Major gold mines on the horizon – Finance Minister

…calls for greater UK investment in sector, highlights benefit of northern Brazil link

Guyana’s gold mining industry is expected to undergo major expansion, as at least two large-scale gold mines are projected to come into operation over the next five years. This was reaffirmed by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, as he urged both local and international investors to position themselves to benefit from the massive opportunities emerging in the sector.

Delivering the keynote address to the Fifth British Trade Mission to Guyana, Dr Singh emphasised that while Guyana has long been a gold-producing nation, new exploration successes and recent project announcements have paved the way for “very bright and attractive prospects” for the development of large-scale operations. He noted that interest and participation in the sector are not limited to mining companies alone, stressing that opportunities extend widely to businesses involved in construction, heavy-duty equipment, logistics, transport, and shipping.
“Even in recent months we have heard significant announcements of planned projects that will see the build-out of large-scale gold mines in Guyana and that will see gold continue to be a…strong contributor to overall economic growth,” the Minister said.
“Now you do not necessarily need to be a gold mining company to have an interest in a development like that because we have had, for example, as members of this delegation, we have had heavy equipment suppliers coming into Guyana, and I believe… at least one heavy equipment manufacturer and supplier has entered into a strategic partnership with a Guyana partner, and so there is no gold mining without significant heavy equipment, significant other related and ancillary services, including construction, including haulage, transport, logistics, shipping and all of the things that go with gold mining,” Dr Singh explained.

Other significant, productive sectors
Beyond gold, Dr Singh highlighted that Guyana’s bauxite industry is also poised for a significant ramp-up, with metallurgical-grade bauxite now being produced in Linden, Region 10 and further expansion planned to meet increasing global demand.
Similarly, agriculture remains a pillar of economic activity, with the government committing to open 100,000 acres of new farmland over the next five years. Major private investments in corn, soya bean, rice, and sugar production, supported by public infrastructure development, are expected to strengthen Guyana’s role as a regional supplier and drive downstream agro-processing.
Dr Singh reiterated President Ali’s repeated message that Guyana is committed not only to producing primary commodities but also to generating value-added products through agro-processing and agribusiness. He stressed that the same pattern of growth and investment potential seen in mining and agriculture is replicated across every major sector of the economy.
“In agriculture there is a whole host of opportunities there simply because agriculture, like I said, we have vast amounts of arable land, abundant fresh water and all of the other conditions that are essential to be competitive in agriculture, and very importantly, we have increasingly been emphasising agro-processing and agribusiness, the whole production chain, because we don’t want – President Ali has said repeatedly – we don’t want simply to be a producer of primary commodities; we want to be also a producer of value-added products, including in the agricultural sector,” Dr Singh said.

Brazil link
Further, underscoring Guyana’s strategic geographic position, Dr Singh emphasised that ongoing works on the Linden–Lethem highway, supported in part by UK financing through the Caribbean Infrastructure Fund, will soon provide seamless access to northern Brazil.
“Guyana has become the largest trade partner with the United Kingdom in the Caribbean, the UK’s largest trade partner in the Caribbean. That’s a tremendous; that’s a very significant achievement… But over the course of the next five years, the road to Brazil will be completed and will be linked with a deep-water harbour on Guyana’s Atlantic coast. So, what that does immediately for anybody who’s doing business in Guyana or who’s investing in Guyana is it immediately opens up northern Brazil to you. So, an investment in Guyana is literally an investment in capacity to serve the market in northern Brazil,” he added.
The Minister used the occasion to highlight the deepening economic relationship between Guyana and the United Kingdom. He reported that nearly 40 per cent of companies participating in previous trade missions have successfully secured partnerships or concluded transactions. He welcomed the newly appointed UK Trade Envoy to the Commonwealth Caribbean, Paulette Hamilton MP, and commended British High Commissioner Jane Miller for her leadership in promoting bilateral ties.
He also reaffirmed that the Guyanese Government remains strongly committed to building a resilient, diversified economy and to deepening its commercial partnership with the UK.
Delivering remarks on behalf of the British High Commissioner was Alain Archibald, Chargé d’Affaires at the British High Commission. Additional remarks came from Chris Bennet, Managing Director of the Caribbean Council, and senior officials of the UK’s Department for Business and Trade: D’Jamila Ward, Regional Director for the Commonwealth Caribbean, and Sherwyn Naughton, Country Director.