A top mining official has said the change in the nature of crime in the country over the past year has also hit the mining region, and several investors have expressed security concerns to the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).
Commissioner of the GGMC, Robeson Benn noted that camps are no longer under threat from the conventional knife-wielding criminals, but attacks are now being launched by heavily-armed gangs carrying AK-47 rifles, an occurrence which was unprecedented in the region up to the past year, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported yesterday.
Recently there have been a number of attacks on gold operations located in the mid-Mazaruni, North West District and the Konawaruk River, which falls north-east of Mahdia, Region Eight (Potaro/Siparuni), Benn said.
On May 4, he recalled, bandits attacked the North American Resources Limited mining camp and shot at employees and escaped with a quantity of gold. To date police have recovered some of the loot and one person was arrested while another was shot dead in a confrontation with the police.
Meanwhile, a three-member delegation headed by Kampta Persaud, Manager of Geology Services at GGMC, flew into the Kurupung mining region yesterday on a four-day visit to the Cuyuni/Mazuruni area, GINA reported. The Mazaruni district has the largest concentration of diamond mining concessions, many of which are leased by Guyanese but manned by Brazilians.
According to Benn, GINA said, the visit by the GGMC team is aimed at familiarising the Commission with the extent of recent mining activities around the mid-Mazaruni River.
He expects the team would gain an understanding of the geological setting of the deposits being worked in the mining operations in the Mazaruni River, through the use of new approaches and equipment.
And responding to concerns raised by some indigenous communities regarding pollution caused by mining near streams, rivers and creeks, Benn said it occurs mainly through small-scale mining operations. However, the Commission is working towards establishing regulations to take effect within a few months, paving the way for the introduction of interim standards for waste discharge, GINA quoted the top mining official as saying.