An industry wired for gold and not for safety

Jun 12, 2016 News

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By Jarryl Bryan
Guyana recently recorded another death at the hands of the gold trade. Eighteen-year-old Reynold Williams was trapped and killed after the pit in which he was working, located at Konawaruk, Mahdia, collapsed on top of him,

snuffing out his hopes and dreams.
According to the findings of a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the accident, conducted by a team led by Major General (ret’d) Joe Singh, there was a marked absence of contingency plans for safety and rescue, personnel were poorly trained and basic supplies for any potential injuries were lacking.
This could easily be described as a repeat of the past. On May 17, 2015, a Mowasi, Potaro mining pit collapsed and trapped over a dozen miners. For a week Guyana waited with bated breath as day by day another body was pulled from the earth.
By the time the final body was pulled and the death toll reached 11, this tragedy had already gone down as Guyana’s worst recorded mining disaster. There have been several other mining deaths since then.
What is not factored in by many is that a miner essentially lives in a world away from civilization. For a miner who has braved everything, including malaria and lonely nights away from home in order to provide for his family, his boss can threaten, with impunity, to withhold wages and gold, and this tactic will many times ensure obedience.

But what does this mean for the miner? It means that if the miner is concerned about safety and brings it to the attention of the manager, he knows that that manager can effectively order him to return to that pit and continue working.
It is a hard and unforgiving industry, where labour drives production and production drives profit. And profit justifies payment for the miner or even continued employment.
Now, mining operators do not become hard task masters overnight. There are several outside factors which influence profit making in the industry.

FUEL
All mining activities, from small to medium to large scale, depend on fuel. In addition, miners do not start using their equipment, and expending fuel, to extract the gold right away. In many instances, miners have to first prospect the site in order to determine its true mineral value.
And for those unlucky enough to get land in an undeveloped, far-flung area, fuel has to be expended while clearing the area and creating an access to the mining site.

Miners have, thus, been vociferous in complaining about the high tariff on fuel despite a slump on the world market. Government currently charges a 50 percent excise tax on every barrel of gasoline and diesel. As of now, the price for oil on the world market has reached a high of almost US$50 per barrel.
Sources on the ground indicate that miners, unable to make enough gold to justify what they expended on fuel and taking in other factors, have simply parked their equipment and sought buyers for them. Considering that the value of equipment involved in such heavy duty jobs depreciates rapidly, heavy losses are inevitable.
Other operators, unwilling to accept defeat and knowing they have not only their families, but sometimes the commercial banks to provide for, will stop at nothing, not even warning signs of an impending mining pit cave-in, to make enough gold.

WORLD PRICE
It is a case where a strong dollar, international stability and other factors have contributed to diminishing the value of gold. In addition to its use in jewellery, gold is usually reserved by Governments as an insurance policy against unforeseen upheavals.
As of now, gold is trading at around US$1,200 per ounce. There are subtle indications that it might go up drastically. But considering that a few years ago gold had peaked at almost US$2,000, it represents a huge fall.
The Guyana Gold Board purchases gold from local miners based on the international market price. The Gold Board has registered for its first quarter, from January 1 to March 31 of this year, gold declarations of 161,942 ounces.

GGMC REGULATIONS
The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) sets out strict regulations for mining operators. Included in these regulations are stipulations for disposal of overburden, waste produce and refilling dug pits.
According to the Operational Health and Safety guidelines set out by the GGMC, the causes of mining related accidents frequently involve excessively high pit walls.
Legislatively, GGMC is far from a toothless bulldog. Section 127 of Mining Act 1989 empowers the Commission to serve a mining operator with notice to provide data and documents relating to their operation and to answer all of GGMC’s questions. This is normally enforced in the event of an accident. It is an offence not to comply.
However, there have been reports of miners continuing their operations, clandestinely if necessary, in the face of these measures. Nothing short of desperation and determination to make money would prompt such defiance.

CHANGES
Last year a CoI highlighted the need for measures to be taken, which include stricter enforcement of mining regulations and increased training for mining operators. The report had noted that the current operator-inspection system was inadequate.
There had also been recommendations for more robust guides for operators, as well as predictive tools. There had also been calls for engineering support to be mandatory for at-risk operations.
Important in preventing these accidents, however, is to understand the psychology of the mining operator and what drives the operator to throw safety to the wind in pursuit of gold. Important as well is to understand the gold miner and what makes him stay in a potentially dangerous mine.
For some miners and operators accustomed to better days in the industry, it will always be about making as much money as possible. For some, it will always be about survival.
As stakeholders in the sector and Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) executive Colin Sparman put it, “everyone is wired for gold and not for safety. A drastic change in culture involving education and sensitization at all levels- miners, operators, property owners and regulators, is required.”

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