Latest update June 3rd, 2026 12:40 AM
Pay standoff at Aurora: workers reject 8% raise, hold firm for 10%
(Kaieteur News) – Aurora Gold Mines (AGM), owned by Chinese state-owned Zijin Mining Group Co. Ltd., has increased its proposed across-the-board salary adjustment from six per cent to eight per cent, but the offer has not been accepted, as workers are holding out for a 10 per cent increase.
This offer follows a brief work stoppage last Sunday at the Aurora Gold Project in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), where workers protested the company’s initial 6 per cent proposal and demanded at least 10 per cent, citing increased activity in gold operations.
A section of the AGM’s gold operation in Region Seven.
General Secretary of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), Dawchan Nagasar, said on Tuesday that the union met with company representatives, during which the revised eight per cent offer was made. “We haven’t agreed to it as yet,” he said.
“They offered 8% and we demanding 10% as the workers them asked for, there are other benefits that are reasonable that the workers accept it’s just the across the board is the problem right now…” he further explained.
AGM had described Sunday’s incident as a, “brief work stoppage”. According to the company, the stand-down took place between 07:18 hrs. and 08:10 hrs. and involved employees from the mills department. AGM also said it remains committed to respectful dialogue, workplace stability, and constructive engagement with employees and their representatives as discussions continue.
The Aurora Gold Mine is wholly owned by AGM and remains Guyana’s only large-scale gold mine currently in production. It holds estimated reserves of 184 tonnes (approximately six million ounces) of gold.
Notably, the Chinese company took over the operations back in 2020. AGM Inc., 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. Aurora’s output contributed to the 41,186 kilograms of gold produced across its global operations, marking a 16 per cent increase over the same period last year.
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