THE South American country of Guyana is trying to decide what to do with a large quantity of gold it bought from local miners when demand was high.

President Donald Ramotar said Saturday that he will meet with advisers to determine when it’s best to sell the gold following a recent fall in prices. He declined to say how much gold the Guyana Gold Board had bought from local miners, but miners’ association spokesman Tony Shields puts the number at 60,000 ounces.

He says the association warned the government about dropping prices.

Ramotar noted that gold doesn’t spoil, and said that the gold mining industry has generated more than US$1 billion in recent years.

Local miners sold 415,000 ounces of gold to the state board last year.

Guyana is among the world’s top 30 gold producers, with the metal being one of the country’s top exports.

The Guyanese government signed a US$1-billion agreement with Canadian company Guyana Goldfields Inc (GGI) in 2011 for what it says is the largest private mining investment in the South America country.

The project in the Aurora region is the first large-scale gold mining licence that Guyana has issued since 1991. The government said it is expected to create more than 1,900 temporary and permanent jobs and Guyana Goldfields said it is expected to generate US$1.6 billion in government revenues at a time of record gold prices.

GGI will pay a mining royalty of five per cent when gold sells for US$1,000 an ounce and eight per cent when the price is higher. It will also pay a corporate income tax of 30 per cent, reported the Associated Press.

The agreement is for 20 years, with provisions for extension.