PANAMA CITY, PANAMA (By Piero Stewart, Energy Analytics Institute, 13.Dec.2025, Words: 383) — Guyana’s Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), in collaboration with the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association (GGDMA), convened a high-level discussion to hear and review concerns in the mining sector, including gold declarations.
During the meeting held on 10 Dec. 2025, Guyana’s government revealed its commitment to ensuring the country’s mineral resources are managed “responsibly, transparently, and in accordance with the law.”
“Guyana has delivered unprecedented technical, financial and regulatory support to the sector and its stakeholders,” Guyana’s minister of natural resources Vickram Bharrat said on 13 Dec. 2025 in an official statement.
Bharrat said government has made significant enhancements to the sector’s guiding regulations, as well as supporting compulsory training for miners.
Other highlights from the meeting, per MNR documents, included:
— the ministry will intensify regulatory scrutiny of all licensed gold dealers and traders. This includes stricter audits of purchasing records, verification of source declarations, and routine compliance checks to ensure adherence to licensing conditions.
— the ministry will significantly scale up field monitoring and enforcement efforts across mining districts. These operations will target unauthorized activities and ensure compliance with environmental, safety, and production reporting requirements.
— agencies under the ministry’s purview have been instructed to heighten the confiscation of equipment found to be operating without legal documentation or in prohibited areas.
— the ministry will expand collaborative operations involving the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), the Guyana Police Force (GPF), the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), and other relevant agencies. These joint efforts will focus on identifying, arresting, and prosecuting individuals and groups engaged in illegal mining.
— the ministry and the GGDMA is strongly urging all miners to conduct sales through the Guyana gold board or authorized licensed dealers. This is essential to maintaining accurate national production data, supporting fair trade, and ensuring that the benefits of the sector are properly accounted for, and
— the ministry reiterates that workers in the mining sector must not be paid in raw gold. All employees are to be compensated through lawful financial channels in accordance with labour laws and tax regulations. “Paying workers in gold undermines transparency, weakens declaration accuracy, and exposes workers to exploitation and unsafe practices,” according to the MNR.
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By Piero Stewart reporting from Panama City. © 2025 Energy Analytics Institute (EAI). All Rights Reserved.
