In what many may see as a tacit acknowledgement of the hard times miners have fallen on, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) has announced an amnesty for gold miners who are behind on their rental payments and are at risk of losing their concessions.
Small and medium scale miners have returned below-anticipated gold production figures for last year
A previous grace period had come to an end on April 15 last, but according to a recent notice from the GGMC, miners will now have grace extended to them until June 30, in light of “numerous requests” from miners. The offer is specifically for medium scale property holders who are in arrears in their rental payment.
The notice makes clear, however, that those miners whose properties have already been published in the Official Gazette as cancelled will not be eligible for the GGMC’s amnesty.
“All interests on said arrears’ payments will attract a waiver of 50 per cent,” the notice says, adding that “all property holders who do not avail themselves of this offer will have their properties cancelled.”
“Medium scale property holders are advised to utilize this opportunity to make all outstanding payments of rental prior to the deadline of June 30,” the notice, issued by the GGMC’s acting Commissioner, Newell Dennison, states.
Hard times
Government had announced shortfalls in gold production for last year. Budgeting for 694,000 ounces, actual production recorded was 653,674 ounces.
According to data from the Bureau of Statistics, only Canadian company Guyana Goldfields remained on production target. Catering for 160,637 ounces, the company actually produced 168,112 ounces.
The other major gold producer, Troy Resources Limited, produced 66,024 ounces, falling short of its target by over 3,000 ounces.
Small and medium scale miners had been expected to deliver 482,613 ounces of gold for 2017; they delivered only 419,538 ounces.
Last year, the Finance Ministry’s half-year report had showed contractions in certain sectors when performances were compared to those of the corresponding period in 2016. The declining sectors had included sugar, livestock, forestry, mining and quarrying, and even the bauxite industry.
In particular, the mining and quarrying sector had contracted by 4.0 per cent during the first half of 2017. Gold production fell by 1.7 per cent to 317,096 ounces in the first half of 2017, compared to the same period in 2016.
Back in 2015, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) had signed agreements with the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA), Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), and Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). Signed at the Ministry of Finance, those agreements had included exemption from customs duties on fuel and equipment for eligible miners. But with those agreements having an initial lifespan of six months, miners HAD complained bitterly that the time had elapsed with many of them not benefitting.
Besides the lost concessions, it was revealed last year that all miners, including small and medium scale miners, would have to pay a hiked processing fee of $2,500 per ounce of gold they declare to the Guyana Gold Board. The fee was previously just $1000 per ounce.
Had the GGDMA not intervened when a public notice announcing the hike first appeared in the daily newspapers, that fee would have been a whopping $4000 per ounce. According to a missive from the GGDMA, the association first became aware of the hike when a public notice appeared in the newspapers, declaring that all miners and dealers selling gold to the Gold Board would have to pay the $4000 fee.
Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry had announced the signing of a two-year concession renewal agreement with the Guyana Women Miners Organisation (GWMO), represented by its President, Urica Primus; and the GGDMA, represented by its President, Terrence Adams.
Other signatories to the agreement were Finance Minister Winston Jordan; GRA Commissioner-General Godfrey Statia; GGMC Commissioner General Newell Dennison; and Chief Executive Officer of the GEA, Dr. Mahender Sharma. Present was Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman. (Jarryl Bryan)
