Remarks by Hon. Raphael G.C. Trotman, M.P at PDAC Convention
Remarks by Hon. Raphael G.C. Trotman, M.P
Minister of Natural Resources
Guyana Mining Day
March 3, 2019, Toronto, Canada
Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to extend to you all a very warm Guyana welcome on behalf of the H.E President David Granger, my colleagues in the Government, and on my own behalf.
For hundreds of years, treasure hunters and adventurers alike have come to Guyana’s shores in search of El Dorado, the lost city of gold. This search provided a catalyst for European arrival in Guyana in the 1500’as and the rest, as they say, is history. Today, we have every type of prospector and investor working in the rich gold and mineral fields of Guyana- from the small ‘porknocker’, both male and female, to the large scale miners at the medium and industrial scales.
Guyana is the only English-speaking country on the continent of South America, we have a similar common law, parliamentary system and institutional infrastructure that can be found in other Commonwealth countries such as Canada. This means that there is a greater ease of doing business for companies from most parts of the world. Currently, we have a challenge in our bauxite zone where cultural differences seem to be creating unwanted tensions, but that is another story for another place and time.
As you may know, we are situated within the northern part of the Guiana Shield. The Guyana greenstone belts are located in regions such as Barima-Waini Region, Cuyuni/Mazaruni; and Potaro/Siparuni, to name a few. Generally, these greenstone belts host commercial deposits of a variety of minerals including manganese, uranium and copper and gold is most commonly found along the edges of those belts.
Apart from gold, which is everyone’s attraction, Guyana ’s greenstone belts are also a treasure house of other mineral resources under exploration, such as manganese, copper, and some other metals, such as nickel, zinc, lithium, scandium, other rare earth and lead.
It is our government’s and people’s desire to explore and extract these resources in a sustainable way – sustainable both in terms of the rates of extraction, and with respect for the rich biodiversity within the shield.
Mining in Guyana has been ongoing for over 150 unbroken years and companies mining in Guyana have benefited from the extraction of commercially viable mineral reserves, including, but not limited to, gold, diamonds, and bauxite.
In the Cuyuni, the Guyana Goldfields Inc. Aurora project thus far has measured and indicated approximately 6.25 million ounces of gold. Troy Resources Limited, an Australian company, has a gold mineral resource inclusive of mineral reserves, amounting to measured and indicated at 426,300 ounces and inferred resources at 506,300 ounces.
Current manganese resources as indicated by the Guyana Manganese Inc. stands at 32.4 million of tonnes and other companies involved in mining for bauxite; the Bosai Group has a reserve from the McKenzie Mine at 200 million tonnes of Aluminium and RUSAL with a reserve of 88.5 million tonnes of Aluminium.
Mining continues to play an integral part of our economy and cultural landscape, and the Ministry of Natural Resources has well-established operating rules which provide a safe operating environment that offers all investors flexibility in establishing the infrastructure and operations necessary to enable their success in their investments.
In keeping with our mission, the Ministry of Natural Resources implements and reviews the policies for the responsible exploration, development and utilization of our natural resources. Our policies and regulations are always drafted in consultation with key stakeholders and therefore you will find that they offer fair rewards for all stakeholders. There are no significant laws or practices that discriminate against foreign investors. In fact, foreign direct investment in our mining sector is actively encouraged as it is critical to our economic development. We have recently moved to update our Mineral Policy and a draft, for scrutiny and comment, can be found on our website – www.nre.gov.gy.
Our agency, the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), monitors and conducts inspections to ensure all operators comply with our Mining Legislation and approved Codes of Practice and Guidelines. Our focus on the application of exploration and production best practices allows for more accurate location and extraction of mineral anomalies. This encourages the sustainability of our mining sector and also aids in the reduction of mining accidents and stability related issues. GGMC also acts as a national repository for all information relating to our geology and mineral resources. This facilitates an understanding of our resource base as well as provides the general public with the basic prospection information and advisory services, on the available economic mineral prospects.
The Commission continues to maintain a comprehensive training program that encourages continuous growth in order to improve the quality of service available to industry stakeholders. Our officers are present here tonight, and are also participating in the PDAC Convention. I invite you to visit their booths and to discover more about the prospects for mining in Guyana.
Excellencies, colleagues, friends, ladies and gentlemen, I conclude by saying that Guyana is currently one of the best investment destinations in the world and we are on the verge of a major transformation, which I invite you to be a part of.
Thank you for your attention and may God bless us all.