Based on the current performance of the mining sector, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) expects the industry can only achieve better in the years to come.

At the GGDMA’s final Members Meeting for the year 2009, held at its headquarters on North Road, Bourda last Thursday, President of the association, Major General (ret’d)  Norman McLean said that the mining industry contributed significantly to the country’s economy through the generation of foreign exchange within the past year.

He said the GGDMA on behalf of its members is looking forward to working with the administration, noting that the association is “as strong as the government allows it to be”. McLean said that the goal of the association is to ensure that the body continues to be stable, strong and sustainable, noting that the association’s finances can verify this. McLean said that the GGDMA has spent approximately $8M per month over the past year as it works towards generating sufficient revenue growth to sustain its finances.

As regards the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which the association has been working along with the administration in the run up to the Copenhagen meeting, McLean said that the GGDMA continues to support the initiative and according to him, even if the administration does not succeed at the December meeting in Denmark as it markets the LCDS, the mining industry has been streamlining itself to work in tandem with the objectives of the initiative.

McLean reiterated that 2009 had been an outstanding year for the GGDMA, noting that the association has been able to acquire its own office at the North Road location, which he termed as a significant development, stating it is “as if the mining community has a home away from home”. He paid tribute to the contributions of past president of the association Afro Alfonso, in this regard.

The government’s mid-year report said that as of June, 2009 gold declarations stood at 131,550 ounces – a 7.7% increase over the revised target of 122,016 ounces in the first half of last year.