Suriname moving to up royalty paid by gold miners

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – The state plans to collect more revenues from gold miners by increasing the so-called royalty from one to three percent of the price per gram of gold. However, Parliament still has to approve the new Gold Law.

Gerold Dompig of the Presidential Gold Commission hopes this will be done within two months’ time. Both French Guiana and Guyana have frequently complained about the uncontrolled smuggling of gold from their territory to Suriname.

Miners from the neighbouring countries consider it more attractive to sell their gold in Suriname, since the one percent royalty being levied here is far less than the four to six percent charged in their own countries. Guyana’s Minister of Natural Resources Robert Persaud in particular never fails to mention this thorny issue in local media. In 2011, Guyana registered less than 6,000 kilos of gold from their mines, considerably less than the nearly 19,000 kilos registered in Suriname over the same period.

The Guyanese authorities believe that they see only one-third of their actual gold production due to smuggling. “It is just a two percent hike,” says Dompig, emphasizing that the state is increasing the royalties, but intentionally in such a way that Suriname’s remain lower than its neighbors’. In the 1990s, the roles were actually reversed, when Suriname lost most of its gold to neighboring countries because of its higher royalties. Dompig states the new gold law will emphasize the obligation to pay taxes in all stages in the gold sector, from the miner to service providers and suppliers.