THE Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the death of gold miner Keon Wilson visited the scene of the accident at Rock Creek, Puruni, Region 7 on Friday last, and samples of the soil and tailings’ materials were collected as evidence.As mandated by President David Granger, the Commission is tasked with investigating and examining the circumstances which led to the collapse of a mining pit that resulted in the death of Wilson on October 8.
Rear Admiral (Ret’d) Gary Best is leading the CoI.

Testifying on Friday, Senior Mining Engineer Dharampaul Chandan of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) surmised that Wilson’s death may have resulted from the miner being too close to the “mine face.”
He explained that the area for the tailings was not strong enough, causing the pit to collapse and result in the death of the 33-year-old miner, who had resided at Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara.

Chandan said the composition of tailings’ materials is difficult to determine, since most of the time it appears to be sand; but in the mixture of the sand lies blocks of clay particles which can add weight to the face of the mine, causing it to collapse.

Best inquired whether the mining pit, which is owned by Eventon Daly, was made in accordance with the specifications of GGMC. In response, Chandan noted that while the GGMC does not have a regulation relating to the height of a mining pit, the body provides recommendations for miners. It was noted that miners are advised to be a good distance away from the face of a pit.

As an example, it was explained that if a pit is ten feet high, a miner should be 15 feet away from the face of the pit. Miners are also told that no pit wall should be higher than 20 feet, but in the case it is higher than the recommended maximum height, then one should build benches of 20 feet each on the mine’s face.

The CoI was informed that while Daly’s mining pit had complied with the advice given, the miners who were working at the time of the accident had jetted out the face of the mine, which caused the collapse. This newspaper had reported that the pit caved in while Wilson was working on the tailings.

Daly had been issued a cease-work order by the GGMC for unsafe mining practices, but he did not heed the order. His dredge was unregistered and deemed unsafe for working in accordance with regulation 214 of the mining regulations.

The Guyana Chronicle understands that George Alphonso is the owner of the property, and Daly had obtained a mining privilege from the GGMC on June 21, 2016 for a period of 12 months.

According to statements made by other workers on the land dredge and seen by Guyana Chronicle, jetting was taking place on both sides of the pit when the accident occurred.

The CoI continues on Monday at the Bartica Magistrate’s Court.