Guyana should be more welcoming of non-nationals who lend expertise and create employment opportunities, says Robeson Benn, head of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC).

Benn said it is important to attract investment, especially in the gold and diamond fields, since foreigners, particularly Brazilians, have been offering improved technology to the industry. Much of the equipment and the forms being used in the industry are of Brazilian origin and there has been some improvement in infrastructure and exploration methods.

But some have expressed concerns over the perceived large numbers of illegal miners, and this issue resurfaced again last week during a GGMC press conference at the Brickdam, Georgetown office.

Commissioner Benn has, however, maintained that the GGMC is satisfied that most of the Brazilians here in the mining sector are legal or are in the process of getting the proper documentation. The GGMC estimates that there are about 1200 Brazilians involved in mining in Guyana’s interior and of that number, some 20 to 30 per cent are either in the process of getting new documentation or do not have the right documentation.

According to the Commissioner, Guyana does not have enough people here to develop its resources, and thus non-nationals should be welcomed. Authorities, he said, should welcome investment and not turn back investment and to that end, the GGMC has been regularizing the operations and the operatives during encounters in the field.

“In terms of Guyana’s development and the development of its mineral resources, Guyana will not become properly developed unless that important part of its equation is largely met and that is people. Guyana does not have enough people to develop its resources and Guyana should be more welcoming of people who want to come here to try to make some livelihood for themselves. Of course, we have to make sure that we also benefit and that we do not suffer by way of smuggling,” Benn told reporters.

He said in the process, consideration is taken of certain issues, among them, security. According to the Commissioner, the GGMC would not seek to reject investors out of hand on the grounds that their documents for operating here are not in order, since many times the process is long and tedious.

“If we went in to the bush and found somebody [mining] and he had three months and then maybe he is illegal now because the three months have gone and he has to come back to Georgetown to get the documents stamped and pay money and wait days... a person may be waiting on documentation and may be spending a lot of money trying to get documented in Georgetown and because of language and other problems they may not be all aware of the issues in terms of timing and what is required to get documented. The logical and rational thing to do is to stabilize the operation, because Guyanese are also being employed by them, either directly or downstream... and there is wide economy benefit. So I think overall we have to be a bit more welcoming, even while we deal with the issues of making things appropriate according to the law.”

Diamond declaration up

“[So] I think overall... the advent of non-nationals in the diamond mining industry has been a great plus for Guyana. We not only have, at the mining end, non-nationals from Brazil particularly, but in terms of the trading in diamonds, we have people from Belgium, Israel, Venezuela, who are all involved and have been investing in trading in the country and are providing financing for these operations,” Benn said.

As such, the commission estimates that the declaration of diamonds is about 70 per cent and Benn has conceded that among the lot has been the largest of all diamonds mined.

The main impetus for diamond mining increases over the last three or four years, the GGMC Commissioner told reporters, relates particularly to the adaptation of improved mining equipment and methods. Apart from the input of Brazilian miners, in terms of technology, there is an improvement in the recovery of diamonds by the use of an improved jig.

“Previously the industry would have depended on long ponds or sloops for the recovery of diamonds primarily. But overwhelmingly now there is a widespread use of these jigs, which are of Brazilian design and origin. We are not yet at the optimized position in terms of recovery...much can be done to improve things, but we have advanced well along the way in terms of improving the way we do things in the diamond industry,” Benn stated.

Another factor responsible for the boost, the Commissioner said, is that many operators are now using small excavators in the industry. There have also been the geo-morphological development of the terraces in the diamond district and evaluations done extensively by Golden Star, Benn said.

Malaria

Malaria continues to plague miners in the field, says Benn, since they operate in a high rainfall environment where numerous puddles and pools for harbouring mosquitoes are created. As such, there is an increase in the incidence of malaria.

However, the GGMC head said, efforts to deal with the situation are continuing, since malaria infections have negative consequences for the industry.

“We have been working... along with the Ministry of Health and we also had a Canadian International Development Agency/Guyana: Environmental Capacity Development Project (CIDA/GENCAPD), with which we have over the last at least two or three years been promoting initiatives to have better practices with regard to malaria and how to do things with regard to prevention.”

The GENCAPD project, reports state, is designed to develop environmental expertise in several of the key institutions involved with the mining sector in Guyana and to develop a regulatory framework that will promote the sustainable development of Guyana’s mineral resources. It is a six-year, $3.75 million project, financed by CIDA, and focuses on developing technical and managerial capacity within the key mining sector institutions of Guyana, including the GGMC, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA).

According to Benn, the GGMC is currently in discussions with the Ministry of Health to promote an international roll-back malaria initiative. At the moment, they are developing the protocols and the agreements that would provide assistance to various sectors of the economy with regard to the problem of malaria.

“I think every incidence of sickness will result generally in eight or 10 lost man-days, in terms of work. And usually when you lose a man out of your complement in the bush, you have to go to Bartica or to some other locality to get somebody else to replace [him]. So it is a severe burden on the industry. It is one of the challenges we have,” Benn said.

Another burning concern for authorities is protecting the country’s vast frontier. But Benn told reporters last Thursday that it is not the job of the GGMC to protect and control the frontier.

“One of the things we have to recognize is how long our frontier is and how difficult it is to police... If people are there and are willing to make investments and we see an opportunity for them to be properly documented... we attempt to do so. The frontier is very long and in difficult places and it is not a simple thing to try to police the frontier. I don’t think that we can ever say that we can police the frontier... But the protection and policing of the frontier is not our responsibility; we would help where we can,” the Commissioner said.