A frozen land allocation process has resulted in widespread illegal mining, while the response of the Guyana Geology and Mines Com-mission (GGMC) has been hampered by the fact that it only has 41% of its required staffing, mining officials said yesterday.

Since late 2009, lands normally offered for mining have not been made available through the usual processes and with many smaller operators unable to obtain land, they have resorted to mining without permission, Executive Director of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), Edward Shields said. “It has become so rampant that even the decent miners have now gone to join them,” Shields told the bi-monthly meeting of the Association yesterday even as he rejected illegal mining and urged strong action against the perpetrators.

More and more persons have been jumping into the gold mining industry in recent times, lured by a boom in …..