…as Govt revises 2017 projected production to 700 000 ounces
First quarter gold declaration is along projected lines to achieve a record 700,000 ounces targeted for 2017.
Minister of Natural Resources Raphael Trotman, during a recent presentation in Lethem on the works of his ministry, revealed that 163,000 ounces of gold has been declared for the first quarter of 2017.
Minister Trotman said that the 2017 budget has set the target of 694,000 ounces of gold, but the ministry is aiming for 700,000 ounces.
Last year’s unprecedented declaration earned the country USD$730,915,229. The country recorded the highest gold declaration with 641,668 ounces, 16.6 per cent above its target.
Small and medium-scale miners accounted for 429,188 ounces while Guyana Goldfields and Troy Resources, large gold mining operations, contributed 145,236 ounces and 67,244 ounces respectively.
The Guyana Gold Board recorded 451,490 ounces of gold in 2015, surpassing the 380,000 ounces target.
Guyana’s economic growth last year was fuelled by strong performances in the gold, diamond and quarrying industries, and this is a pattern that is expected to continue this year.
The economy has been targeted to achieve growth of approximately 3.8 per cent this year, and it is expected that the mining, quarrying and services sectors will drive this growth.
However, observers have argued that the one-sided reliance on growth from the resource extractive sector can led to what economist term as the “Dutch disease”. This is where sharp increases in revenues from one sector leads to the stagnation of the rest of the other revenue sectors – such as four of the traditional “six sisters” in Guyana; rice, sugar, bauxite and timber; the other two being gold and diamond- thereby making them and the economy less competitive, in addition to drying up diversification.
