Bauxite deposit near Orealla likely to be developed – Bharrat

Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat announced that he has already met with investors who are looking to develop the Tarakuli (pronounced Tarakuri) bauxite deposit located just over 10 miles away from Orealla (East Berbice/Corentyne).

Bharrat along with Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha visited Orealla and Siparuta, where they met with residents.

During his opening remarks,  Bharrat made the announcement which caused residents gathered to cheer.

“I met a few investors who are willing to come and develop the Tarakuli bauxite deposit. It is one of the largest bauxite deposits remaining in our country that is untouched”, Bharrat said.

According to the minister, based on previous studies and information gathered, “The bauxite is of a very high quality so the interest is there from investors to come and do mining in this area”.

He said that the plan by private investors is to set up an alumina plant. He added, “The alumina plant will add value to our ore because for too long we have been exporting raw materials, we haven’t been exporting value added products, and you would know when you export value added products you earn maybe ten times more than when you export the raw material”.

Furthermore, the minister stressed that “adding value to our products” is a priority for his government, “to ensure that we no longer export bauxite, the ore but we export aluminum”.

Meanwhile, the minister also told residents of Orealla that over the next five years citizens will see a transformation across the sectors in Guyana.

While noting that oil and gas falls under his ministry, Bharrat said, “I would like to say to Orealla that you may not be directly involved in oil and gas but you will benefit from the proceeds from oil and gas”.

The minister stressed that his government intends to ensure that the oil and gas sector is managed in a “transparent and accountable manner”. As such, he said, presently from oil proceeds there is US$148M in the Natural Resource Fund.

“We have not used a single dollar from the oil proceeds as of today”, he said.

He told the residents that it was important for them to be made aware of this information, since Guyana’s resources belong to the citizens of the country.

Bharrat also stressed that this government will not only focus on oil and “forget” about the other sectors. Instead they are committed to ensuring that “all the productive sectors are incentivized and all the productive sectors play a role in the development of our country”.