‘Show us the agreement’

Jul 07, 2022 News

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– months after South Rupununi residents still waiting on govt. to fulfill promise on disclosure of mining agreement

By Davina Bagot

Kaieteur News – Almost two months ago, a Canadian mining company- Golden Shield Resources Inc. uncovered a significant gold find on the sacred Mazoa Hill, also called Marudi Mountain by the Indigenous people residing in South Rupununi, Region Nine.

The villagers were initially opposed to the mining activity that was set to take place, especially since they complained of not being consulted, along with their belief of the historic significance of the mountain.

Nonetheless, an agreement was signed on November 17, 2021 between the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Rupununi Miners Association and the Canadian mining firm, to allow prospecting activities.

Villagers said they learnt of the agreement via a Facebook post and protested the deal.

Members of the Government had rushed into the community to settle the tension, and had promised to make the agreement available to the villagers but since their visit in December last year, the villagers in South Rupununi still have not seen the document signed that allows the degradation of their landmark.

Joshua Fredericks, a representative on the South Rupununi District Council (SRDC), told Kaieteur News in an exclusive interview on Tuesday that since the announcement was made of the gold find on Marudi Mountain, no representative of the government has returned to meet with villagers to inform them of any new developments.

Fredericks, a Youth Chairman on the board explained, “No sort of meeting was held afterwards. The government didn’t send down anyone to tell us there is gold or so but of course, they will be issuing the license soon since they found the gold. I think they will go ahead with that but up to now, no one hasn’t come to discuss how it’s going to happen or anything.”

It was on that note that he also complained that the villagers are yet to see the prospecting agreement that was promised by the Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat.

The young man said, “so far, we still haven’t seen the agreement that was signed between the company and the Rupununi Miners Association. Questions have been asked when the SRDC went to meet with the Prime Minister and some other Ministers and GGMC. The Minister of Natural Resources said he would respond in a day but up to now, the letter wasn’t given to them. We still don’t know what is in the agreement.”

Fredericks reasoned that the government must find the time to conduct a face-to-face discussion with the community, rather than meet with a few “selected” persons.

He added that with the National Toshaos Conference (NTC) expected to be hosted soon, it is anticipated that mining related matters would be addressed. However, he is worried that the few days allocated to the Conference may not be enough to iron out the broad agenda and list of concerns by the community leaders.

In this regard, Fredericks noted, “It is very rude what the government is doing since they haven’t been consulting the residents. They will soon be issuing a license to that company and we haven’t had a follow up meeting. They’re blatantly saying that we don’t matter and they will do whatever they want to do.”

This newspaper also spoke with Mr. Kid James, the Programmes Coordinator on the SRDC. He corroborated that South Rupununi residents are still in the dark when it comes to the mining activities on the sacred Mazoa Hill.

James, an Aishalton villager told this publication that Marudi Mountain is where the Indigenous spiritualists would go to conduct “sacred rituals” for healing. “They have higher controls and we believe if you go there, you might trigger certain reactions within the area there,” he said.

James said it is unfortunate that when other organizations come to their communities, they inform the villagers as to what they are doing, but the government on the other hand seems to have an issue with the interpretation of “free, prior and informed consent”.

The community representative noted, “We are being excluded from such a big investment that is taking place right in our backyards and it doesn’t sit down well with us. It must happen in a proper way. Regulations must be followed and if there are issues, there must be a proper process for addressing those issues and things like that. So we are saying without that agreement, we don’t know what is in there.”

Further, he argued, “We heard about jobs and so on but the number of people being employed is very minimal. We may have just about a dozen people from the community who actually have direct jobs and those are low-level jobs for security and those kinds of things. So what we would like to know is if mining is the only solution to create jobs and so on in our communities? I think the answer is no and it’s very shallow in terms of how they look at development in our communities.”

The Programmes Coordinator pointed out that mining is not new to the village and he knows for a fact that the larger population does not look to the sector as a source of income for their homes while contending that, “We should not be sidelined in terms of where development takes place in the South Rupununi District because government and investors think it’s a prime place. Culturally, it means so much more than just an area that can be exploited for money.”

Gold find

On May 17 last, Golden Shield Resources Inc. boasted on its website in a release to its shareholders that the results of its drilling activities in Guyana have yielded significant results.

It said drill results from an initial hole of a 13-hole, 3,000-metre programme at Mazoa Hill, the most advanced of eight prospects at the company’s flagship, 5,457-hectare, Marudi Mountain gold project located in the Rupununi District of southwestern Guyana namely the “Marudi Project.”

At the time, drilling of the remaining four holes of the programme was progressing and was slated to be completed by the end of the month. According to the company in a release, Golden Shield interprets gold mineralisation to occur in a series of en-echelon high-grade shoots defined by intense silicification within a broader silicified zone, previously described as quartzite-metachert (QMC).

 Prospecting

 In December, Minister Bharrat issued a statement to the press in which he explained that the Prospecting License (PL) issued to the company would not permit mining within the boundaries of the PL.  The PL specifically states that the “Licensee is granted the exclusive right to occupy for the purpose of exploring for Gold and Precious Metals and Minerals but not to be worked for a profit”. The PL holder is required to furnish the Commission with all the results of any exploration work on a semi-annual basis”. Meanwhile, it was pointed out that the licensee will implement a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programme of up to a total of US $250, 000 over the life of the PL which will benefit surrounding Amerindian Communities.

Therefore, for the five-year validity of the PL, there will be no large-scale mining by the company in the Marudi area, except the Region Nine small scale miners, whereby a Special Mining Permit (SMP) was granted to regulate and monitor their mining activities.

The SMP will conduct its activities approximately 1000 acres within the Marudi area. The operations, according to the Ministry, will be guided by strict monitoring policies. This will include; a Mine Plan, a Mine Closure Plan, a Social Responsibility Plan and an Environmental Management Plan. These plans will be submitted to the GGMC for approval and is expected to be adhered to by all miners.

In addition to these measures, an Environmental Bond will be required to be paid to the Commission, as insurance.

 

 

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