IN light of the increasing demand for aggregate from the emerging oil and gas sector and construction industry, Puran Brothers Inc. plans to fill the gap with a $300 million sand and loam mining project at Regions Three and Four.

The site for this project is located on the right bank of the Essequibo River, in an area known as Ampa Bay, which consists of approximately 500 acres.

According to the project summary seen by Guyana Chronicle, the project activities entail the mining of approximately 30,000 CYD of sand and 10,000 CYD of loam every month.

Materials will be transported from the mining site to Parika Outfall using a 1,200 CYD Capacity Barge and will offload and be transported to the project site and excess will be stored at the Crane Compound.

The estimated project life is 45 to 50 years based on the estimated reserves and there will be approximately 30 members of staff.

According to the summary, the activities with the mining of sand and loam are conducting the cadastral surveying to establish the perimeter boundaries of the plot of land, road alignment in keeping with the site plan, area for workers’ living quarters and operations office, area for mechanical workshop and parking of machinery and equipment, establishing mining pits for sand and loam, establish a decomposing area to store trees and other shrubs for the site during land clearing exercise and establishing a waste dump for storing overburden.

Additionally, other activities are establishing temporary camping sites with all amenities for employee comfort, safety, and security, clearing the grubbing areas based on the development schedule including internal roads and the main hauling road to the waterfront, and developing facilities to moor pontoons and to facilitate the loading of same with sand and loam, building housing and operations facilities and then to commence mining.

Puran Brothers’ project is expected to supplement operations within Guyana’s construction industry which is expected to advance even further this year, with plans to further invest heavily in the establishment and maintenance of critical infrastructure. The construction industry is projected to grow by 10.5 per cent in 2022.

Speaking from the public investment side, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, during his presentation of Budget 2022, said: “Mr. Speaker, the government is committed to filling the substantial infrastructural gaps that exist across our nation. In 2022, we will continue to invest heavily in construction projects across all sectors, alongside major projects coming from private sector investment initiatives.”

The construction sector grew by 29.8 per cent in 2021 when compared with 2020.

And this is underpinned by both the major public infrastructural buildout that is currently underway, as well as increased private sector activity in industrial, commercial, and residential construction, Dr. Singh, had said.