Troy Resources wants to abscond! Watch Omai! 

Aug 16, 2023 Letters

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Dear Editor,

“The Australian-headquartered mining company, Troy Resources Guyana Inc., is closing its gold mining operations in Guyana as it does not find the market feasible anymore” (Stabroek News 11^th August, 2023). However, the company has given no exit plans of its departure from Guyana to the Government of Guyana or the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) but has placed a notice of liquidation of asset announcing the sale of its assets in the media.

Troy Resources had commenced operations in Guyana in 2015 with high expectations and encountered major difficulties in October 2019 after Geologist, Ryan Taylor, died after a cave that he was working in collapsed. The APNU+ AFC Coalition Government then ordered an investigation into the mine. The mine closed to allow for this investigation and hundreds of workers were laid off. In November of last year (2022), Troy Resources had announced plans to return to gold mining and production at its Smarts Underground Site in the fourth quarter of 2023. It had said that it was in the preparatory phase of its resumption timeline. The company had also notified that it was revising its business model and was looking at an immediate capital investment of US$ 10M for its Karouni operations (Stabroek News 11^th August, 2023).

This abrupt closure of its mining operations in Guyana has placed the company’s compliance with its legal obligations in an unclear position, as well as the employment security of its employees. Troy Resources not giving any exit plans of its departure from Guyana to the Government of Guyana can be considered as a direct violation of its large-scale mining contract with the Government of Guyana. The contract states that it must legally comply with a land reclamation process and other environmental obligations, as set out by the Environmental Protection Agency before leaving the country (Stabroek News 14^th August, 2023).

The abrupt closure of its operations also goes against the compliance of its Labour Agreements with the Ministry of Labour as it relates to the security of its employees before leaving the country (Stabroek News 14^th August,2023). Clauses 18.6,18.4.2,6.4 of the company’s mining contract specifically states that Troy Resources may terminate the Agreement with the Government of Guyana by giving six months written notice to the Government of Guyana and the EPA. It shall restore the areas used and damaged and pay any fees due hereunder, up to the time the termination becomes effective, submit complete reports and evaluations, maps, assays, samples, drilling tests and related articles to the EPA (Clauses 18.6,18.4.2,6.4 of Mining Contract, Stabroek News 14^th August 2023).

In addition, before the company is entitled to remove its property from Guyana and before any payments due to it is returned by the Government of Guyana, it must obtain from the Commission a Certificate of Compliance, as having met the termination requirements as laid out in the Mining Operation Contract. The company must involve the Government of Guyana in the sale of company’s property, equipment and other fixed/immovable assets (Clause 18.4 of Mining Contract). This has not been done by Troy Resources. According to the Stabroek News of 12^th August,2023, the decision by “Troy” to abruptly close their mining operations was as a result of the GRA preparing to levy on the assets of the company for huge taxes owed to the State.

I stand pained and in distraught that a major foreign Gold Mining company is attempting to close shop, in this case Troy Resources, and seem to be undermining the terms of the contract and our country’s development.

These foreign Gold Companies, from historical times, go into countries and nations and destroy the countries for their gold. For example, the “Wild West” is known as the “Wild West” simply because of the Europeans going into America and they went “wild” destroying lives and properties; cultures and most of it in search of gold. We know what happened in the Caribbean in 1492 when Christopher Columbus came to the West Indies. The foreign explorers went into the Caribbean and desecrated the Caribbean in search of gold, enslaving the aborigines, the Amerindians. For example, in Aruba, I was shocked to hear that they have no gold, no mineral resources in the earth, because the Spanish took everything out. Let us not forget the mauling and desecration of the cultures and religions of the mighty civilizations of the Mayas, the Aztecs that existed in Peru, Guatemala, Mexico and other ancient sites. The wealth was stolen by shiploads and shipped to Spain. A country which still continues to enjoy the wealth earned from the destruction of these ancient civilizations.

And like that North American (Canadian and Australian) corporations are coming to Guyana and totally demolishing our country; drawing out all our resources! Our diamonds, our gold and all our minerals, and if they can get everything out overnight and “wipe us out,” “they wouldn’t care a damn.”

When “Troy” was coming to Guyana, I objected quite a bit, reason being, I had spoken about Omai in the media for the environmental atrocities they committed, but Omai was by far better.

In my letter to the media, I spoke about Guyana Goldfields also. Where Guyana Goldfields suddenly decide and said that they are not making money “out of the blues!” Which was all a capitalistic ploy to drench us of our gold and wealth. Suddenly they decided that they are going to sell off their assets to an unknown Chinese company. The Chinese Company bought it over and they are quietly doing their mining work.  We are not hearing any issues from this Chinese Conglomerate Gold Mining Company. The work goes on there. The mining assets were sold by Guyana Goldfields to this Chinese Company for over 200 hundred million USD. My issue is that Guyana Goldfields had to pay taxes on that money in Canada but they left Guyana and they did not have to pay a single dollar in taxes on that sale money to Guyana.

No Gold Mining Company or any company should be allowed to “sell out” without the permission of the Government of Guyana. And they should have to compensate the people of Guyana with adequate compensation say 50% or 60% of the selling price. Not mere permission but we must get a large share of that selling price! Our people, our country deserve that. The laws of Guyana as it pertains to gold mining and any other mining activities need to be tweaked and modernized. So that no foreign company could think they could come in Guyana and operate as if we do not have skills nor leaders of intelligence that can stop them in their tracks of thievery and manipulation. For Australia, Guyanese are not as the Australian Aborigines whom were enslaved until recent times.

Guyana Government, this Government of the People needs to act on this matter. Our Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Vickram Bharrat along with Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo who are looking after Mineral Resources need to put things in place to ensure, that the people of Guyana and our country are not taken advantage of.

We know that Omai Gold mines extracted so much of wealth and gold out of this country, that one has lost count. It is even alleged that Omai had a private airstrip where they would ship out Guyana’s gold without reporting into the system. Our system was weak then and to my opinion, our system is even weak now. Omai poisoned millions of years of water system and to date, the people can no longer use the water; fish in the water; or swim in the water. This is a painful thing for me as a Guyanese to witness and it should be a painful thing for all Guyanese. Had they been in the USA, Canada or Europe they would have had to compensate the people and the Government for that environmental negligence.

The Government of Guyana should insist they compensate or criminalize Omai for that terrible environmental catastrophe they created. They should pay billions of USD for the natural disaster that they left behind and quietly exited Guyana.

Now, Omai is coming again with some of the largest rights to our gold mining areas and the people of Guyana have little or no benefits to get from this company. They drained Guyana once. Now they are going to “drain Guyana” again! And obviously Guyana would be in a “state of shock” as a result of this “blatant leaching of our resources” by Omai and others.

These corporations will continue to poison our natural water ways; our ecosystems and destroy the lifestyles of our people. The Government of Guyana needs to be very cautious.

Yours sincerely,

Hajji Dr. Roshan Khan

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• Canadian, Dr. Roshan Khan, Gold Mining, Hajji, Stabroek News

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