Forty-two illegal gold mining sites were dismantled in the Camopi region, in southeastern Guyana, during a vast operation which took place from October 17 to November 9, announced the prefecture of overseas department in a press release Monday. The total loss for the smugglers is estimated at more than one and a half million euros (seizures and destruction), indicates the prefecture, specifying that two people, including an illegal alien, were arrested.
“Joint patrols, bringing together soldiers from the gendarmerie and the armed forces of Guyana, are deployed in the area in order to prevent the reoccupation of sites by illegal gold miners”continues the prefecture in its press release.
400 clandestine extraction sites
Guyana is suffering from an uncontrolled gold rush from neighboring countries Brazil and Suriname. The west of the department, bordering this former Dutch colony, is the most affected area and concentrates 80% of illegal mining sites, compared to 20% in the eastern part, on the Brazil side.
According to a report from the prefecture made public at the end of February, 7,200 illegal gold prospectors were present in Guyana in 2023, spread across 400 extraction sites. Nearly five tonnes of gold were illegally mined last year, according to the same source.
