…declarations have fallen for four consecutive years as miners shift to gold
(Kaieteur News) – The Government of Guyana (GoG) has made targeted interventions to address falling gold declarations but diamond declarations have been rapidly decreasing over the past six months, recording a steep decline by 61.7%.
Central Bank in its Half-Year report states, “Declarations of diamond decreased by 61.7 percent to 8,710 metric carats at end-June 2026.” It explained that the decline in diamonds was associated with lower declarations and the continued concentration of small-scale mining activity in gold.
A closer analysis of the numbers by this publication shows a steady decline in diamond declarations at the mid-year mark since 2022. In 2022, some 49,016 metric carats of diamonds were declared for the six months of the year. In 2023, this fell to 38,608 metric carats. In 2024, the BoG recorded 29,387 metric carats of diamond declarations while in 2025 it was 22,750 metric carats at mid-year.
The decline in diamond declarations (Data source: Bank of Guyana)
Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat during the sidelines of an event in 2024 was asked whether government was concerned about the consecutive decline in diamond declarations, when he pointed to a lower global demand for the mineral. He explained, “If you are following what is happening on the World market, it’s not only Guyana, the diamond trade has suffered worldwide- like manganese- it has suffered worldwide. The world market price is very low and as an indication of that you will realise that not much of our miners now are into diamond mining.”
Bharrat added, “…and mainly too because of the ‘lab diamonds’ that are being created by many other countries around the world. There are so many other forms- I don’t want to say minerals, but elements that are being used as jewellery to replace diamonds that it has created a kind of unfair competition, because at the end of the day it’s not real but generally on the world market there is a problem. It’s not only Guyana.”
He also told this newspaper that there are no indications that smuggling of diamonds is ongoing. “We have no such report of it but it cannot be ruled out. We are looking at the situation but for a number of years now it has been on the decline so I don’t think it’s a major concern,” Bharrat noted.
Kaieteur News had reported on the steep decline in gold declarations over a sustained period. Government subsequently beefed up monitoring activities in mining areas leading to several illegal mining camps being destroyed since the beginning of this year. A number of foreign miners were arrested with equipment seized by government. These activities resulted in higher gold declarations in the first six months of 2026. According to the Bank of Guyana, gold declarations in the first half of the year increased by 11.3% to 232,287 troy ounces from 208,757 troy ounces at the end-June 2025.
Source: Kaieteur News
