New mining areas will be opened up – Bharrat

…multi-year mineral mapping to play key role

Expressing concern over the exhaustion of existing mining areas due to decades of concentrated mining, Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat has assured that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government is laser focused on opening up new mining areas.
During a consultation with goldsmiths on Tuesday, the Natural Resources Minister made it clear that the Government is keenly aware of the need to open new mining areas. This is due to the need for more gold to be produced. One factor in the slump in production has seen the exit of large gold companies, such as Troy Resources.
“Quite honestly, another reason is because we’ve been mining one area, for decades now. We’ve been mining the same areas for decades. If you go to Mahdia, it’s the same area around Mahdia we mined for decades. If we go to Matthews Ridge, it’s the same thing. If we go to Puruni/Mazaruni, it’s the same thing. It’s the same areas we’ve been mining for decades now.”
“It simply means that we’ve exhausted whatever resources were there. And we have to open up new lands. And that is what we’ve been working with the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association to do. But it is a costly exercise, but it must be done. Because that is the only way we’re going to open up new areas,” Bharrat said.
Bharrat further acknowledged that a major part of opening up new areas is the infrastructure such as roads, that must be built and maintained. But there is another component to opening up new areas and that is the surveys that are necessary to determine where the mineral deposits are.
In this year’s budget, $400 Million was set aside to do mineral mapping. According to Bharrat, the process to contract someone to do the mapping has already started. He further emphasised that the mapping is not just about gold mining, but also Bauxite and other minerals.
“The mineral maps that exist now, are maps that would have been drawn up from data that was acquired, maybe about 40 years ago. So that is the process that has been started. To ensure that we first of all, look at the data that is available. And digitise that.”
“And then we’ll move to the mining districts, where we’ll actually do the physical survey. So, we can update the mineral map or inventory in the country. And as you would appreciate, the technology available today is much better than what would have been available 40 years ago,” he said.
According to Bharrat, this project will be a multi-year one that will result in a mineral inventory recording the types of minerals, quantity and where they are located. The Requests for Proposals (RFP) closed in April.
Phase One of this mapping project would focus on gold and diamond minerals, as well as on critical elements. During the Consideration of Estimates for the 2024 National Budget in February, Minister Bharrat had defended a $710 million allocation that is earmarked for several projects, including the rolling out of a mineral mapping project which would be launched in phases.
According to the Minister at the time, this mineral survey is “badly needed”, and would assist with a more informed allocation of claims and mining blocks of mineralised areas. This, he explained, would significantly reduce deforestation caused by miners. With a limited or outdated mineral inventory, miners are usually issued lands that they clear out, and if they do no find minerals, then they would move on to other locations.
The Natural Resources Minister had pointed out that this mineral survey would also remove or ease the cost of prospecting and exploration exercises, especially for small- and medium-scale miners. Already, miners do not usually invest in this exercise.
The gold mining industry contracted by 11.2 per cent in 2023, on account of lower output from the small and medium scale producers. Total gold declarations fell to 432,113 ounces last year.
Similarly, the bauxite mining industry also declined by 20.4 per cent last year, due to reduced output from both producing operators.
Bauxite production is estimated to have fallen to 525,000 tonnes last year. The other mining subsector – sand, stone, diamonds, and manganese – showed a more positive performance, with a 22.7 per growth in 2023.
Unsurprisingly, stone and sand extraction increased by 98 and 21 per cent respectively, with demand from construction activity in the public and private sectors continuing to grow. (G3)