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Gold miners operating with expired licenses and permits – 2022 EITI Report flags
…highlights little progress on implementing previous recommendations
Kaieteur News- The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) has flagged the operation of gold miners with expired permits and licenses, urging the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) to suspend all activities without the required regulatory approvals.
Gold mining in the interior
The 2022 Report, recently published on the Guyana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (GYEITI) website noted Guyana’s failure to make significant progress on recommendations made by the body in previous reports.
It states, “There has been little tangible progress in acting upon the recommendations made in the 2021 report, and in some cases in prior EITI reports.”
According to the document, a recommendation made for the GYEITI website to be brought and kept up-to-date has been met and cleared.
Additionally, it was noted that the Audit Office made “some progress in addressing the backlog in government audits, although no new audit reports have been signed off yet with the exception of GGMC (Guyana Gold Mining Corporation) to 2016.”
The body noted that it had no difficulty in obtaining data from the Deeds and Commercial Registry Authority (DCRA) in connection with this report, therefore its 2021 recommendation was not repeated.
On the other hand, it said, “The participation of and engagement with the mining sector has not improved, and the 2021 recommendation has been updated in the light of experience from this report. All other recommendations from the 2021 report are repeated.”
The EITI Secretariat repeated its 2021 recommendation on the mining sector with an update. It explained that responses from the mining sector indicate that only 38% of receipts reported by government from the mining sector were subject to reconciliation. Reconciliation refers to a verification process where information is checked for compatibility.
According to the 2022 Report, “It is apparent from the list of licences and permits in issue that some mining entities – individuals, related parties, companies – hold a number of licences, which when taken together mean that their operations are substantial.”
It continues, “It would be appropriate for GGMC to conduct and document a review to ensure that activities have been appropriately licensed and are appropriately managed.”
The body said it noted that a number of prospecting permits and licences have expired and that prospecting permits are being renewed annually for a number of years. Therefore, it suggested, “To be compliant with legislation and licence conditions, GGMC should consider suspending any further activity in the area, in the absence of a valid licence or permit.”
Further, the Independent Administrator (IA) recommended that the Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG) increases engagement with the mining sector, to improve reporting compliance and to ensure that all mining entities making material payments to government are included in future EITI reconciliations.
Additionally, the IA recommended that GGMC should conduct and document a review to ensure that activities – including neighbouring small/medium scale licences – have been appropriately licensed and are appropriately managed.
“Consideration could be given, for example, to introducing regulations to impose a limit for the issuance of small and medium scale licenses to any one miner / mining entity in order that these do not accumulate to the equivalent of a large scale holding,” the report stated.
(Gold miners operating with expired licenses and permits – 2022 EITI Report flags)
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