EPA reviewing EIA for Mako Mining’s Eagle Mountain Gold Project acquired in 2024 takeover

Jun 01, 2026 News

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(Kaieteur News) – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Eagle Mountain Gold Project, a proposed large-scale mining operation in Region Eight that came under the control of Canadian company Mako Mining Corp. following its acquisition of Goldsource Mines Inc. in 2024.

In July 2024, Mako Mining entered Guyana’s mining sector through the acquisition of a fellow Canadian company, Goldsource Mines, gaining control of the Eagle Mountain Gold Project.

Through the takeover, Mako inherited a Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) of approximately 1.2 million ounces of gold in the indicated category and 582,000 ounces in the inferred category.

The Eagle Mountain Gold Project is located about eight kilometres south of Mahdia in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni). The project is planned for an open pit gold mine over a 15-year period and expected to produce 66,500 ounces of gold annually.

Earlier this year, Mako through its subsidiary Stronghold Guyana Inc. submitted to the EPA, the Eagle Mountain Gold Project’s EIA to be reviewed. In a recent post, EPA said its Environmental Resource Management team participated in a disclosure meeting on the Eagle Mountain project. The meeting followed an earlier engagement held in Mahdia as part of the stakeholder consultation process. According to the EPA, representatives from the Guyana Forestry Commission, Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) and the Ministry of Natural Resources were briefed on the project as part of the process for the EPA’s review of the Environmental Impact Assessment.

Stronghold Guyana holds a prospecting licence on the Eagle Mountain Property, referred to as the Eagle Mountain Prospecting Licence (EMPL) which covers approximately 48 square kilometers (km²). There is also the Kilroy Mining Medium-scale permit which covers an area of 252 hectare. The project has two gold deposits, the Eagle Mountain and Salbora, as well as several other exploration targets.

According to the EIA, the company will rely on up to six flights per week to support operations. Gold doré bars produced at the project’s processing plant will be transported by air either from the Mahdia airstrip or from the project site to Georgetown. From there, it is expected that the doré will be exported to foreign refineries pursuant to standard terms and conditions of Mineral Agreements with the Government of Guyana.

Mako Mining had disclosed that gold production at the Eagle Mountain project will commence in 2027.

The Eagle Mountain gold project is one of several large-scale mining assets in Guyana that have changed ownership through transactions between foreign companies. At his first press conference for the year, this publication questioned President Irfaan Ali whether the growing trend of foreign firms ‘flipping’ large-scale mining assets in Guyana is a concern to his administration, and whether government believes stronger policies are needed to ensure the country benefits directly from those transactions.

The head of state defended the transfer and sale of Guyana’s mineral properties among foreign mining companies, arguing that such transactions are part of the global mining industry and not unique to Guyana. “We may not be happy with that, but the reality is that you are in an international market, so it’s not a happiness index measuring, it’s a reality of the global system we’re operating in…There are global rules in that environment. There are global standards in that environment. As a country, we have to, we don’t have a choice, when you accept international investor in your country, you may not be happy…but it’s not a happiness index. Policy making is not necessarily happiness index measuring on every issue…” he said.

Over the years, Kaieteur News has spotlighted the growing number of foreign players, particularly Canadian firms operating in the mining industry.

This publication recently reported that 11 Canadian firms are currently advancing gold projects across Guyana’s mining districts, collectively controlling millions of ounces of gold at various stages of development – with some nearing gold production. The article highlights that most of these projects are located in Region Seven, the Cuyuni-Mazaruni Mining District, a region recognised for its significant gold potential. For five of the 11 companies, the Proven and Probable Reserves and indicated Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) amount to 15.7 million ounces of gold. The remaining companies are still in the exploration stage and have not reached the point of announcing resource estimates.

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• Eagle Mountain Gold Project, EIA, EPA, Mako Mining

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