-EPA says no impact study required
An explorer for uranium here will also be searching for rare earth metals and the EPA has ruled that an impact study is not required.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has exempted the proposed uranium exploration programme at Kurupung, Region Seven, from the requirement to conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), despite concerns raised by Indigenous representatives about the absence of consultation and Guyana’s capacity to regulate the radioactive mineral.
In a public notice issued under Section 11(2) of the Environmental Protection Act, the EPA said it had screened an application by Lia (Guyana) Inc. for an environmental permit covering the Kurupung Mineral Exploration Project.
Lia (Guyana) Inc. is the local subsidiary through which Canadian company U92 Energy Corp controls the Kurupung project.
The application covers Prospecting Licences GS14: L-1003/000/23 and GS14: L-1003/001/23 in Region Seven and is for the exploration of uranium, other radioactive minerals and rare earth elements.
Rare earths are in high demand globally and this decision to allow Lia (Guyana) to explore for them will raise concerns about a sector that this country would want to closely control and for which no policy has been devised. Data collection and control will also be issues as U92 and Lia (Guyana) are new entities and have not established track records.
Rare earths are a group of 17 chemically similar metallic elements that are critical for many high-tech products and technologies.
The EPA said that the proposal is restricted to mineral exploration and does not include commercial mining, ore extraction or processing, mine construction or the establishment of radioactive tailings facilities.
The planned programme includes soil sampling and approximately 5,000 metres of diamond drilling from about 30 platforms, principally at Aricheng South and Accori North C.
It would also involve limited access-track works, the rehabilitation of approximately 12 kilometres of an existing access road, a temporary exploration camp and secured storage for drill cores. The combined drill-pad footprint is expected to cover approximately 5.5 hectares within the 9,228-hectare licence area.
The EPA said the Kurupung area was previously explored by Prometheus Resources (Guyana) Inc. and U3O8 Corp between approximately 2006 and 2012. That work included geological surveys, sampling and diamond drilling.
The latest programme, the agency said, would further investigate previously identified targets and reuse existing access routes and disturbed areas where practicable.
Following its review, the EPA concluded that the proposed activities were not likely to significantly affect the environment and could therefore proceed without an EIA.
The agency said the project was limited to exploration and that the expected land disturbance would be localised and confined mainly to small drilling pads, access routes and temporary facilities.
Vegetation clearing, erosion, sediment, noise, dust, waste and spills would be temporary, reversible and capable of being managed, the EPA said. Drill holes and disturbed areas would also be progressively sealed, stabilised and rehabilitated.
According to the notice, fuel, waste, drilling fluids and uranium-bearing cores and samples must be securely contained, monitored and managed in keeping with an EPA-approved Environmental Management Plan and permit conditions, including radiation-safety requirements.
The EPA emphasised that its decision only means that an EIA is not required for the exploration programme.
“It does not constitute approval of uranium mining,” the notice stated.
It added that no activity may begin unless the required environmental permit and other statutory approvals are granted. Any future proposal for mineral extraction, processing or mine development would require a separate application and environmental assessment.
Persons who may be affected by the proposed project have 30 days from the publication of the notice to appeal the EPA’s decision to the Environmental Assessment Board.
In June, Kiskadee Watch reported that the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) had called for the uranium exploration plans to be halted, arguing that the project was proceeding without consultation with affected Indigenous communities and in breach of the principle of free, prior and informed consent.
The APA said there had been no public or community-level consultations and that Indigenous peoples had been left without information on the possible environmental and health consequences of the project.
It maintained that consultation should begin in the Kurupung area, which forms part of the traditional lands of the Akawaio and Arecuna peoples, and warned that mining had already affected the Mazaruni River system.
The organisation also contended that Guyana did not have legislation or a policy specifically governing uranium extraction, production and use.
Indigenous rights activist Laura George had also told Kiskadee Watch that she only became aware of the project following U92’s public announcements and that there had been no engagement with affected communities.
Questions submitted at the time by Kiskadee Watch to Natural Resources Minister Vickram Bharrat sought information on the licences and permissions granted to U92 or its predecessors, the government’s policy on uranium exploration and the technical, environmental and safety assessments conducted. Bharrat had promised a statement, but none was subsequently issued.
The EPA had also not responded to questions submitted by this publication before issuing its latest notice.
U92 previously announced that it had acquired the historical technical and exploration data for the Kurupung project, including information generated through more than a decade of earlier work. The company has said the project contains a historical indicated mineral resource of 10.6 million pounds of uranium oxide and an inferred resource of 10 million pounds.
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