Latest update March 20th, 2025 5:10 AM
Latest News
- Guyana’s oil growth boosting regional economies– CDB Director of Economics
- Suspected outbreak of Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease in Region Four
- Israel launches first ground offensive since Gaza ceasefire collapse
- Sod turned for $665M expansion of St. Stanislaus College
- Pensioner jailed for raping child
One framework for small and medium scale miners – GSDS Vision 2040
Small and Medium Scale Miners currently operate within two separate regulatory frameworks. According to the Green State Development Strategy Vision 2040, that needs to change.
Mining, which is currently the largest single sector of Guyana’s economy, has been operating in three separate frameworks: small, medium and large. Small scale leases (at about 27.58 acres) are given to persons who have a land claim, by birth and/or naturalisation. Medium Scale leases (at about 150-1200) are gained via prospecting, can be renewed annually, and can be converted to a mining permit with a duration of up to 25 years. Large scale leases (at about 500-12,000) are also renewable annually, and can be converted to a mining permit for up to 25 years.
The GSDS states that the division of frameworks for small and medium scale miners is not useful. This is due to the fact that methods of production are similar, and in many cases, the producers are the same. The strategy posits that the division of frameworks increases the institutional and operational complexity of the GGMC.
It reads that because the medium scale framework is more stringent, in terms of business and environmental safeguards, those safeguards could be used as the standards for small scale miners too. To support this argument, the medium scale framework is also afforded longer permits, the strategy states.
GSDS suggests, with such a merger, a reduction in the minimum acreage threshold. This is purported to save on costs of oversight for the GGMC, via the merging of its Land Management Divisions, thereby reducing the total number of registered properties and enforcing stronger social and environmental standards.
But even with this merger, the GGMC would still be vastly under-resourced, as the number of miners relative to mining officers is quite high. The Commission has done a lot of work to map the country’s mining districts, based on location and availability of minerals.
So the strategy suggests that that workload could be decreased using advanced, modern, monitoring technologies, like drones, geo-referencing tracking devices and remote sensing devices. Further, it posits that sophisticated monitoring techniques could also involve human resources. Residents of mining areas, community based organisations and local authorities are all in the fold.
It is also suggested that the monitoring responsibilities for small and medium scale mining be moved to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as is already the case for large-scale mining operations.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
No immigrant should feel safe in America today
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News- There was a time when an illegal immigrant in America could live in the shadows with some... more
If Guyana’s President Ali is the “Zelensky of the Caribbean”, who is the Putin?
Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the US and the OAS, Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- In the latest... more
Weekend Cartoon
