Georgetown: Guyana has already begun to notice significant improvements in the area of local quarry production, especially in the cases of sand and stone.
Figures provided by Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat shows that for 2021, the production for sand surpassed 1.65 million tonnes, as compared to the 688,051 tonnes produced in 2020.
As for stone, 2021 saw a production of 853,099 tonnes, as compared to the 737,750 tonnes produced during the same period in the previous year. It has been noted that even with improved production, there were still complaints of shortages across the country.
It is for this reason that Minister Bharrat has called for ramped-up production in aggregates, and has even urged the private sector to continue investments in the sand-mining and quarry industries.
In the meantime, there have been complaints from some quarters that Guyana has been importing stone, but according to Minister Bharrat, this only points to the growing need for improved production and continued investments.
Already, in 2021, 11 quarry licences were issued to new applicants, covering 30,737 acres with each having a productive capacity of 150,000-200,000 metric tonnes per year.
This was reported by Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, during his six-hour-long presentation of the mammoth 2022 national budget of $552.9 billion.
He explained that since most of the new quarries are anticipated to come on stream by the end of 2022, production figures by the end of this year would see further improvements.
“Beyond oil and gas, other extractives such as gold, bauxite, sand, stone, and other minerals will be major contributors to Guyana’s economy going forward. Our government recognises the critical role of the mining sector in the economy and will continue to invest in and promote the expansion of the sector,” Dr Singh told the National Assembly last month.
He said that going forward, these developments will be executed in a manner that remains mindful of the challenges and vulnerabilities of the mining sector, as were clearly illustrated during the 2021 floods when operating sites and access roads were inundated and rendered impassable for an extended time.
But even with floods, the quarry sector still managed to expand by some 81.6 per cent in 2021.
“Sand extraction and stone production are estimated to have grown by 132.8 per cent and 15.9 percent, respectively,” Minister Singh specified.
He noted that this growth was partially supported by heavy emphasis of “construction activity in the government’s Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP), as well as rapid expansion in private-sector construction activity.”
Within the past two years, Guyana has been notably experiencing a construction boom. As a matter of fact, Minister Singh reported that current estimates show that the construction sector grew by 29.8 per cent when compared with 2020, and with several major infrastructural projects planned for 2022 and beyond, several sectors including mining and construction are poised to take off even further.
Shortly after the People’s Progressive Party/Civic assumed office in 2020, it brought an end to what was deemed as a standstill in the quarry industry, owing to the non-granting of licences throughout the tenure of the David Granger-led government.
In December 2020, the PPP/C government granted approvals for Black Jaguar Investment Group, owned by Essequibo businessman Tamesh Jagmohan, to operate a block in the Mazaruni River.
At the time of the announcement, the quarry was positioned to be the largest of its kind in Guyana and the Caribbean, with plans to produce some 20,000 metric tonnes every week.
The company had said that unlike other quarries, it will be engaging international partners to establish multiple sites of extraction and production.
“Other quarries in Guyana have a very limited approach to extraction and production; they operate only a single extraction and processing system no matter the size of the QL (quarry licence) and the availability of the resource.”
To this end, the company in a statement had said that it plans to revolutionise the way the quarry industry operates in Guyana and to “solve the chronic shortage of supply that has resulted in a resource-rich country having to import aggregate to meet demand.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.