With declining gold declaration figures, the Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat, appears confident that there will be a turnaround soon in the country’s gold industry that will result in increased production and declarations.
At a press conference on Wednesday, the Minister said the Government has already signed an agreement with Reunion Gold Company that should see a boost in production for the gold sector in the coming years. The company is expected to set up a gold mining operation in Guyana by 2027.
“That mine by itself will produce over 200,000 ounces annually to add to our production. Already we are working with our small and medium scale miners to increase their production. The AGM Zijing Mining company they are venturing into underground mining, so their production will increase significantly as well, and in 2027 we will have this other large scale gold company producing,” Mr. Bharrat noted.
The Government has said that it has created an environment to ensure that gold production is increased.
The slump in the country’s gold declaration figures has been blamed on corruption and gold smuggling among other factors.
But the Minister said with significant gold deposits at Omai and other gold mines across the country, things are looking bright for the sector.
“So, the road ahead for gold is a bright one, even though right now we are not satisfied with where gold production is, I think we can do much more. What we have been doing from the Ministry and GGMC’s end is to ensure that we have more enforcement and monitoring activities, we ensure that there is stricter compliance for example every single gold operation must now have a production sheet,” Bharrat stated.
Meanwhile, the Government is also seeking to clamp down on operators who transact purchases using gold as their currency. Bharrat said those transactions are illegal and will not be tolerated.
“So more and more we are seeing the Guyana Gold Board buying more gold, if we compare the figures from last year to this year, you will see an increase in the amount of gold that is being sold to the Guyana Gold Board, whether its in Georgetown, Port Kaituma and Bartica,” the Minister noted.
A number of initiatives are being examined to boost gold production and declarations, while tackling the issues of smuggling. The establishment of mobile purchase shops are among the ideas to be examined.
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