No evidence of gold entering Guyana’s supply chain from Venezuela – Jagdeo

– working on re-establishing partnership with Royal Canadian Mint

Following allegations last year of gold being smuggled into Guyana from its Spanish-speaking neighbour, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo has stated no evidence has been found of gold entering Guyana from Venezuela.
He made this pronouncement during a press conference on Friday. It follows reports back in October that the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) was investigating reports of gold from the neighbouring country being smuggled through Guyana. At the time, however, Government had said no evidence of this was found.
“We have been looking at a situation… there were claims that gold from Venezuela was coming into [Guyana] but… we’ve found no evidence of that,” the Vice President said during the press conference.
Further, the Vice President said Guyana’s relationship with the Royal Canadian Mint is still not fully repaired. He explained that in addition to the allegation, “there were other issues about cost for them to do it and stuff like that.”
Back in October, Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat had said that there was no substantial evidence of gold smuggling into Guyana. In fact, the Minister had noted that there is evidence to say the opposite.
“As it is now, there is no substantial evidence to point to gold coming across the border from Venezuela. If you ask me if there is enough evidence to say the opposite, that Guyana gold is leaving our borders and going to Brazil and Venezuela. That is happening right now, which we’re trying to deal with,” Bharrat had told reporters.
The Minister had pointed out that it would be difficult to differentiate between gold originating in Guyana and in Venezuela but noted that there were concerns expressed by local dealers and the Royal Canadian Mint, which refines Guyana’s gold.
“The Gold Board is looking at previous declarations and other information they have on dealers. And they are satisfied that at this point, it is not true that gold is coming from Venezuela,” the Minister said at the time.
Last year, small- and medium-scale miners dominated gold declarations. They increased their production to 485,552 ounces of gold for the year 2020 – representing 75 per cent of the country’s total production. 584,291 ounces of gold were declared to the Guyana Gold Board in 2020.