold mine, these improvements to roads, water and electricity supplies are a long-term benefit to businesses and communities across the area, that outlive the production years of a gold mine.

It was reported recently that one of the companies re-establishing itself in Guyana, Omai Gold Mines Limited (OGML), announced that results from the first two holes of “diamond core drilling” confirmed that high-grade mineralisation continues below the historically-producing Wenot Pit.
The 5,000-meter drill programme is focused on expanding the open-pit potential of the Wenot Pit, in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region, that produced 1.8 million ounces of gold at 1.6 grams per tonne to a depth of 190 meters.

Mario Stifano, Chief Executive Officer of Omai Gold Mines, commented: “We are pleased with our assay results from the first two holes we drilled at Omai that complement the assay results we announced in February. These results demonstrate that the grades and thicknesses of gold mineralisation continue at least 100 to 150 meters below the historically-producing Wenot Pit, and remain open to depth and on strike. We look forward to updating our stakeholders with further results from our 5,000-meter drill program in the coming months.”
Early prospectors identified Guyana’s vast mineral wealth 130 years ago, and at the heart of the country’s gold mining history is the Omai mine, a multi-million-ounce deposit that was once South America’s largest producing gold mine.

“We’re building on this past success with new tools, relationships and vision to bring this under-explored gold district back to life, providing a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to participate in value creation,” the company said in a recent statement.
It was reported in October 2020 that after ceasing operations here years ago, Omai made a return to Guyana, specifically to its worksite in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni region, where it intends to make an initial investment of US$12 million.

While there is much promise from the return of this company, it was reported that in 1995, waste from the mine overflowed the retention dam, and, over five days, released four million cubic meters of cyanide-bearing tailings into the river that eventually ended up in the Essequibo River.

During this crisis, then President, Dr. Cheddi Jagan declared a stretch of 50 contaminated miles of the Essequibo River as an environmental disaster zone. While concentrations of cyanide of two ppm (parts per million) are fatal, the slag along the Omai River values reached 28 ppm during that disaster.

Considering the environmental impact and the “mishap” in the past, Minister Bharrat had assured stakeholders that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is examining the operations, and the company’s plans to ensure that mining is done in a sustainable manner.

“They are going through that process, so, taking all of that into account, production can start after two years; they have to go through all the regulations,” said the minister.