Like oil, like gold

Jul 17, 2026 Editorial, News

Editorial…

(Kaieteur News) – Guyana now qualifies to be a jewellery store that is without equal, beyond compare. From oil to gold, the language is exciting and flashy. Looking on the bright side, it is almost inevitable that fields under exploration for uranium could join the foreign investor orchestra currently performing at high volume. A group that resonates almost dreamily about the prospects for riches from Guyana’s minerals.

Glance backwards to November 2023. Guyana’s chief oil partner, American oil giant, ExxonMobil, used 24-carat language to describe the prominence of the Stabroek Block in its sprawling global investment portfolio. Alistair Routledge, ExxonMobil’s Guyana President, told the Financial Times, “It is a jewel in ExxonMobil’s crown. It’s a significant resource.”Others have called Guyana’s offshore Stabroek Block as the discovery of the century, one that stands head and shoulders above all the rest, wherever they are. Wall Street analysts have described the 2016 ExxonMobil oil contract as the “best oil deal in modern history.” Good, better, best is the only way to describe Guyana’s oil deal relative to its massive upside for ExxonMobil.

Now, it is clear that what is good for oil (and ExxonMobil) is also good for gold. The winner on this occasion is Omai Gold Corp, a Canadian company cashing in on Guyana’s rich goldfields. Omai’s President and CEO, Elaine Ellingham, continues with the glittering language of oil. “A rare gem” and a “super pit” that does not have to be made any bigger.It is that once-in-a-lifetime gold strike that miners dream about. A motherlode of motherlodes, with the potential to produce 300,000 ounces of gold every year for the next 20 years. ExxonMobil has the staggeringly rich Stabroek Block under its control for the next 40 years at a minimum. Omai Gold is sitting on a high producing gold mine for the next 20 years.

It has a field to operate in that is two and a half kilometers long and one kilometer wide. That is a huge area of land to work, with much work to do, and endless profits to be reaped. Even the double-digit estimate of millions of ounces could end up being on the low side. In CEO Ellingham’s own words: “it just keeps on giving, and keeps on giving, never disappointing, beautiful looking core.” When there is a project of this size, a CEO cannot fail, just stumbled upon a lifetime achievement.

Oil or gold, Guyana is the gift that keeps on giving. The terms and conditions of the ExxonMobil oil deal are public knowledge. They are rotten to the core, but known. On the other hand, these so-called ‘world-class’ arrangements with “world-class” foreign mining companies are so good that they have to be hidden under a rock. Like oil, it is the same with gold. The foreign investors are the big winners, Guyanese are the biggest losers.What is Guyana’s share of the bargain worked out between the PPP/C Government and the foreign gold companies? Omai Gold’s Elaine Ellingham speaks in the bold manner of a champion who just struck it big. Guyana’s leaders speak in the muted tones of those who are ashamed of their deeds.

The PPP/C Government railed, with justification, against the APNU+AFC Coalition oil deal with the ExxonMobil consortium. The same PPP/C Government should now be proud to share with the public how well it did in comparison with the gold deals it has signed in the six years since being in full charge of Guyana’s affairs.

We at this paper would be happy to hear from President Irfaan Ali, Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat, and Ashni Singh, the minister who has been this country leading information channel on gold engagements with foreign companies. When Ellingham speaks excitedly about her company’s rich prospects, now almost a certainty, Guyana’s leaders cannot be closeting themselves in silence. Share the terms and conditions of the big gold deals with Canadians. There ought to be every reason to be proud of what was signed on behalf of this country. If, for purposes of confidentiality, or competitive concerns, all those contract details cannot be published, then the topline financial numbers would suffice. Royalty percentages, sliding scale features, and taxes would be good places to start.

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Editorial, gold, Guyana’s minerals, jewellery store, oil

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