Government commits to continuing support for the mining sector

The government will continue to support the country’s mining sector as it forges ahead with a bold developmental agenda.

Minister of Natural Resources Vickram Bharrat spoke with members of the Bartica business community at a recent networking activity.

He noted that once mining does well so does Bartica and the entire country,

“I want to tonight to give our government and our president full commitment to the mining sector because the mining sector is critical to the development of our country. Today, the Guyana that you see wasn’t built on oil and gas. It was built on mining. It was built on logging on agriculture, tourism and the other traditional sectors,” Minister Bharrat said.

The minister stated that the government does not intend to make the same mistake as other oil-producing nations.

According to the minister, the government will not abandon other traditional and non-oil sectors of the economy.

“We said from day one that we are not going to make that mistake. As a matter of fact, we are going to use revenue from the oil and gas sector to incentivise. We are expanding the traditional productive sectors. And we have done that”

He also noted the benefits of government incentives for the mining, quarrying and other industries as well.

He noted that when the government took office in 2020, the annual production of stone aggregate was 600 thousand tonnes. This year, Guyana is projected to produce 3.6 million tonnes of aggregate, most of which is from Region Seven.

“Gold production has increased, compared this year with last year, we are over 20 thousand ounces ahead of 2024 already and this is only July 2025,” he added.

He stated that Region Seven will see one of the largest gold mines ever built in Guyana, called the Oko West Project by Reunion Gold.

This operation will employ locals as part of the agreement with the government.

“For Bartica directly, I have mentioned the expansion of the mining sector and we will continue to work with miners because we know this community depends heavily on mining. We are going to continue to make land available and to make land accessible to miners,” the minister said.

He noted that the government will continue to work with miners to increase the recovery rate.

Minister Bharrat also mentioned the road leading to Bartica that the President, Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali, has considered, and the gas-to-energy project, all of which will bring tremendous benefits to Bartica and other parts of Guyana.