Munich -As part of the Suriname Competitiveness and Sector Diversification (SCSD) Programme being run by the World Bank, GAF AG, an e-GEOS (Telespazio/ASI) company, has been awarded the lead role in two consultancy contracts, with these being “International mining specialist to support the establishment and commissioning of the Minerals Institute of Suriname: Cadastre and Geological Survey” and “Establishment and commissioning of the Minerals Institute of Suriname: Mining Inspectorate”.
The mining industry has strategic importance for the economy of Suriname. Because of this, and the fact that the mineral resource potential of the country is still untapped to a considerable extent, the “Delfstoffen Authoriteit Suriname” (DAS) authority has been newly created. Its objectives are the promotion, coordination, regulation, monitoring and inspection of the mining industry, with the aim of ensuring it makes an optimal contribution to Suriname’s sustainable development.
In support of DAS, GAF has been assigned the task of assessing, defining, designing and conceptualising the main pillars of a strong mining governance structure. The aim of this is to establish a modern digital mining cadastre, ensure efficient performance of the geological survey and set up a mine inspection department. Activities include assessing the existing legal and regulatory frameworks, the extractive industry sector and all its stakeholders.
During this assessment process, known and potential natural mineral resources and reserves will be analysed, and environmental threats will be taken into account, as will the interests and expectations of all the stakeholders, in particular the affected communities. This assessment forms the basis for designing the main standard operating procedures, and for defining the capacity, training and technical requirements. For the future geological survey and mining cadastre, a concept for digital data management is being developed. Finally, the setup of the core institutions will be supported and training and capacity building will be provided to ensure the new institutions function efficiently.
About GAF AG www.gaf.de
GAF AG, an e-GEOS (Telespazio/ASI) company, was founded in Munich in 1985 as the first German company to have a focus on applied remote sensing. It is now one of the leading commercial geoinformation service providers in Europe in the area of earth observation. As part of the e-GEOS/Telespazio group of companies, GAF offers an extensive service portfolio that, in addition to direct satellite data reception and distribution, includes advanced analysis techniques, AI processes and the tailor-made development of geoinformation and software systems, platforms and consulting solutions. The thematic areas of specialisation for public and private clients worldwide include land monitoring, natural resources management, water and environmental monitoring, agriculture and forestry, mining, emergency management and infrastructure security. GAF is also one of the most experienced European service providers in the EU/ESA Copernicus programme, and has many years of service implementation for the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, the Emergency Management Service, and the Security and In-Situ Service Components.
