Guyana welcomes rising gold price

Last Updated on Thursday, 11 February 2016, 20:49 by Denis Chabrol

Guyana Thursday night hailed healthy signs in the international gold price for the first time in seven years.

Making his contribution to the 2016 National Budget Debate, Minister of a Natural Resources, Raphael Trotman noted that gold has reached about US$1,200 per ounce.

On the London Fix, the price for the precious metal closed at US$1,241 per ounce.

Guyana is targeting  a gold declaration of 550,000 ounces this year or 22 percent over the 451,490ozs last year that was worth USD$500,000,000.

Trotman noted that earlier this week the price of gold hit USD$1,200, causing some analysts to show  growing in optimism that the price will crest at USD$1,400 before end of year.

He noted that an online publication: ‘The Week’ which favourably reported that “But the trajectory over recent weeks is clear: from a near seven-year low around $1,000 back in December, gold has been setting higher peaks and shallower troughs’.

Anti Gold Smuggling Task Force involving the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission, Guyana Revenue Authority and the Guyana Gold Board has been established to seal leakages in the precious metal estimated by government to be about 15,000 ounces per week.