By Bibi Khatoon
Measures implemented in the Government’s 2017 Budget resulted in gold production falling short of its 700,000 target by 46,246 ounces last year. However, having reversed those measures in the 2018 budget, the Ministry of Natural Resources is hoping to meet a target of 800,000 ounces at the end of this year.
The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) in 2017 raised concerns about the increase of the Tributors Tax from 10 percent to 20 percent, the need to keep records in interior locations where receipts and bills are often not obtained and the Application of Threshold to Tributors among others.
Speaking with media operatives at a press conference on Thursday, January 25, 2018, Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman admitted that “we [the Government] believe that we had issues with the measures which were put in place which were reversed at the end of 2017. We did see an impact.”
He added that there are “some contraction” based on uncertainty surrounding “where the Government was going in so far as mining is concerned.”
The Government has also granted amnesty to miners who are required to pay rental fees for mining lands, reduced the processing fee for gold at the level of the Gold Board and put measures in place to address other concerns.
The GGDMA had also raised concerns about the hinterland roads since this severely affects transportation and operations costs for miners who would sometimes have to pay double the price for transporting fuel to their operations.
To address this, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) will this year take over the management of roads and maintenance in mining areas from the Public Infrastructure Ministry as monies were retained for same.
Minister Trotman said the Ministry of Public Infrastructure could not keep up with the pace when it came to the needs of hinterland roads maintenance. He explained that “a bridge could go down this morning…and in ten minutes, it’s gone and if there is not an immediate response, it sets mining and declarations and everything back, sometimes for weeks.”
Speaking about the agency’s capacity to take up the scope of works, Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes explained that the GGMC already has a project unit with sufficient engineers.
She added that the Ministry in 2018 will be looking at areas which are highly populated with miners and the possibility of opening new access roads to those areas.
Gold production for 2017 was 653,754 ounces. The Guyana Gold Board (GGB) earned $241,924,831 from the sale of 193,000 ounces of gold last year as opposed to $226,924,831 in 2016.
