Gold declarations for the first half of this year increased by 10.95 per cent with totals reaching 208,760.1 ounces compared to 188,160.1 ounces at June 30 last year, as global prices for the mineral continue to climb, according to Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat.
“The increase is by 20,600 ounces or 10.95 per cent,” Bharrat told Stabroek News on Friday.
Last year, the Guyana Gold Board (GGB) had listed the price for one ounce of gold at approximately US$3,352. While the half-year gold declaration figure was 188,160 ounces, at the end of the year it more than doubled, as declarations closed at 434,067 ounces.
The 2024 totals, however, had represented just a small increase from 2023 when it was 432,113 ounces and government had said that it did not see smuggling as an issue, since the figure came at a time when one of the largest medium-scale producers – the Alphonsos – had scaled down operations by some 40 per cent.
