Guyana’s gold production, a key component of the country’s mining-dependent economy, is expected to hit a record high this year, an industry group said.
The Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association announced Monday that it expects 500,000 ounces of gold to be produced from the country’s mines this year. Statistics for the first half of the year show that production has increased 23 percent over the same period in 2012.
According to Charles Da Silva, the vice president of the GGDMA, the 500,000-ounce target has “has never been achieved in Guyana in the history of gold.”
According to the International Monetary Fund, the Guyanese economy has grown between three and five percent each year for the past five years.
In 2013 the Guyanese gross domestic product is expected to expand by 5.5 percent, buoyed by “strengths in the gold, agriculture (rice), and services (construction and transportation) sectors,” the IMF predicted in a December 2012 report.
“Following general elections in November 2011 the political situation, though largely stable, became more complicated, but investor interest has remained strong and confidence generally positive,” the IMF wrote.
See the Aug. 29, 2013 edition for full coverage.
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