Aurora Gold Mines will compensate Guyana for environmental damage – Trotman

Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman on Tuesday said Government was seeking to have recently commissioned mining company Guyana Gold Mines, provide some compensation for the damage it caused to the environment during its operations at the Aurora Gold Mines.

The Minister was responding to questions by the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in the National Assembly on Tuesday. According to him, while Government and the gold company have agreed to make the compensation, he was unable to disclose the actual amount being put forward in this regard.

According to Minister Trotman, the company will be paying the Government of Guyana a figure that it believes is sufficient for the degradation caused by the mine.

He said the compensation will be made to the Kaieteur National Park and would be finalised before June of this year. After 19 years of investment, the Guyana Goldfields Inc in June of 2015  began the production of gold at its Aurora mine location in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

The company said that its investment would have seen “massive benefits in royalties to Guyana’s Government… tremendous transfer of skills, technology and science to Guyana… sustainable benefits to small business from procurement and communities benefiting from corporate social responsibility partnerships”.

It stated that after 19 years of exploration involving the latest of technologies and over a US$300 million investment, it is finally realising its corporate mission of “Building a First Class Mine; Caring for the Environment; Building Communities and Creating Opportunities”.

During the exploration phase, the company had employed some 150 Guyanese workers, and for the period January 2014-June 2015, Aurora Gold Mines Project (AGM) and the Gurvan Saihan Joint Venture (GSJV) had contributed to over Gy$1.2 billion in Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and some Gy$226 million to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS).

The benefits to Guyana’s economy, the company said, have been tremendous, noting that it is expected to continue throughout the life of the mine.

The benefits include “Mining Royalty” of eight per cent on gold sales at a price of gold over US1000 per ounce, 30 per cent corporate income tax at a projected value of US$509 million, payroll taxes at a projected value of US$67 million and excise tax on petroleum with a projected value of US$43 million.