Despite registering declining declarations for gold and diamond, Guyana’s mining and quarrying sector still grew by 89.9 percent in the first half of the year, driven by increased output from the oil and gas and the ‘other mining’ subsectors. The details of this performance were noted in the Ministry of Finance’s latest half-year report.
The document states that these increases outweighed the declines observed in the gold mining and bauxite mining subsectors. Notably, the oil and gas subsector is estimated to have expanded by 98.4 percent in the first half of the year. At the end of June, total crude oil production stood at 68.7 million barrels, compared with 34.6 million barrels in the same period of last year.
The report notes that the Liza Unity Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel (FPSO) produced first oil on February 11, 2022, and, in the first half of this year, ramped up to a production rate of approximately 227,000 barrels per day. Looking ahead, with the Prosperity FPSO expected to come online in the final quarter of the year, the sector is now forecasted to grow by 39.6 percent in 2023.
With respect to the bauxite mining subsector, this is estimated to have contracted by 11.1 percent in the first half of the year. The report states that total bauxite production is estimated to have fallen from 343,922 tonnes in the first six months of 2022, to 277,356 tonnes during the same period of this year. This performance is driven by lower year-on-year output from both producers amid weak world market conditions, combined with marketing, demand and technical challenges. In the second half of the year, however, the performance of the larger producer is expected to improve with the commissioning of a new kiln in July.
With adjustments to the composition of grades to be produced in the second half in response to external market developments, alongside lowerthan-anticipated production in the first half of the year, the report states that the sector is now projected to contract by 3.2 percent this year.
Similarly, the gold mining subsector suffered a decline in the first half of the year, contracting by 11.4 percent, due to lower declarations from the small- and medium-scale miners. At the end of June, government said gold declarations stood at 209,756 ounces, compared with 236,728 ounces during the same period last year. While declarations from the lone large producer expanded by 6.1 percent year-on-year, government said this was outweighed by lower declarations from the small- and medium-scale producers.
Guyana Standard understands that declarations from the latter fell from 188,956 ounces in the first half of 2022 to 159,084 ounces at the end of June this year. Additionally, improvements observed in early third quarter, alongside strengthened enforcement efforts by the regulatory authorities, are expected to result in a rebound in the second half. Government said the gold mining subsector is now projected to grow by 5.3 percent in 2023.
On the upside, government said the other mining and quarrying subsector – comprising sand, stone, diamonds, and manganese – is estimated to have expanded by 45.2 percent in the first half of the year. Sand and stone declarations are estimated to have grown by 52.6 percent and 71.7 percent, respectively, largely supported by ramped up construction activity, as Government continues to expand and promote investment in transformative infrastructure projects countrywide.
On the downside, diamond declarations fell 21.2 percent in the first half of the year, to 38,068 metric carats. Similarly, manganese production is estimated to have fallen by 21.9 percent on account of operational constraints faced in the first half of the year.
Given the performance in the first half, and with construction activity expected to intensify in the second half, growth for the subsector is now projected at 17.1 percent for 2023.
