GGDMA rejects mercury phase-out deadline; urges revamped GGMC

Oct 27, 2017 News

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-Adams returned as President

Miners are lobbying for a revamped Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and better maintenance of hinterland roads.
The call was made, Wednesday, when the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) held its 33rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the North Road headquarters.

New executives for the association’s Committee of Management for period 2017-2019, were also elected.
Terrence Adams has been returned as President with Andron Alphonso, as Vice President; Mahendra Persaud as Secretary; Azeem Baksh as Treasurer; Hilbert Shield as Organising Secretary; and Immediate Past President, Patrick Harding. The Committee Members elected were Alfro Alphonso, Charles DaSilva, David Bacchus and Terry Singh.
In his report to the members of the association, Avalon Jagnandan, Administrative Manager, disclosed that the challenges have been many over the past year but there were some measurable successes.
Over the past year, the association lobbied the Government on numerous tax issues, including the Tributors’ Tax and the Tax Rate.
The officials said that for the year, it has made budget submissions to the Minister of Finance, proposing why the industry should be treated differently when it comes to taxes.
GGMC Commissioner
Over the last 12 months, the association also lobbied for a stronger GGMC Commissioner; raised issues about the Land Management Division, poor services and sudden changes to systems and procedures affecting miners.
According to Jagnandan, the association managed to secure a meeting with Minister of Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman. At that meeting the go-ahead was given for a committee to be established to review the functions and operations of GGMC.
It was agreed that the mining bodies would be part of the process.
“The GGDMA has since appointed Mr. Terrence Adams to serve on this Committee to review the functions and operations of the GGMC. The GGDMA has made its position known to the Ministries of Public Infrastructure and Natural Resources that poor roads and bridges that miners have to cope with are severely increasing their operational cost, through lost time and damage to their equipment,” the official told the members.
GGDMA also has an issue with the state of the Issano/Puruni/Karrau to Buck Hall Roads. The repairs started nine months after $500M was allocated in the 2017 budget. This is an insult to miners, Jagnandan said.
It was disclosed that the GGDMA had met with Trotman on the state of the roads. At that meeting it was announced that GGMC will now work along with the Ministry of Infrastructure to boost the hinterland road program.
The association also vowed to lobby Government to ensure that a larger portion of royalties and rentals be utilized for the maintenance and construction of proper roads and bridges for the mining sector.
Road Repairs
“The GGDMA is of the view, that if individual miners are equipped to repair and maintain the interior roads, then they should be given first priority by the government on these projects, since the project will be close to their hearts and they will have a better understanding and appreciation of the terrain.”
The association is also moving to have a road users’ agreement in place to avoid truckers from overloading their vehicles and causing damage to the interior roads.
GGDMA also noted that there were successes in bringing down a $4,000 per ounce Gold Board fee that was proposed.
After several meetings this was adjusted to a processing fee of $1300 per ounce from one ounce and up to and including 100 ounces; $1400 per ounce for every ounce starting from 101 ounces and for every additional ounce up to 200 ounces; a downward sliding scale of $1300 per ounce from 201 ounces to 300 ounces; and then $1200 per ounce for all additional ounces between 301 ounces and 500 ounces, will be charged.
There will also be a ceiling or maximum of $400,000 for all sales up to 1,000 ounces and for sales greater than 1000 ounces, the processing fee will be $400 per ounce, for every ounce above 1,000 ounces.
The association said it is also proud that that the ministry now has employed 25 wardens to work alongside the GGMC team and the security sector to more effectively address the issues of raiders, illegal shops and crime.
Meanwhile, in a major move, GGDMA said it will be collaborating with the Guyana Women Miners Organization (GWMO) and the National Mining Syndicate (NMS) which have been meeting and have agreed to form themselves as one voice for all miners in Guyana.
Known as the Miners United Movement (MUM), the group says it represents all the miners in Guyana.
On the issue of eliminating mercury releases into the environment, GGDMA said it will be adhering and complying with codes of practices and environmental health and safety standards and regulations.
“We urge all miners to use a retort and to comply with all regulations relating to the use of mercury.”
Jagnandan said that there are no viable comparable alternatives proposed.
“As a consequence, the GGMDA cannot support the total elimination which is projected by Government for 2027 and the legal banning and trade of mercury. To do such at this time will be tantamount to support the end of alluvial mining in Guyana.”
Gold declarations, the biggest foreign currency earner for Guyana, over the last few years, are on track to surpass the 700,000-ounce mark yet again this year.

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