– heavy focus on environment, safety

With state policy placing increasing emphasis on mining site safety and an environmentally responsible regime of mining practices in the country’s gold mining sector the work of the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission’s (GGMC) Mining School is assuming an increasingly central position in ensuring the integrity of the sector, its Administrator John Applewhite-Hercules has told the Stabroek Business.

During an extended interview, Applewhite-Hercules said he believed that despite the capacity limitations of the institution, it had enhanced the awareness of both miners and GGMC officials who had experienced the services that it had to offer of the importance of training in key areas of the gold mining sector.

Figures seen by this newspaper indicate that during last year, 492 miners and staff of the GGMC were trained by the Mining School in various courses that included an Introductory, Intermediate and Advanced Level Training Courses for Prospectors, Health and Safety Codes of Practice, First Aid Courses and Accident/Incident Investigation. This compares with 300 persons trained by the Mining School in several of the same disciplines during the previous year. “Now that the mining sector is fully aware of the government’s focus on aggressively embracing the ‘greening’ of the economy and the society the Mining School can hardly pursue a training curriculum the fails to pay attention to that reality,” ApplewhiteHercules said.

Training statistics also indicate that during last year the focus of the Mining School’s training efforts targeted mining communities at Mahdia and Konwaruk as well as initiatives targeting GGMC officials in Georgetown.

Applewhite-Hercules said that while he was satisfied with the impact which the Mining School had at locations where it had effected training he was concerned that the needs of the sector considerably outstripped the reach and