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The political ecology of small-scale gold mining reform in Guyana: resource competition, formal institutions, and green development pathways
Andrew Nicholas Hook
Thesis submitted to the University of Sussex for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy in Human Geography
November 2018
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Abstract
This thesis operationalizes a political ecology research programme to examine the different dimensions of environmentally-oriented small-scale gold mining reform within Guyana’s unique mining setting. The study is based on a year of fieldwork in Guyana and employs a mix of spatial, quantitative, and qualitative data – including multiple Geographic Information Systems (GIS) maps, mineral property data, hundreds of secondary documents, three ethnographic site-based case studies, and 143 semistructured interviews.
The research approach examines the small-scale reform agenda in Guyana as a ‘storyline’, enabling a view of the policy agenda as not only embodying structures and institutions, but as also predicated on particular assumptions about social and ecological reality. By highlighting the contrasts between the ways policies are perceived and experienced by a range of actors on the ground with the abstract policy framings, it offers an analysis of the root causes of policy failure, conflict, and economic and social injustice.
The thesis identifies a range of powerful (and under-acknowledged) political phenomena in the mining landscape that threaten the legibility, legitimacy, and effectiveness of the reform approach. These phenomena relate to contested local understandings of environmental change; unresolved contentions among poorer miners and indigenous groups over the structural basis of formal titles; emerging forms of market-mediated
exclusion; and inherent ‘informality’ amidst intense resource competition, state fragility
and remote geographies. The persistence of such phenomena offers a reminder that mining reform is not merely a
‘legal-institutional’ process but an inherently ‘political’ one that entails contestation over
how social and ecological relationships are defined and managed. While showing how a political ecology approach enables engagement with a range of normative concerns, this thesis also makes specific contributions to current academic and policy debates on smallscale gold mining governance, offering new insights on patterns of informality, injustice, and exclusion.
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Declaration
I hereby declare that this thesis has not been, and will not be, submitted in whole or in part to this or any other University for the award of any other degree.
Signature: __________________________________________
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Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor David Ockwell and Professor Ian Scoones for guiding me through the doctoral process. Their advice and encouragement was always astute and valuable and always had the effect of helping me to develop and improve my ideas. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from such formidable academics and generous people. I would also like to thank the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for sponsoring this research and the University of Sussex and the STEPS Centre for being a stimulating and supportive environment for developing as a researcher.
In Guyana, I was dependent on the assistance of countless people, official and unofficial. I am eternally grateful for the interest that they showed in my research and the time and support that they gave me. I would like to thank Diana Fernandes and colleagues at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who advised me on obtaining the research permit. I would also like to thank the staff at the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs who were patient and helpful in the face of my numerous enquiries about research permits, and the staff at the University of Guyana for connecting me up with my research counterpart, Adi Sivoki.
I am grateful to the Geology and Mines Commission who assisted me with logistical support in Potaro and Mazaruni Mining Districts, particularly on my trip to Kangaruma, via 14 Miles and Issano, and during my stay in Mahdia and my participation in the training classes at the Guyana Mining School and Training Institute. I would particularly like to thank Newell Denison, Donald Singh, Samantha Singh, Carlos Todd, Anthony Paul, Alvero Simon, Kerion Husbands, John Applewhite-Hercules, and the staff at the C. N. Barron Library for their time and assistance. I must also acknowledge the fantastic GIS data that is managed and made publicly available by the GIM Unit within the GGMC. I am also grateful to the staff at the University of Guyana and the Walter Roth Museum, who helped me access numerous documents.
Countless other people gave me their time and assistance in ways that helped me improve my understanding of the small-scale gold mining sector in Guyana. These included various members of the GGDMA (who were referred to me through Colin Sparman), members of the GWMO (who were referred to me through Urica Primus), the APA, GOIP (especially Colin Klautky), the GHRA (especially Mike McCormack), and Conservation
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International Guyana (especially Curtis Bernard). I am also grateful to the many interviewees who made time for me over the course of the fieldwork. I would like to thank the indigenous Amerindian villages of Maicobie and Kangaruma-Tasserene, who were generous in receiving and hosting me, and I am grateful to all villagers who shared their time with me, especially Toshao Andre, Hilton Hendricks, Cecilia Jerome, Uncle Creme, and Gabi in Maicobie, and Toshao Joseph, Dennis, Cow, Brill, and Sylvester in Kangaruma. Finally, I would like to thank and acknowledge the hundreds of miners I spoke to over the year in Guyana who were always willing to share their knowledge with me over a game of cricket or football. Particular appreciation to Back Up in Mahdia. They are the real experts and, needless to say, this thesis would have been impossible without their participation.
I was very lucky to meet and am eternally grateful to Alan and Ramesh, who provided me with friendship and support throughout my fieldwork experience, offering me a home that I looked forward to returning to whenever I arrived back in Guyana. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for always encouraging and supporting me throughout the twists and turns of the PhD experience.
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Table of contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................2 Declaration.......................................................................................................................3 Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................4 List of Figures..................................................................................................................9 List of Tables .................................................................................................................11 List of Images ................................................................................................................12 List of Abbreviations ....................................................................................................15 Glossary..........................................................................................................................17 Chapter 1: Introduction ...............................................................................................19
1.1. Guyana, gold mining and environmental reform .................................................19 1.2. Research motivation.............................................................................................20 1.3. Research approach, conceptual framework, and research questions ...................22 1.4. Thesis structure ....................................................................................................25
2.1. Introduction..........................................................................................................28 2.2. A political ecology framework.............................................................................28 2.3. ASM reform and formalization............................................................................32 2.4. Critiques of formalization ....................................................................................36 2.5. Towards a political ecology of ASM reform .......................................................50 2.6. Conclusion............................................................................................................54
3.1. Introduction..........................................................................................................55 3.2. Ontological and epistemological perspective.......................................................55 3.3. A case study approach..........................................................................................56 3.4. Data collection and methods................................................................................68 3.5. Summary and conclusion .....................................................................................78
Chapter 4: Guyana’s national political ecology of gold mining................................80
4.1. Introduction..........................................................................................................80 4.2. Mining sector characteristics................................................................................80
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4.3. Spatial and temporal trends..................................................................................98 4.4. Conflict and contention......................................................................................106 4.5. Conclusion..........................................................................................................123
Chapter 5: Environmental policy discourses and mining reform in Guyana .......124
5.1. Introduction........................................................................................................124 5.2. Waves of mining reform in Guyana...................................................................124 5.3. The Guyanese articulation of the mainstream storyline: a critical assessment..143 5.4. Conclusion..........................................................................................................148
Chapter 6: Landlordism and the socio-ecology of green mining in Potaro...........150
6.1. Introduction........................................................................................................150 6.2. From land inequality to ‘landlordism’ ...............................................................150 6.3. The implications of landlordism ........................................................................157 6.4. Response of the small miners: Syndicates .........................................................170 6.5. Beyond land access: enduring small-scale mining challenges...........................172 6.6. The limitations of formal institutions.................................................................177 6.7. Conclusion..........................................................................................................192
Chapter 7: Indigenous mining, land conflict, and green reform in Maicobie.......194
7.1. Introduction........................................................................................................194 7.2. Origin stories, contested external boundaries, transboundary effects................194 7.3. Villager involvement in mining: under-acknowledged, illegal, but tolerated ...206 7.4. Legal (but resented) claims, denied benefits, and dynamic ecologies ...............212 7.5. Conclusion..........................................................................................................222
Chapter 8: Grey areas and green reform in the middle-Mazaruni........................224
8.1. Introduction........................................................................................................224 8.2. Land occupation and titling................................................................................224 8.3. Unpacking discourses on legitimacy and livelihoods ........................................234 8.4. Lack of control, benefit, or participation ...........................................................240 8.5. Conclusion..........................................................................................................247
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9.1. Introduction........................................................................................................248 9.2. The politics of environmental knowledge..........................................................248 9.3. Inclusion, exclusion, and the legitimacy of formal institutions .........................257 9.4. The limitations of formal institutions.................................................................264 9.5. Storylines and the political ecology of ASM reform .........................................270 9.6. Conclusion..........................................................................................................272
Chapter 10: Conclusion..............................................................................................274
10.1. Introduction......................................................................................................274 10.2. Thesis summary and contributions...................................................................274
Bibliography ................................................................................................................282 Annex I: Environmentally-oriented mining interventions in Guyana...................308 Annex II: Fieldwork schedule....................................................................................309 Annex III: Interview schedule....................................................................................310 Annex IV: Sample interview questions .....................................................................315 Annex V: Sample informed consent form.................................................................316
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List of Figures
Figure 1.1: Conceptual framework .............................................................................23 Figure 3.1: Map of Guyana highlighted within South America..................................57 Figure 3.2: Map of case study sites.............................................................................59 Figure 3.3: Map highlighting Potaro District.............................................................61 Figure 3.4: Small-scale claim applications by Mining District...................................62 Figure 3.5: Gold production by Mining District .........................................................62 Figure 3.6: Total small-scale claims in existence (2014)............................................63 Figure 3.7: Map highlighting Maicobie village ..........................................................65 Figure 3.8: A GLSC map of Maicobie’s titled area....................................................66 Figure 3.9: Kangaruma-Tasserene’s proposed titled area...........................................67 Figure 4.1: Relative proportion of gold processing equipment used in the industry..81 Figure 4.2: Land and river dredges by size (2015) .....................................................82 Figure 4.3: Mineral exploration map of Guyana.........................................................89 Figure 4.4: Medium-scale mineral property distribution in Guyana (2015)...............91 Figure 4.5: Medium-scale mineral property distribution west of Bartica (2015) .......92 Figure 4.6: Map showing formal mineral property coverage in the Amazon.............92 Figure 4.7: Map showing monitored dredges for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd quarters of 2016....93 Figure 4.8: Map showing GGMC areas reserved for Auctions and Lotteries ............95 Figure 4.9: Number of GGMC Mines Officers...........................................................97 Figure 4.10: Number of dredges licensed vs world gold price ...................................98 Figure 4.11: New dredge registrations vs world gold price........................................99 Figure 4.12: New machinery registrations vs world gold price..................................99 Figure 4.13: Domestic lending to mining sector vs world gold price.......................100 Figure 4.14: Gold production vs world gold price....................................................100 Figure 4.15: New small-scale claims located by year vs world gold price...............101
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Figure 4.16: Total small-scale claims vs world gold price .......................................101 Figure 4.17: Medium-scale mining permits vs world gold price..............................102 Figure 4.18: Medium-scale prospecting permits vs world gold price.......................102 Figure 4.19: Large-scale mining licences and permissions ......................................103 Figure 4.20: Expansion in mining sector acreage 1980-1991...................................104 Figure 4.21: GGMC revenues: royalties and rentals (2004-2015)............................104 Figure 4.22: Map showing the distribution of MPs and PPMSs in the Potaro area..105 Figure 4.23: Mineral property distribution in 1999 ..................................................106 Figure 4.24: Mineral property distribution in 2005 ..................................................106 Figure 4.25: Mineral property distribution in 2010 ..................................................107 Figure 4.26: Mineral property distribution in 2015 ..................................................107
