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Declining prices still major challenge for Gold Board
Authorities are predicting continued volatility in gold prices but remained confident yesterday that it will not drop much this year.
According to the state-owned Guyana Gold Board (GGB), the country’s biggest buyer of the shiny metal, prices are expected to follow the trend experienced during the last quarter of 2013 and the first quarter of this year. 
GGB was yesterday celebrating its 32nd anniversary in operation.
“Although demand for gold globally is unlikely to grow much this year, there is good reason to assume that it will not shrink greatly either. Mine production of gold seems likely to rise marginally in 2014 and it is expected that that recycling flows to increase, but it is also expected that the combined impact on the gold supply will be only mildly bearish.”
With Guyana banking on the performance of gold to boost the economy, which had to make do with a run of low productions, Government has been examining ways for miners to reduce costs while raising outputs. The industry is now examining alternatives to mercury in the face of an imminent global ban.
Last year, in the absence of large scale operations, gold declarations continued to break records with 481,087 ounces coming in. This year, a target of 484,000 ounces is expected.
GGB said that its expansion of services over the years included the issuance of several dealer’s licences to a number of private entities and opening new sub-offices in mining areas.
Chairman of GGB, Dr. Gobind Ganga noted that during the last year of operation the entity has been focusing on strengthening management, improving security and internal controls and improving staff working environment and compensation.
“However, a highly volatile gold market and declining prices, along with various efforts for improved systems and accountability, remained the major challenges for the Guyana Gold Board in 2013.”
The price issue remains the biggest worry for players in industry. Last year, prices plunged by 27.2 percent, losing US$451 per ounce, from a high of US$1,693.75 per ounce in January to US$1,204 per ounce at end-December 2013. In the first quarter of 2013, the average price for gold was US$1,631.77 per ounce.
According to GGB, the real problems for gold became evident in April when prices plunged by US$200 in a five-day span. With the banking crisis in Cyprus going on at the time, gold investors feared that the island nation’s central bank would have to liquidate its gold reserves in order to shore up its financial system. That change in sentiment reversed the conventional thinking that central-bank purchases would continue to support the price of gold through 2013.
Guyana’s trading of gold has been monitored carefully to ensure the best prices.
“Moreover, through the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment, the Guyana Gold Board has been enhancing its policy objectives on the trading of gold to ensure that the maximum wealth of the yellow metal is channeled to the development of the economy.”
The Gold Board was upbeat about the future of the industry yesterday, saying that the prospects for large scale mining for gold in Guyana are still very real.
“Notably, the Guyana Goldfields project at Aurora and Troy Resources (Pharsalus) in the Kaburi area is on stream for late 2014.”
The industry is now actively pursuing more value-added in the industry like jewellery and enhanced refinement of raw gold.
This year also, emphasis is also being placed to ensure that anti-money laundering policies, in line with requirements, are being implemented.
Yesterday, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) made it clear that the gold industry has been playing a major role in Guyana with multiplier effects on employment, livelihoods and the national economy.
“…it should not be underestimated that whole communities are directly and often exclusively dependent on the sustainability and growth of the gold mining sector. But to succeed in a growing gold mining economy like Guyana, long-term relationships of trust and mutual respect must be established between its key stakeholders.”
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