Former EPA Head raises alarm over Guyana’s inability to monitor uranium mining

Jun 26, 2026 News

(Kaieteur News) – Guyana lacks the regulatory capacity, technical expertise, and institutional readiness to safely oversee uranium mining operations, former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Dr. Vincent Adams has warned — noting that the country’s track record in environmental governance offers little reason for confidence.

His warning comes as Canada-based U92 Energy Corp. moves to advance the Kurupung uranium project in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni), following its acquisition of Singaporean firm LIA Industries Pte. Ltd. earlier this year. The project spans 92.2 square kilometres and carries a historical resource estimate of 20.6 million pounds of uranium — and it is currently U92’s only listed project.

Former EPA Head raises alarm over Guyana’s inability to monitor uranium mining

Former Head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Dr. Vincent Adams

Speaking with HGPTV Nightly News, Dr. Adams was unsparing in his assessment. “Guyana just based on their track record do not have it, they do not understand what it takes to have it, and they have no interest in providing that capacity to take on such an operation,” he said. “They have no clue what they’re getting into. Have no clue whatsoever.”

Dr. Adams drew on extensive professional experience to underpin his concerns, having overseen uranium-related remediation programmes in the United States and chaired international conferences attended by representatives from more than 60 countries examining the environmental impacts of uranium mining — including in Kazakhstan, one of the world’s largest uranium producers.

He stressed that uranium mining is among the most technically demanding and environmentally consequential forms of resource extraction, carrying serious risks of water contamination, wildlife disruption, and long-term environmental liability if not rigorously managed. He warned that countries which engaged in uranium mining decades ago are still spending heavily to address contamination and rehabilitation today. “This is no walk in the park type of operation,” he said.

Central to Dr. Adams’ concern is the principle of regulatory independence — the idea that governments must possess sufficient technical knowledge to independently verify what operators are doing, rather than allowing companies to effectively self-regulate. He argued that Guyana currently lacks that capacity entirely, and pointed to the country’s environmental governance record in the oil and gas sector as evidence that the gap is not being adequately addressed.

On April 19, 2024, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) granted LIA (Guyana) Inc. — a wholly-owned subsidiary of LIA Industries incorporated in Guyana in March 2023 — Exclusive Prospecting Licences covering uranium, other radioactive minerals, and rare earth elements. The licences run for three years to April 18, 2027, with the possibility of two additional one-year extensions, potentially keeping the project active until April 2029. Exploration activities commenced in 2024.

U92 has since acquired the complete historical technical and exploration dataset for the Kurupung project, consolidating more than a decade of systematic exploration work it describes as the core technical foundation of the project. The company has also finalised a commercial agreement for a Phase One 5,000-metre diamond drilling programme and submitted the required environmental application for drill pad preparation.

Dr. Adams did not argue that uranium mining is inherently incompatible with Guyana’s development — only that the country is not yet equipped to do it safely. His position is that the necessary regulatory, technical, and environmental oversight infrastructure must be built before operations advance, not after.

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Dr. Vincent Adams, EPA, Kurupung uranium project, technical expertise, Uranium mining

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