The Guyana Mining School and Training Centre Incorporated (GMSTCI) was established in 2012 under the Companies Act, with its shares wholly owned by the Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (GGMC). Operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) through the GGMC, the school was publicly launched on August 15, 2013, at the Guyana Forestry Commission Training Annex.
The launch event featured several distinguished guests, including the Honorable Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Mr. Robert Montgomery Persaud; Mr. William Woolford, representative of the Guyana Gold and Diamond Miners Association and former GGMC commissioner; Mr. Bobby Gossai, Senior Policy Analyst at the MNR and Secretary of GMSTCI; Mr. Rickford Vieira, GGMC Commissioner and one of the directors of GMSTCI; and Mr. Daniel Joly, Charge d’Affaires of the Canadian High Commission.
On its launch date, the school began offering training to the public with a five-day workshop facilitated by the College of the North Atlantic (CNA). The initial courses included:
Despite limited resources and staffing in its early days, with only an Administrator/Coordinator assigned, the school started offering basic map reading and GPS navigation courses. These have since expanded into a comprehensive suite of programs, including Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced Levels of Prospector Training, Extended Basic First Aid, Codes of Practice/Health and Safety at Placer Mines, and Blasting for Open Cut Mines.
To provide in partnership with local, regional and international learning institutions, qualified technicians and tradesmen for the mining, mineral and petroleum industries.
Contributing to a dynamic workforce and unlocking the mineral and petroleum wealth of Guyana.
The core values that the Guyana Mining School and Training Centre Inc., wishes to build into its culture, to dictate behavior and action, includes:
