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Small man goes where the large fears to tread: Mining in Guyana: 1990-2018

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  • Laing, Timothy

Abstract

Mining in Guyana has grown exponentially in the last 25 years, becoming the dominant export industry and engine for growth. Guyana's pathway to economic domination by mineral extraction has taken a distinctly different path from other mineral-intensive countries in that the majority of extraction has been from small and medium scale operators. A single Canadian-owned gold mine was the only representation of the large-scale sector for much of the time period. Guyana's unique mining industry has evolved as a result of the increasing international gold price, its political history and crucially government policy that legalised, regulated and encouraged small and medium scale activity much more prominently than large-scale activities. Chief to this policy position was the establishment of a legislative framework that creates a structure for Guyanese small and medium scale miners to obtain property rights and mine legally.

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  • Laing, Timothy, 2019. "Small man goes where the large fears to tread: Mining in Guyana: 1990-2018," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 1-1.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jrpoli:v:63:y:2019:i:c:28
    DOI: 10.1016/j.resourpol.2019.101426
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