Stakeholders meet on crafting action plan to curb mercury use in artisanal, small-scale mining

An inception workshop with major-stakeholders began on Tuesday to develop a National Action Plan (NAP) for reduction of the use and emissions of mercury in the Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM) sector

The workshop is part of a US$500,000 project, funded through the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and is being implemented by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) in partnership with the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean Region (BCRC-Caribbean).

The workshop saw representation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), and the Bureau of Statistics. Representatives of the small and medium-scale mining bodies, including the National Mining Syndicate, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association, and the Guyana Women Miners Organisation were also invited.