Staatsolie finances new GMD archive building

Staatsolie is allocating over US$230,000 for the construction of the new archive building. The new archive will provide modern, secure storage space for historical drill samples and drill cores, most of which were collected in the 1970s. These materials are an important source of knowledge for geological research, and have contributed to the creation of Suriname's geological map. Drill samples and drill cores are materials extracted from the ground during drilling to investigate the subsoil's structure and the presence of mineral resources.

The existing archive building has largely collapsed and is therefore unusable. This situation posed a fire hazard and allowed unwanted access by homeless people. That is why Staatsolie took over surveillance more than two years ago. After the GMD took inventory of the samples with Professor Salomon Kroonenberg, Staatsolie decided to build a new archive. The new archive will enable the GMD to preserve existing data for future scientific research into natural resources in the soil.

Construction began in December 2025, and according to the plan, the new archive will be operational this year. This initiative prevents valuable geological samples from being lost and contributes to the sustainable strengthening of institutions.