While gold continues to lead the way in the overall natural resource contribution to the economy of Guyana a series of both internal and external factors combined to present imposing challenges for the country’s mining sector in 2018, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman told Stabroek Business in exclusive briefing proffered in the wake of the his Ministry’s Monday January 21 Annual Review Session to assess the respective performances of the sub-sectors comprising the country’s natural resources sector.
And while conceding that last year was “a very challenging one” for the sector as a whole, Trotman told the Stabroek Business that in the year ahead the Ministry will be focussing its efforts on increasing production and overall performance across the subsectors.
Trotman’s holistic perspective for the performance of the natural resources sector envisages robust recovery since “most of the afflictions of 2018 have been addressed.” Consistent with his upbeat perspective on the performance of the extractive sector this year Trotman alluded to the expected commencement of manganese production in Matthews Ridge as well as the impetus expected to arise out of “the full production of First Bauxite Company at Bonasika and the “roaring back to full production” of the Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI).
Meanwhile, Trotman told Stabroek Business that government will be moving “to put a bigger dent in gold smuggling” this year by using what he termed “a carrot and stick approach” which involves incentives for miners to declare their gold on the one hand and stricter policing of the sector by the law enforcement agencies, on the other.”
This year, Trotman told the Stabroek Business, government is targetting “increased mining production from bauxite, gold and manganese” this year though he was quick to add that “stricter controls on gold smuggling, and loss of revenue, greater yields from better forest stewardship and increased observance of environmental practices will be expected of the sector this year, particularly as these pertain to river pollution and mercury use.
Since it entered office in 2015, the APNU+AFC government had threatened to crack down on gold smuggling which it said could have been as high as 15,000 ounces per week. It is unclear what success has been had on this front.
Trotman told Stabroek Business that the January 21 review session allowed for himself and Junior Minister Simona Broomes, “to interface with senior officers from the Ministry and the companion agencies, the Guyana Geology & Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) and the Guyana Gold Board (GGB)” against the backdrop of its obligation “to align the government’s vision for the sector … with the realities of the 2019 budgetary allocations, and the approved work programmes of the Agencies.
Referring to the challenges which the sector had to face in 2019 Trotman alluded to what he termed “a mercury use issue at GGMC” which resulted in several workers falling ill and which he said had had a negative impact on the operations of the Gold Board. And in the wake of the mercury issue Trotman said that this year the Ministry will be seeking “a permanent home for the Gold Board in an area where it will not be considered a risk.” Across the extractive sector Trotman alluded to the various other challenges which he said it had had to face including “unusually high rainfall in the hinterland” which he said had affected road maintenance schedules, “external sanctions on Rusal that led to reduced outputs from bauxite production, and less than expected declared gold production from the large scale and medium scale miners,” a circumstance which he attributed to “a range of factors.”
