Mining school curriculum part of moves to phase out mercury

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Country Manager Dr Patrick Williams

A curriculum for a local mining school which will, among other things, help train miners in the use of alternatives to mercury in the gold recovery process is expected to be created within one year, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Country Manager Dr Patrick Williams told Stabroek Business in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Speaking with this newspaper shortly after the presentation by the WWF of a $12 million contribution to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment to support a local programme aimed at phasing out the use of mercury in the mining sector, Dr Williams said the funding arrangement was “for one year” and that it was expected that within that time frame the curriculum for the mining school would be created.

Responding to a comment by Natural Resources and the Environment Minister Robert Persaud that