Clampdown on miners muddying waters
Stabroek News
November 19, 2003
The Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC) will be cracking down on miners who continue to contaminate the waterways of the interior with turbid tailings.
The practice has been cited recently as being responsible for the spread of typhoid fever and other water-borne diseases, since many hinterland residents charged that the effluence from tailings ponds contaminates their water.
According to a release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) last week, in an effort to detect levels of turbidity or murkiness from mines that overflow into nearby communities, the GGMC has stepped up its monitoring measures through the introduction of a turbidity wedge.
GINA said during a recent visit to Region One (Barima/Waini) as part of the Prime Minister's delegation, GGMC Commissioner Robeson Benn tested samples of water around mining camps in the region.
Benn defined turbidity as being derived from the total suspended solids from among the solid material carried along with the water in mining tailings, coming down from mining operations.
He noted that the Commission tends to work closely with the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA) to have each mining camp equipped with a turbidity wedge by January. At the moment, one source claimed, only GGMC officials are using the wedge.
"We are requiring in the production form, a new column, where the miner is required to disclose the type of water he is discharging," GINA quoted Benn as saying. According to the GGMC Head, the meter will indicate the water at a clear, turbid or muddy level, with the first reading being most acceptable.
"The GGMC official said the aim of the exercise is to clamp down on errant miners whose tailing ponds prove unsound, through the escape of waste that contaminates water flowing to communities surrounding mining operations.
Demonstrating the use of the turbidity wedge recently at mining district Eyelash in Region One, the GGMC Commissioner explains that the turbidity wedge indicates in seconds, the total suspended solid material carried along with the water in mining communities," GINA stated.
Benn pointed out that the GGMC considers turbid levels above 100 unacceptable, and after issuing two warnings to mining operators to bring this level down, failure to do so will result in the closure of the operation.
He emphasised that from next January, the GGMC plans to establish an "interim turbidity limit of 100". However, Benn conceded that readings would vary due to the nature of the mining in some districts, which employ the use of hoses for overburden to produce slurry water.
In addition, operators move from one location to another, dependent on the discovery of a fresh goldfield, and this is another factor that has to be taken into consideration by field officers who may carry out sample tests, or seek to verify declarations.
Benn stated further, "The agreements which are in place for operations to move into claims stipulate that clear water must be discharged," adding that the intention is to have miners continue with the use of settlement ponds, recycled ponds, and other measures, to reduce sedimentation to the rivers into the receiving environment.
He expressed hope that with the introduction of the turbidity wedges, miners will observe the existing requirements, thereby reducing the incidence of contamination of water in nearby communities.