Tremendous benefits for declaring your gold – Pres. Ali assures small miners

President Dr Irfaan Ali is encouraging miners to ensure they declare their gold, noting that there are many benefits to operating in accordance with the laws and regulations.

He made the remarks during an interaction with small miners at Puruni Landing, Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni).

For instance, he said “those decoration slips will help you to get a loan to grow larger and larger.”

“When you all sell your gold to all these people who just come and buy your gold, you’re making their balance sheet better. What about your balance sheet? So, they can take your declaration and go to any bank and get $200 million loan because your declaration adds up on their balance sheet. We want you to make your balance sheet start working for you…So even if you make 100oz of gold in a year, that’s 100oz of income you show the bank that you brought in for that year. It unlocks opportunity for you to get a loan to buy an excavator. You don’t have to go and pawn grocery and pawn your life to some person who gives you a little credit with a machine to go to work and you have to give them all your gold,” the Head of State explained.

“You declare your gold. We will work with you,” he added.

In fact, President Ali emphasised that the government wants to “invest in these areas to make your life here even more comfortable, to give you facilities, to expand facilities, to create opportunities. That is why we are going through this phase of having everyone become compliant.”

He also spoke about the need for all miners to get bank accounts, explaining that the government will send teams to mining areas to make the process more efficient.

The President also underscored the importance of all mining operations being registered.

“Because by registering your operation, you give us an opportunity to know who you are so we can help you. We can see your growth. So, when you apply for land, if you apply for land as a small miner, and we can see that you have been growing your operation, that you have been declaring, then it is easier for that land to be granted,” he explained.

To foreign operators, he encouraged them to get compliant, noting that “we are going to send a team here to help you, to regularize you, to ensure that you have a digital ID card, to ensure that you are entered properly into the system.”

The Head of State assured miners that this process of regularising the mining industry is not meant to create additional hardships. “Do not look at this period of getting things right, of regularising your operation, as a period of difficulty. This is a period that will benefit you tremendously in the long term. Tremendously,” he emphasised.

The government expects gold declarations to rise to 510,450oz this year.

Last year, total gold declarations amounted to 484,321oz, a significant improvement from 2024, which stood at 434,067oz, a modest 1,954-oz rise from the 432,113oz reported in 2023.

Guyana sets 2026 gold declaration target at 510,450 ounces