…Bharrat attributes increase to crackdown on illegal mining

The Guyana Government’s efforts to streamline the mining industry and crack down on illegal activities have yielded results, with gold declarations increasing by 25,000 ounces during the first six months of this year. Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat made this revelation during an appearance on the recent episode of the Starting Point podcast.

“I’m happy to say that in 2026, we have reached our budgeted target of gold declaration for the half-year period… I think it’s 233,000 ounces. We have reached that target, which is about 25,000 ounces more than last year from the same period,” the Minister indicated. According to Bharrat, the industry had not recorded such outstanding performance since 2016, when large companies such as the Guyana Gold Fields and Troy Resources were actively operating here. Since then, there had been a dip in declaration until 2024, when a slight increase was recorded compared to the previous year. In 2025, there was an increase of some 52,000 ounces in production for the entire year.