Guyana doles out 19 stone quarry licences

Jan 29, 2023 News

– as demand sores to three million tonnes annually

Kaieteur News – Guyana’s construction boom–no doubt an offshoot of accelerated oil sector developments–has increased the demand for stone from two to three million tonnes annually.

In an effort to boost local capabilities to respond, government said 19 quarry licences have been awarded in recent years. Confirming this with Kaieteur News was Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat.

Bharrat said the licences were granted by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). He said this adds to the seven operating quarries in Guyana.

Bharrat said six of the 19 new quarry licensees were approved in the past two years, and are projected to enter production in 2023 and beyond. He said, “The government continues to work closely with the remaining operators to fast-track their production schedule in 2023.”

Stone Quarry

Turning to sand production from 2020 to 2022, Bharrat said this has grown exponentially with the production outperforming annual budgeted projections. He said the rise in construction in both private and public-funded projects has given rise to this growing demand. Overall, he said the expansion of the quarrying sector has seen an increase in direct and indirect employment.

It would be recalled that Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh during his budget speech this year said stone production reached record high levels. He said the currently operating quarries collectively ramped up operations in 2022 to produce a record 1,021,000 tonnes–the highest in over a decade. An additional six quarries recently licensed are expected to contribute a further 400,000 tonnes in 2023.

In addition to efforts to increase production for inputs in the construction sector, Minister Bharrat was also pleased to share that land management and mineral mapping will continue to be a priority for the sector.

In this regard, he said the Land Management Division within GGMC has embarked on an initiative to deliver a modernized database for improved mineral property administration. He said work in 2023 will see the continued improvement of the division’s Mineral Property Management System with the anticipated implementation of a fully automated Mineral Property Management System (MPMS) with add-ons during this year to 2024. He said too those activities will be focused on an extension of the data-scanning project to cover all archived data on mineral property, and for same to be available digitally, to guarantee the posterity of tenure information.

Kaieteur News understands that the database will be used for a comprehensive automated mineral property management system with online capabilities. In doing so, the GGMC he said will enhance its customer service interface and allow for the decentralization of its services to its Mining Stations. Many of the stations will be offering the same services as the Georgetown head office, thus contributing to the ease and cost of doing business.

Additionally, Bharrat said GGMC will continue to re-focus its attention on hinterland road development and the Special Projects Unit – the engineering and project-executing arm of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission.

In 2023 also, Bharrat said the Unit will continue to deploy the modern strategy of continuous maintenance which progressively encourages contractors to have a full-time presence in specific geographical locations in the hinterland. Bharrat said this is pivotal to the long-term and permanent improvement of hinterland roads which are unpaved and require year-round maintenance.

Further, he noted that these roads serve as direct access to areas that are involved in mining, logging, sustainable eco-tourism, and the basic commute of goods, services, and people. In total, this approach will maintain over 1500km of hinterland road, and repair 40 culverts and some 20 log bridges. Where necessary, he said the use of technology to bolster the approach to building roads will also be done, making use of geotextiles, geo-webs, and geo-grids, and in at least one instance a renewed look at burnt clay brick in a trial section.

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19 stone quarry licences, Guyana, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat

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