Up to this week, gold declarations totalled 106,000 ounces—about a third of the target this year—but Chair-man of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) Board of Directors Major General (rtd) Joe Singh expressed worry that some of the production is being smuggled out of the country.

The figure should be higher if everything is being declared to the Gold Board, Singh told miners at the bi-monthly meeting of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) on Wednesday. He referred to stories of people going into certain interior airstrips with money to purchase gold. “Where that gold is going I have a suspicion because I understand that there’s a lucrative cross border movement of gold,” said Singh.

The GGMC Chairman’s view was not shared by one miner, who said he did not believe there was large-scale smuggling …..