Govt open to continue working with Canadian investors – Minister Persaud

Natural Resources and the Environment Minister Robert Persaud on Tuesday morning joined Canadian High Commissioner to Guyana David Devine at the Canadian High Commission in a video conference with Canadian investors.

The investors gathered in Fairmont Royal York, Toronto, Ontario, Canada and included Azimuth Resources Limited, CGX Energy Inc, Columbus Gold Corporation, Guyana Goldfields Inc, Reunion Gold Corporation and Sandspring Resources Ltd.

According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) release, Minister Persaud assured investors that things are settled and the necessary preparations for continued investments are in place, in spite of the fact that the ministry he now heads is new.

“Guyana’s natural resources sector is a very important sector for our economy, particularly in the areas of mining… all aspects of it such as gold, diamond and manganese, and the exploration activities of oil and gas,” Minister Persaud said.

Towards this end, President Donald Ramotar decided that Guyana needs to have a much more coordinated, harmonised and integrated approach in the area of natural resources management, as this area is seen as a significant growth sector, which will increasingly contribute to the country’s national economy, wealth and prosperity.

Minister Persaud said that with the new ministry, it is hoped that all hitches to facilitate all activities within the natural resources sector would be resolved thereby serving the needs of investors, operators and stakeholders within the natural resources sector, moreso within the mining sector.

Towards this end, there will be a focus on the environment and sustainability in development as that would not contradict in any way, to increase activities once they are properly managed, “So we have pushed ahead and emphasised the need for sustainable management and due respect given for the environment, we do not see that impeding investment activities in the mining sector, we expect everyone to be corporate players, respectful to our environment,” Minister Persaud added.

In September this year, REPSOL, the internationally renowned oil exploration company, was given approval by former President Bharrat Jagdeo for an extension to its deadline for drilling of the Jaguar Well in the Guyana offshore area. Tullow Oil, a London-based Company, YPF and CGX of Canada are the main partners in the Jaguar Well joint venture drilling project, holding equity interests of 30 and 25 percent respectively.

The drilling process was halted by a rig that was used by another operator in Suriname at the time but is in Guyana now and ready to commence for a period of about six months (180 days), President Ramotar said recently.

In mining, Guyana Goldfields Inc, a Canadian-based company, signed an agreement in November to the tune of US$1 billion, for the development of the Aurora Mines located in the Cuyuni River, Region Seven. The agreement is similar to the recent accord between the Guyana government and Sandspring Resources Inc for construction of the Toroparu mines in the same district and will be followed by another agreement for mining at Bonasika.

Additionally, manganese mining in the North West District, Region One, has been reinvigorated after agreements were sealed in March with Reunion Manganese Incorporated.