SITUATION ANALYSIS OF THE SMALL-SCALE GOLD ... - WWF

their property to a foreign exploration company could earn a significant sum of money on
a yearly basis.
When gold dipped below US $ 300 per ounce between 1997 and 1998, the exploration
rush by foreign investors was over. Companies reduced their presence to a skeleton crew,
put their projects into „care and maintenance,‟ or pulled out altogether. The lucrative
leases were cancelled and once again, the mining industry turned to the „small-scale
miner‟ with hydraulic mining equipment. Many owners of concessions started to allow
Surinamese or Brazilian miners to work on their property for a 10% fee. The sub-sector
continued to grow and today SSM directly employs to about 10,000 persons or more and
provides mining-related jobs to a similar number. Most of the miners are illegal
immigrants working without exploitation concessions.
Between 2000 and 2004, the gold price recovered from a low of US $ 260 to over $ 400
per ounce and the gold mining sector was reinvigorated. The Gross Rosebel project was
activated again; the mineral agreement was revised and ratified. An investment of US $
100 million was made by Cambior in a cyanide based ore processing plant and heavy
duty mining equipment. The development period has lasted almost ten years and at least
US $ 30 million was invested in the development of the resources. The mill was designed
to produce 8 tons per year (tpy), but production may exceed 10 tons in 2005. The
government is already reaping benefit from the project in wage taxes and royalties. Mine
construction also has had positive pin-off effects to the local economy. On the down side,
local people complain that they have not obtained the jobs they were promised as they
were no longer able to make a living as small-scale miners in the concession area. Those
who do find formal employment at the mine work for contractors, a status that does not
provide job security, pensions, or adequate social security benefit.
Suralco renovated the road to the Maroon village of Lange Tabbetje and built a road that
linked this road to the plateau of the Nassua Mountains. The company initiated gold
exploration activities in the Nassau Mountains area. Soon hundreds of small-scale miners
began to mine alluvial deposits in the creeks along the road, and eventually they moved
into the highly weathered profile (laterite 13 ) with mineral accumulation and partially
weathered parent rock (saprolite 14 ) with mineralization zones. Suralco has a difficult time
getting the situation under control, and would very much like to see miners stay out of the
saprolite deposits, which are likely to make-up a substantial part of the mine-able
reserves. This issue in section 4.1 will be discussed along with the challenge of defining
the various gold mining sub-sectors.
13 The term laterite is derived from the Latin word later, meaning brick or tile. In laterite the upper soil
horizon has undergone extreme chemical weathering (leaching) above a lower oxidized horizon, where
accumulation of existing minerals such as iron and aluminum may occur. Both layers are rich in iron
oxides, hence the dark red color.
14 Saprolite has the consistency of tough clay and often consists of various earth-colored bands. It is usually
found below the laterite profile, and this is partially weathered parent rock that has remained in its original
place and has retained much of it original structure. The structural features of saprolite can provide
geologists with critical information about the geological context of mineralization zones, hence the concern
about the unsystematic mining of this profile (see section 4.1 for an illustration of a typical mineralization
profile).
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