Guyana Gold Board holds sensitization outreach sesión in Karrau, Region 7; urged miners to sell their gold to the GGB or licenced dealers only
The Guyana Gold Board on Saturday March 17, 2018 conducted the first of many planned outreach sessions with miners in the mining districts to sensitize them about the role of the agency and the benefits that trading with it brings to them.
The activity took place at Karrau in Region 7 and it had the participation of miners from the Bartica, Karrau and Three Miles areas among others. Apart from technical officers of the Guyana Gold Board, the visiting team included members of staff of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, the Compliance Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association, the Guyana Women Miners’ Organisation, and mining syndicates represented by the National Mining Syndicate.
The purpose of the outreach included:
- To share the mandate of the Guyana Gold Board
- To outline the requirements for selling of gold
- To outline the roles and responsibilities of the Guyana Gold Board with reference to the Anti-Money Laundering legislation and gold miners’ responsibilities
- To outline the benefits to gold miners for selling their gold to the Guyana Gold Board
- To register gold miners in the area in a newly created Guyana Gold Board database
Speaking to the 50 or so miners gathered, General Manager of the Guyana Gold Board stressed the need for the miners to bring their gold to the body for selling. “We are responsible for ensuring that gold trading is properly supervised,” she said. Thompson told the miners too that they can take their gold to any one of the eight licenced gold dealers but warned them against selling to persons who are not authorized to buy gold.
“It is expected that when you do business, you do [it] in the legal way. We have persons who are burning gold around the place and you sell your gold to that person. You do not even have a receipt of what you sold. We are here to tell you that it goes way beyond that,” she stressed.
Thompson reminded that any person selling gold to the Gold Board must present a valid identification card, a valid TIN certificate, their proof of address, the location of the mining operation, the equipment being used among others.
To those calling the process burdensome, Thompson reminded that the Guyana Gold Board has a mandate to be compliant with the Anti-Money Laundering legislation. It must be known who the sellers are, where they are getting their gold from and how they dispose of it.
The GGB General Manager told the miners that among the benefits of selling their gold to the GGB is access to documentation that can be taken to the bank for financing.
Further, miners were warned against being enticed by higher than normal prices that some may offer for their gold as this could possibly be proceeds of crime being laundered and for which the seller could be liable under the Anti-Money Laundering legislation.