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Over 200,000 ounces of gold declared in first half of 2025 – BOG
…AGM underground mining operation helps with increased declaration
(Kaieteur News) – Over 200,000 troy ounces of gold were declared in the first six months of 2025, marking a 10.9% increase.
According to the Bank of Guyana’s 2025 Half-Year Report, total gold declarations rose to 208,756.8 troy ounces, driven by a 14.9% increase from small and medium-scale miners, who declared 137,440.6 ounces.
The bank attributed this performance to recent government relief measures, including a 10% reduction in tributors tax and the removal of the 14% VAT on mining equipment and lubricating oil. Central Bank also credited an increase in the distribution of concessions to small and medium scale miners, leading to a reduction in illegal mining practices, thus positively affecting the sector.
A look at AGM’s underground tunnel
Further, it stated that the sole foreign company, Aurora Gold Mines (AGM) declaration grew by 4 percent to 71,316.2 troy ounces, as the company’s underground mining operations remain favourable.
AGM is owned by Chinese state-run Zijin Mining Group and is the only foreign company operating a large-scale gold mine in Guyana. The Aurora Gold Project, located in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), is wholly owned by AGM. It holds estimated reserves of 184 tonnes (approximately six million ounces) of gold.
In August, this publication reported that AGM earned RMB1.4789 billion (over US$200 million) from the Aurora Gold Mine during the first half of 2025. The company’s interim report valued the mine’s total assets at RMB4.5287 billion and disclosed that it produced 2,039 kilograms (over 71,000 ounces) of gold between January and June.
Moreover, the Bank of Guyana report also noted that diamond declarations fell by 22.6% to 22,749 metric carats, while the broader mining and quarrying sector grew by 5.9%, supported by surging bauxite output, growth in other mining subsectors, and continued strong performance from the oil and gas industry.
Total bauxite production significantly increased to 1,728,317 tonnes, compared to 196,660 tonnes one year earlier. The report states that this outcome was primarily on account of a surge in the production of Metallurgical Grade Bauxite (MAZ) to 1,461,292 tonnes, compared to 975 tonnes one year prior.
Further, production of Chemical Grade Bauxite (CGB) and other bauxite increased to 156,868 tonnes and 21,841 tonnes respectively. However, production of tailings bauxite declined by 56.6 percent to 20,493 tonnes and production of Refractory Aggregate Super Calcined Grade Bauxite (RASC) declined by 3.7 percent to 89,120 tonnes.
Moreover, crushed stone declaration increased by 95.5 percent to 2,657,275 tonnes from 1,359,546 tonnes, while sand declared increased by 8.1 percent to 6,041,445 tonnes, during the review period. Central Bank stated that the increase in declarations was primarily driven by high demand fuelled by construction activities across the country.
Also, manganese production increased by 31.4 percent to 165,381 tonnes compared to 125,833 tonnes one year prior.
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