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Gold declarations hit US$955M by mid-2026
(Kaieteur News) – Guyana’s gold declarations reached 233,000 ounces by mid-2026, roughly 25,000 ounces ahead of the same period last year, according to Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat. At an approximate gold price of US$4,100 per ounce, those declarations are valued at about US$955 million — a figure that will move with the market price of gold.
Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat
Speaking on the Starting Point Podcast, Bharrat said the sector met its budgeted half-year declaration target despite challenging weather conditions earlier in the year and intensified government enforcement against illegal mining.
“I’m happy to say that in 2026 we have reached our budgeted target of gold declaration for the half-year period. I think it’s 233,000 ounces — about 25,000 ounces more than last year for the same period ending in June,” he said, adding that declarations have since climbed closer to 240,000 ounces. It is, he noted, the first time in eight or nine years that the country’s half-year gold declaration target has been met.
Bars of gold Copyright © africanews FRANK RUMPENHORST/AFP
Bharrat attributed the improved numbers in part to a crackdown launched during the first quarter of the year against companies and miners who failed to declare, or significantly under-declared, gold production in 2025. “We had cause to not renew some of their licenses and permits. We had to blacklist some of the non-nationals whose declaration was very low or non-existent — they cannot come back into the country and engage in the mining sector,” he said, describing it as part of a “zero tolerance approach to illegal activities in the mining sector.”
He pointed to a recent enforcement operation in Region One, where the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission and the Guyana Police Force seized about a dozen excavators from illegal mining operations. Penalties for illegal mining are steep, he said: equipment is seized, and its release requires payment of a fine calculated against the quantity of gold produced. Miners who sold gold outside legal channels could face further prosecution.
Bharrat underscored the mining sector’s broader economic weight, noting it remains Guyana’s second-largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) after oil and gas and supports about 30,000 jobs, directly and indirectly. He said government remains committed to growing the sector while ensuring mining is done sustainably and responsibly.
The half-year performance builds on a strong 2025, when declared gold production rose 11.6 percent to 484,321 ounces, an increase of 50,254 ounces over the prior year. Growth last year was uneven across operator categories: declarations from licensed dealerships fell 21.5 percent to 121,883 ounces, while declarations from Zijin Mining Group’s Aurora Gold Mine, the country’s lone large-scale operator, rose 15.5 percent to 167,005 ounces. Declarations to the Guyana Gold Board climbed 45.6 percent to 195,432 ounces. For 2026, government is projecting overall growth of 5.4 percent, with total declarations expected to reach 510,450 ounces as activity accelerates across all operator categories.
The sector’s medium-term outlook is also being shaped by a wave of foreign investment. Kaieteur News has reported growing Canadian interest in Guyana’s gold industry, with about 11 Canadian companies now advancing projects across the country’s mining districts, most concentrated in Region Seven’s Cuyuni-Mazaruni Mining District, long known for its gold potential. Five of those companies have already published Proven and Probable Reserves and Indicated Mineral Resource Estimates totaling 15.7 million ounces of gold, while the remainder are still in earlier stages of exploration.
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Weekend Cartoon
When Vickram mentions US $4100 per ounce, I hope he means Guyana’s
gold is PURE REFINED GOLD, not what the pork-knockers produced in the
fields.