The limited skills of residents of the South Rupununi was underscored as their representatives last week probed officials on the benefits from a proposed alluvial gold mining project to be undertaken by Romanex Guyana Exploration Limited in the Marudi Mountain.
Residents line up for food following a meeting at the Aishalton community centre, Deep South Rupununi on Wednesday. The public scoping meeting was undertaken by the Environmental Protection Agency to garner residents concerns about a proposed alluvial gold mining project in the Marudi Mountains in the area.
Romanex is seeking to establish a large-scale alluvial gold mining operation at Marudi Mountain and last week Wednesday, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a public scoping meeting at the Aishalton community centre on the project. Stabroek News was present at the meeting. The meeting was part of the process towards the undertaking of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which will determine whether the EPA grants approval for the operation. A number of villagers from Aishalton and Karaudarnau, which are the villages closest to the site, participated in the meeting. Representatives from other surrounding communities were also present and the Deep South Rupununi residents raised issues of concern to them while also querying the benefits they could expect.
In relation to jobs, the need for capacity-building in the communities emerged as an issue as it was related that locals could not be employed in some jobs because they lack certain skills. Consultant to the EIA, Charles Ceres, pointed out that there is need for a capacity-building programme in the communities as they do not have the skills required. This is a necessity, he declared adding that it was an issue that subsisted not only in that area but in other parts of the country and requires a national response.
Meantime, residents said that they had limited information on the project with Aishalton councillor, Kid James chiding the team for the late sending of documents relating to the proposed operation. He asserted that many did not get the chance to study it. His contention was supported by fellow councillor, Tony James, who asked the assembled residents in their native Wapishana whether they understood what was happening and the response was a resounding no.
But the EPA officials including Geeta Singh and Romanex Country Director, Jennifer Falconer pointed out that there is still time for them to raise their concerns and they could do so in writing to the EPA. Additionally, interviews that would cover residents in the various villages and garner their views on the project began after the meeting ended.
During the meeting, residents acknowledged that mining had both negative and positive impacts and the need to minimize the negative was stressed. Toshao of Maruranau, Patrick Gomes said that most of the villages will be affected one way or the other. He stated that local persons should be trained to monitor the systems in place but the issue of capacity was raised here.
Earlier this year, Stabroek News had reported that Shoreham Resources Limited, a Canadian exploration company had exercised an option to acquire 75% of the shares of Romanex, which is held by Infinito Gold Corporation (formerly Vannessa Ventures Incorporated). A press release from Shoreham had also announced that the company had signed an agreement with a French mining company Rexma Participacions (Rexma), for that company to work in Shoreham’s Marudi Mountain Gold Project. The release had said that French gold mining company is looking to begin production at Marudi by November 1 and had committed to major expansion of production capacity within the next two years.
The track record of Rexma was raised with both the Jameses stating that they need to have more information about the company. Kid asserted that big mining companies change their names every two or three years. Falconer in response stated that Rexma will be operating under the auspices of Romanex and will be required to operate in a way in which Romanex has always done. She declared that Rexma has a reputation for environmentally-friendly mining.
History
On jobs, the residents were informed that 50 persons would be employed. Falconer said that the policy of the company is to take as many local workers as possible from the surrounding villages depending on their skill level. “We have a history of when we need labour, we come into the villages”, she asserted. The issue of scholarships in order to build capacity was also raised and Falconer pointed out that Romanex has a history of providing scholarships and they hope to build on this.
Earlier, Falconer had told residents that since March 2007, Romanex had been conducting exploration at Marudi and last year recognized that there was enough gold to commercialize operations. She declared that Romanex has a proven track record for environmentally safe mining and no chemicals will be used in the gold recovery process. “We bring employment, training…a market for goods and services”, she said adding there would be an improvement in the lives of residents.
Ceres, in outlining the approach to the EIA study stated that Rexma will be going to excavate the alluvial material close to the creek bed. He said that the pits will not be deeper than ten feet or three metres, a contention questioned by Tony.
Ceres noted that creeks will be diverted and work will start from downstream and work towards the “head” of the creek. This point had been raised by residents who said that they were concerned about what would happen to the waterways. When the mine is closed, the creeks will be restored to their original beds and reclamation will be done, Ceres said.
Alluvial mining has been deeply frowned upon by environmentalists and the government had over the years mulled a total ban on it because of the potential dangers to communities that depended on the creek water and the likely environmental damage.
Economic
opportunities
Ceres declared that the project is going to open economic opportunities for residents. He said that the road will open new areas to residents adding that the company will be involved in maintaining the road to Lethem.
But the consultant also said that there is a possibility of an increase in water-borne diseases as well as an increase in the cost of living.
Meantime, how the project fits into Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy was also queried. “We’ve been asked to stop going into the forest…stop your slash and burn”, Tony stated. He declared that the meeting was a “show” and “regardless of what we say it will go on”, a point with which Ceres disagreed. But the councillor asserted that he is speaking from experience and it happens all the time.
The deep south Rupununi residents also grasped the opportunity to raise other issues of concern to them. The lack of information regarding other mining operations in the area was a general problem and a concern; they said adding that there needs to be more consultations. They raised the issue of fruitless attempts to have a meeting with medium-scale miners operating in the area. Another issue raised was miners transporting lumber out of the area. In this regard, a Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) official said that the miners are given permission, when they cut down the trees to remove the logs. Additionally, the destruction of roads was a point raised.
Falconer, in responding, said that Romanex strives to consult and respects the wishes of surrounding communities. She said that they too have concerns about the medium-scale operators. She added that it is known that when moving heavy equipment, Romanex always fixes parts of the road.
A GGMC representative stated that the regulatory agency has in the last six weeks begun an environmental compliance campaign and went into Marudi recently to start an enforcement awareness campaign. He said that they have been urging miners to respect the villages they pass through.
The need to create partnerships was emphasized with Falconer noting that in terms of sourcing supplies-which was an issue raised, the company will buy what is available but the villages have to say what they can offer in terms of supply.
Creeks
The proposed mine is 155 kilometres (Km) from Lethem and 50 km from Aishalton. Karaudarnau, the closest community to the mine, is linked to the area by a trail and is 20.5km away. Several creeks flow through the project area and these are Locust, Pancake, Toucan2, Peace, Capadolla, Rice, Turtle, Sandra and Paunch Creeks. They will be mined.
According to the project summary, the project will entail the excavation of mineralized gravel, the establishment of a mineral processing plant for the recovery of gold and the construction of supporting facilities, buildings and road. No chemicals will be used and the project will serve as a demonstration of non-chemical recovery of gold from placer deposits.
It is expected that the mine will operate 10 hours each work day and will process 600 cubic metres of mineralized gravel each day. The equipment has been sized to operate for 350 days per year. Average production will be 200,000 cubic metres per year at the beginning of the operation and this will increase to 400,000 cubic metres annually in year two and this production level will be maintained for the remainder of the operation, the Summary states.
According to the project summary, preliminary works will consist of clearing the forested area for development into a surface mine. The forest will be cleared using conventional methods and chainsaws will be used for felling large trees. The timber will be used for construction purposes on site while any surplus will be stockpiled for future use. The summary states that cleared area will be limited to the area identified for ore recovery only. Barren zones within mineralized areas will not be cleared. This will result in small islands of vegetation within areas to be mined, thereby creating conditions for better regeneration of vegetation during reclamation, according to the summary.
As regards ore recovery, the alluvial deposit will be mined by open pit methods in the creeks’ flats. Gold will be recovered by gravity separation using mobile screen and concentrator units. This will allow rehabilitation of mined out areas to occur as work advances, the project summary states.
It said that before mining commences, the creek will be diverted, if necessary, by excavating a channel to connect points on the creek upstream and downstream of the mineralized zone. Pay dirt will be removed by an excavator working in the direction counter to flow in the creeks, that is, from downstream to upstream. Each mineralized zone will be excavated as several ponds consisting of bands. Excavation will only commence on another band after completion of the removal of pay dirt from the preceding band, according to the summary. Each pond will be surrounded by berm, approximately 3 metres high with a 4 metres wide crest.
The Summary states that to minimize impacts associated with discharge from the excavation operation, the gold recovery operation will function in a closed loop for water supply.
“Clear water supply, for gold recovery, will be obtained from the pond which was previously excavated. Water overflow from the previously excavated pond will be limited by the berm surrounding the pond.” It stated that after the completion of mining, the creek bed will be restored to its original depth and alignment and the diversion channel will be backfilled.
The company also plans to construct an all-weather gravel surfaced roadway, linking Marudi to Aishalton, about 45 kilometres long. The company also envisions maintaining the 180 kilometres long road from Lethem to Aishalton in the dry season by periodic grading to facilitate transportation of operating supplies into the mine site. The company also plans to build a 600-metre airstrip at the site. In April, Romanex and the GGMC had inked the licence for the company to mine at Marudi. Acting GGMC head, William Woolford had told this newspaper last year that Romanex was one of two companies granted licences for large-scale gold mining and was looking to produce between 50,000 to 100,000 ounces of gold per year.
The mining company made lots of good promises. However these large corporations cannot be trusted. What is the likely scenario here is that they will mine all the gold from which fat dividends and bonuses will be paid out to share holders and executives respectively. When time to pay Guyana gov’t their fair share and reclaimation of the sites, this parent company will file for bankruptcy. While the Guyanaese people lost all the gold and permanent damage to the environment, the share holders and executives are awash in cash. We will then get the normal excuse, due to prevailing economic conditions they company is forced to close operations in Guyana.
Really sad..Can you imagine 50,000 to 100,000 ozs of gold per year?That can do wonders for Guyana but sadly it will be taken away just like what OMAI did.
Mohamed, it does not necessarily have to end that way. I have worked on International Project Finance deals and especially out of Trinidad & Tobago. Once the deals are properly set up with Banks, environmentalists, EXIMbank, government etc, then it would work perfectly. Allowances would be made for political and other forms of risk. The government’s percentage would be determined upfront in LEGAL and binding documents among the Sponsors and all other parties. When things are not done properly then your scenario will prevail BUT it does not have to be so!!!!!!!
Re: “However these large corporations cannot be trusted. What is the likely scenario here is that they will mine all the gold from which fat dividends and bonuses will be paid out to share holders and executives respectively. When time to pay Guyana gov’t their fair share and reclaimation of the sites, this parent company will file for bankruptcy….”
Woulda never, coulda never have happened under an L. F. S. Burnham led P. N. C. Administration.
Franco,,,The deal with Omai was bad, it was merely an exchange for empolyment of Guyanese,,, It was brokered for 5% of gold declared to the Gold Board which was like almost nothing compared to athe amount of Gold Omai Extracted, so not all deals can be bad…
Sorry Witch Dr, my follow up post should have been addressed to Kaieteur Gold….
Yo Ever-”Reddy in Barbados”! re: “my follow up post should have been addressed to Kaieteur Gold……”
What post are you referring to!!! Perhaps the ever-living Burnham’s confusing and confounding philosophy is finally taking its toll on you!!! Come on now – do as you would normally do and go and have a relaxing swim at a nice Barbadian beach before the next hurricane winds and waves come. And, try staying away from the key board quite a lot as you may be getting tired… Also, as the world knows – the truth always comes back to haunt us and steer us in our faces.
Isn’t it a shame to know that Guyana has so much wealth and the citizens are starving and the GOG. NEEDS foreign Inverster to CONTROLE AND EXPLOIT our GOD GIVEN GIFT.Guyana’s WEALTH is more than its GOVERNMENT can handle they have to call in HELP!HELP! If this is a way of feeding the population then SO BE IT
this is terrible those amerindians dont know what is going on
there how can the EPA expect these people to respond to them
just like that… they are abusing them to destroy their surrondings and livelihood
let them find another area away from these communities, where is
the minister of amerindians affairs…
Turbo the amerindian communities traditionally have been given the bone on socio economic development benefits. Charles Ceres consultant for the EIA knows the the Government of Guyana with Geeta Singh from the EPA is just performing public relations window dressing.
A government for the people and by the people will be transparent about the impact study. Diverting the creeks in itself will have devastating effects on the environment. A case in point the wild salmon in the US are disappearing as a result of the hydroelectric dams while relentless efforts are made to find a solution for their coexistence.
Geeta Singh should tell the amerindian community the government could care less about their economic well being because the so called public scoping is just intended for the record.
A government of the people would seek to provide investment incentives for value added products for Guyana. The highlighted opportunities and benefits of the LCDs and the contrast of environmental destruction is very amiable.
Let’s highlight the destruction of the environment with proximity to the Amerindian communities, the sickness and disease caused by water borne illnesses.
The plight of the Amerindian communities continue. Say no to the Romanex project.
The article is a good attempt to give balance but one thing is confusing: we don’t get a sense of the proportion of opposition at this town hall type meeting to the mining. Three people are quoted as raising objections but these may also have given overall consent following what they thought as constructive suggestions ? And how many others approved the operations ? No figure is given for those attending.
In any event it shows grassroots democracy at work with the authorities getting feedback from the communities.
Mining in Guyana by foreign firms can be pruductive and useful and environmentall friendly for Guyana if it is properly controlled.
Now, as to that leading (confusing) paragraph.Hmmmmmmm…”Limited skills” ? Really ? Isn’t that a bit insulting?……
no unsteddy is your ppp govt. who is insulting the amerindians people no respect for their communities
no respect for their children, no jobs for them what
will the amerindians get out of this more sickness
contaminated communities..
Re: “no unsteddy is your ppp govt. who is insulting the amerindians people no respect for their communities
no respect for their children, no jobs for them…”
Just to repeat… “Woulda never, coulda never have happened under an L. F. S. Burnham led P. N. C. Administration….”
Just remember: GAIBANK – BABY – GAIBANK!
And, “Jobs – Baby – Jobs”!
International Business – Baby – International Business!
Is that what you call a grassroot democracy, Norman Faria, when your PPP already stroke a poor deal with the company ? Do you know what I call it – grassroot exploitation by your government? No respect whatsoever for the lives of those poor people. There is no report on this issue in government controlled GC. Can you say why? Let’s SN bring out the grassroot exploitation to the foreground.
Have you ever set you feet in any of those mining places and placed them in those Amerindians’ shoes who are being affected on a daily basis ?? You can talk about grassroot nonsense because you are not part of those people who are suffering as a result bad contracts made by your govern’t with those foreign mining companies. You don’t care because your life is set.
Thought for the Day
“Happiness consists in activity
it is a running stream, not a stagnant pool.”
~ John Mason Good
I am shocked that any government would even dare to think about such exploitation in the heart of Wapishana country. Historically, (in Guyana at least) geological and forestry exploitation has never significantly benefited the locals in any geographical area exploited. Not to mention the massive destruction of the land and disruption of the ecology. I have some aereal pictures I took flying low in the North Rupununi/South Pakaraimas area in 2002, showing such extensive destruction.
I call upon all environmentalists to write and protest this proposal to mine gold in the Marudi mountains.
The Amerindian people are being fooled…This is not new the majority of GT population does not know what is taking place in the Interior of this country.Where are the opposition parties & the Amerindian Affairs on this??OMAI,Barama now Romanex. No wonder we continue to live off loans & grants.
Another OMAI in the making ?? Remember the tail end ponds breaking away that cause so much environmental damages yet OMAI was given permission to continue operations for 10 more years..
In the end who really benifit from this? These multi national companies will continue to leech third world countries like Guyana.
After the gold has been removed/stripped/ripped from the earth will the lives of the native residents be SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED?
NO
When we talk about community consultations, the issue keeps coming up that people would like to understand the topic better. I am sorry, but it is absolutely ridiculous that a large mining company and the Guyana EPA would be taking these meetings into communities without exploring the options available to sharing and discussing the information. I urge all of you to view the awareness session reports and the video recordings from the LCDS process. These things are not consultations. They are an arrival of coastal residents into inland communities for what looks like scripted mini lectures that quite frankly leave even more to be understood about very serious topics.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go into Konashen with Conservation International in 2006 along with their Rapid Assessment Program. For the close to three weeks spent in there I was floored by my experience, which thus far as an engineer had not really put me in a natural setting working with so many biologists. More importantly I witnessed a process of knowledge sharing that occurred with my team which focused on water, fish and reptiles. There were other teams present (birds, large mammals etc.) and they may have worked differently. Conservation International was sponsoring a program to train 6 Wai Wai residents as forest rangers and part of that training meant that they acted as para biologists during the trip. I witnessed a process of information sharing (the Venezuelan scientists leading the fish and reptile team and I, learnt as much from the Wai Wai as they maybe learnt from us) and learning that at least gets us to an equal level of understanding something. Gets us to a point where we share the same language. I have been sitting on the videos that I have from these experiences and will try to share shortly as I think they are a great learning lesson for all.
The Guyana EPA mounts numerous environmental awareness campaigns whether about sanitation or water conservation or biodiversity conservation. These brochures or other types of material are usually presented in a way that gets the majority of the population to understand what is being said. Why would the process be different for these public consultations where community input and action is required?
For those reading this Stabroek News article and who can lend some input to this EIA, I urge you to obtain the document from the Guyana EPA and critically review it and share that information in any way possible. I just went on the EPA website and all I found was this 4 page summary: http://www.epaguyana.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_details&gid=63&Itemid=29.
Does anyone have another document that they wish to share? I will also send the EPA Guyana an email asking for this, but given my current attempts to obtain the original McKinsey report (as opposed to the Office of the President’s 35 page report which is based on McKinsey & Co.’s numbers) my fingers are crossed.
This is another prime example. Whenever the great white fathers confront indegenous peoples to exploit their land, they and their emissaries always speak with forked tongue.
This operation will change the landscape and lives of the villagers forever and for the worst. It will disrupt local fish spawning creek beds, and pollute the water.
I suspect this is why the government decided to ok a ban on mercury use in mining. This eliminates all small local miners from operation and sell the industry to the foreign investor, where the government cut comes in lumpsum amounts. Big mining companies use cyanide instead of mercury. cyanide is an even deadlier poison.
These companies will introduce materialistic consumer style living to the native population. They will be afforded boomboxes, ipods,cellular phones and firewater.This will create inflation, when the companies close shop and leave, the people will be much poorer for it, not to mention contaminated with western diseases which their immune systems are not designed to cope with.
They do not understand Amerindian culture to begin with. Amerindians and other native peoples do not attach any value to gold and money and that is why they are always exploited by “cililized” cultures. They become easily addicted to firewater and shiny trinklets and will trade back in all of their gold and money for it.
Secondly the tribal Amerindian people will not work when there is sufficient food and firewater in the village. They will celebrate and merry themselves until everything runs out then go look for work. That is part of their cultural lifestyle. They do not think in western producer,consumer fashion, they think more like what we western minded materialists would refer to as childlike. They are children of the forest.They are hunter/ gatherers.
The tribal indians in Brazil use a consciousness altering plant called Ayalnasca. It is said to open doorways to other dimensions and states of being. Many westeners are excited by the spiritual benefits of this plant. This plant has got to also exist in the jungle of Guyana, the Amerindian shamans have got to know about it.
Find it and open spiritual healing centers and the westerner will come in droves for a one of a kind spiritual respite and relaxation. That’s how you protect the forest.Leave the native people and their lands alone and they will preserve the jungle in pristine fashion until the end of time.
Checkout one such site in the amazon jungle in this video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uipOwIt_USE&feature=related
Joe.
Awesome Joe. I have already signed-up for this fight.
Extracted – “This operation will change the landscape and lives of the villagers forever and for the worst”.
So will the timber industry.