Following a worrying drop of gold prices on the international market, Government says itSeveral measures are in place to help gold miners cushion the impact of falling prices,Cheap Jerseys Store, Government said yesterday.has intervened with a series of measures aimed at reducing the impact.According to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment yesterday, the gold mining sector of our economy has been the catalyst for economic growth and has improved the economic well-being of citizens of Guyana.“This has been achieved because of the consistently rising levels of gold declaration over the last decade. The importance of the gold mining sector to our economy cannot be over emphasized since gold has been the largest earner of foreign revenue for the last seven years.“It is in this light that given the low gold prices on the international markets and the resulting impact on the mining operations and the mining sector, the Government of Guyana (GoG), through the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC), engaged the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners’ Association (GGDMA) and identified areas of concern and implemented measures aimed at ensuring that the sector remains viable.”Among some of the interventions were duty free concessions. “Small and Medium Scale operations benefit from duty free access to All Terrain Vehicles (ATV),Cheap Jerseys From China, excavators, bulldozers and other machinery used in the mining industry. These waivers on duty are available to new entrants to the sector and for current miners based on production levels.”Vehicle concessionsAnother concession is that of double-cab pickups. “Government recently approved the granting of waivers for double-cab pickups to miners based on their production levels which was used to determine the various categories and associated waivers that would apply.”Assistance is also coming in concessions for spares and equipment.“A list of 19 suppliers of mining equipment and spares was approved for tax waivers on the importation of said equipment. This will reduce the cost of spares and critical suppliers for miners, in addition to the items that are currently imported duty free, such as pumps, flexes, and matting etc.”Regarding complaints that fuel costs remain too high,Cheap Jerseys China, the Ministry said that Government has granted an import licence to the association under its name “GGDMA Trading Inc.”. “The request for a fuel importation licence was posited by the GGDMA to reduce the cost of fuel for miners and such this licence was granted by the Government. Miners also have a concession on fuel where it only attracts 10 per cent CIF Excise Tax.”The Ministry said that cognizant of the financial challenges faced by small and medium scale miners to adopt mercury-free technologies, with alternatives to mercury in gold mining costly and not readily accessible by small operators, it has further ‘incentivised’ measures to incorporate mercury-free technologies into their practices, establishing the Mercury-Free Mining Development Fund (MFMDF) of $1.0 Billion.“The main objective of the MFMDF is to provide small and medium scale miners with the wherewithal to adopt mercury-free technology and to increase the level of gold recovery in the mining sector.“The MFMDF is designed to address the needs for working capital and investment financing at beneficiary level for adopting technology to be used in the mining sector that are more environmentally friendly.”Foreign CurrencyAnother measure introduced is that miners will have access to 10 per cent of their gold sales available in US dollars to assist in retooling,Cheap Baseball Jerseys China, capital acquisition and diversification of investments.“The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment and the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission continue to undertake the rehabilitation of hinterland roads and infrastructure to ensure that mining lands are easily accessible.”Efforts are also being made to implement road monitoring checkpoints to ensure that roads are not used indiscriminately in times of heavy rainfall since this result in the deterioration of the roads.“The list of roads and bridges submitted by GGDMA for rehabilitation and repairs in 2014 was included into GGMC’s Work Plan for 2014 and work ongoing or completed for those roads/bridges. This is in addition to other roads and bridges that the commission is currently rehabilitating or funding.”Also introduced are the availability of new areas for mining and a reduction in royalty and property rental rates.In the area of work permits,NFL Jerseys Authentic China, which miners were complaining t