Mercury imported into Guyana for use in small and medium-scale gold mining will be capped at 1,000 flasks or 34,500 kilogrammes per year, with importers allowed to import a maximum of 150 flasks of mercury at any one time.
The new quota is well above the average amount of mercury imported annually into Guyana over the past five years but represents a major reduction from the amounts imported annually during the height of the gold rush in the 2008 to 2013 period. The amount is to be gradually reduced and importers as well as users will have to provide a range of information that will allow for stricter management of the chemical and they will have to also subject themselves to inspections.
The new annual quota and other requirements are contained in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which was signed between the Ministry of Natural Resources (MoNR), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Guyana Geo-logy and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board (PTCCB) yesterday. The agencies are seeking to have tighter control of the importation, storage, distribution and usage of the mercury in the country.
