Guyana

Guyana has a long history of mining, rumored at one time by 16th Century European explorers to be the possible home of the mythical lost city of El Dorado—said to contain vast riches of gold. Guyana remains known for its significant deposits of gold, as well as diamond and bauxite, around which formalized and regulated mining activities began to emerge in the 1880s. A unique feature of the Guyanese ASM landscape is the long-established security of tenure for small-scale operators which has promoted greater investment and resulted in a greater level of mechanization, organization, and formalization than elsewhere.

Read more in the State of the Sector 2019 Country Profile: Guyana