Mining operations locally account for 75% of deforestation in Guyana

Jun 22, 2022 News

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…EITI Report finds State Lands most affected

Kaieteur News – While deforestation in Guyana remains comparatively low, given the size of the country’s forest and the level of logging permitted, a report by the Guyana Chapter of the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) has found that mining is responsible for 75 percent of deforestation domestically.
The findings have since been contained in the EITI’s third country report, recently released to the public.
In that document it has been outlined that despite the fact that deforestation rates typically expand with economic development, the forestry sector in Guyana has successfully emerged against an increase in production when compared to 2017 with a very low deforestation rate of 0.051 percent.
This equates to an annualised deforestation rate of 0.051 percent which is slightly higher than the change reported in the previous year recorded at 0.048 percent.
It was noted, however, that the main deforestation driver for the current (2019) forest year reported is mining, which accounts for 75 percent of the deforestation in the period.
Alarmingly it was found that the majority—78 percent—of the deforestation is observed in the State Forest Area.
According to the report, forests cover nearly 18 million hectares of Guyana total landmass of 21 million hectares with about 12.6 million hectares of the forestland designated as State Forests and placed under the management of the Guyana Forestry Commission.
Indigenous peoples manage approximately 14 percent of the forest surface and the rest have been designated as protected and research areas divided in the following five areas: – Kaieteur National Park; Iwokrama forest 180,000 hectares; Kanuku Mountains Protected Area; Konashen Community Conservation Area; and Shell Beach Protected Area, which includes mangrove forests.
As it relates to the mining operations locally EITI, identified these to be gold, bauxite and diamonds.
Mining in Guyana is administrated via the six established mining districts namely Berbice, Potaro, Mazaruni, Cuyuni, North West and Rupununi. The mining districts cover approximately 45.8 million acres. The largest district is the Rupununi which covers 17.6 million acres, while the smallest is Potaro.
There are currently two large gold mines active in the Guyana Shield: The Aurora mine, operated by Aurora Gold Mine and the Karouni mine, operated by Troy Resources. Gold production from both large-scale gold mines represents 29 percent of gold production in 2019.
Since becoming a member of the global body, government had agreed to adhere to several requirements, in this case, EITI requirement 2.4 (a) of the 2019 Standard states that Guyana should publicly disclose all mineral agreements entered into force prior to the reporting period, in this case, 2019.
Importantly, the report highlights that the country’s Mining Act (1989) does not include any expressed restrictions on the public disclosure of mineral agreements and licences by the government.
There are currently 10 companies holding large-scale licences in Guyana.
The Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. holds three large scale licences for the extraction of bauxite in Kurubuka (Block 22), North East (Block 5 in Kwakwani), Berbice (Block 38) for a total area of 16,691 acres, in which Government has a state participation of 10 percent as confirmed by the National Industrial and Commercial Investments Limited (NICIL).
Bosai Minerals Group Guyana Inc. holds three (3) large-scale licences for the extraction of bauxite in East Montgomery, Tailing area and Dacouria for a total area of 3,063 acres, in which the Guyanese Government also has state participation of 30 percent as confirmed by NICIL.
Correia Mining Co. holds a large-scale licence for the extraction of gold and diamonds for a total area of 3,681 acres.
Guyana Goldfield Inc. holds a large-scale licence for the extraction of gold in Cuyuni (Aurora) for a total area of 14,339 acres while Guyana Industrial Minerals Inc. holds a large-scale licence for the extraction of bauxite in the Bonasika Mining project for a total area of 18,940 acres.
Additionally, North American Resources Incorporated Ltd. holds a large-scale licence for the extraction of gold for a total 5,950 acres. Pereira Mining Company holds a large-scale licence for the extraction of gold, silver, and valuable minerals for a total area of 5,105 acres.
Meanwhile, Romanex Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds a large-scale licence for the extraction of gold and valuable minerals for a total area of 11,110 acres; while Ontario Incorporated holds a large-scale licence for the extraction of gold and copper for a total area of 8,346 acres.
Troy Resources Guyana also holds a large-scale licence for the extraction of gold for a total area of 15,160 acres.
Along with the 10 large-scale licences, the report notes that there are 62 mining entities making material payments to government exceeding $35.1 million.
Since these account for 50.1 percent of the reported payments in 2019 to the Guyana Gold Board and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), it was recommended that the contracts for these companies also be released.
As it relates to Bauxite, it was noted that the companies engaged, includes Bauxite Company of Guyana Inc. (BCGI), Bosai Minerals Group Guyana Inc. (BMGGI) and Guyana Industrial Minerals Inc. (GINMIN).

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