> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # New Zealand Is Selling Mining Technology in Latin America. In Guyana It Sells Milk, and Buys Timber. - URL: https://www.lacaribenanews.com/new-zealand-mining-technology-latin-america-guyana-trade-2026/ - Published: 2026-09-23T11:51:27.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-27T05:16:13.000Z - Description: Four New Zealand firms took mining technology to Brazil's largest mining fair in August. New Zealand's own July 2026 report on Guyana names mining-adjacent opportunities and says its trade agency has no established networks in the Caribbean. Trade runs about twenty to one. - Author: Theon Alleyne - Tags: Business, Guyana, trade, Mining **Quick summary:** New Zealand companies are pushing into Latin American mining, with four of them at Brazil's largest mining fair in August. New Zealand's own report on Guyana, published in July, names mining-adjacent opportunities and says its trade agency has no established networks in the Caribbean. Trade between the two countries runs almost entirely one way. By LCN Business Desk The Latin American mining sector is drawing growing interest from New Zealand companies looking for business in the region, [BNamericas](https://www.bnamericas.com/en/features/companies-from-new-zealand-eye-business-opportunities-in-latin-american-mining?ref=lacaribenanews.com) reported. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the country's international business development agency, brought several of them to Exposibram, the largest mining event in Brazil and one of the largest in Latin America. Four were at the fair in Belo Horizonte from 24 to 27 August: Seequent, which builds geological modelling software for interpreting subsurface data; Loadscan, which patented a load volume scanner that measures automatically what a truck is carrying; TrackGrip, which works on traction and stability for tracked equipment; and Tait Communications, which supplies radio for critical operations, [BNamericas](https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/in-belo-horizonte-companies-from-new-zealand-present-technologies-that-make-mining-more-productive-and-sustainable?ref=lacaribenanews.com) reported. None of that is exotic for a mining country. Guyana runs gold and bauxite operations that move material by truck, in terrain where traction and radio coverage are daily problems, and it is mapping minerals it has not yet quantified. ## What does New Zealand say about Guyana? That the opportunity is real and the reach is not there yet. "There are commercial opportunities for New Zealand in Guyana, particularly in support of Guyana's agricultural ambitions and potentially in the oil and mining adjacent ecosystems," New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a market report published in [July 2026](https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/trade/mfat-market-reports/guyana-economic-outlook-and-opportunities-for-new-zealand?ref=lacaribenanews.com). The same report states the limitation plainly: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise does "not have established networks in or in-depth market knowledge of the Caribbean". New Zealand covers Guyana through a non-resident High Commissioner based in Wellington, in the ministry's Americas Division, and its [Caribbean page](https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/americas/caribbean?ref=lacaribenanews.com) describes a non-resident head of mission who runs a fund for small community projects. The relationship is fifty years old: 2024 marked half a century of diplomatic relations with Guyana, Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. Where ministers went this year shows the same pattern. A parliamentary and business delegation led by Foreign Minister Winston Peters visited Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay, according to the [New Zealand government](https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/parliamentary-and-business-delegation-visit-latin-america?ref=lacaribenanews.com). No Caribbean stop was on that itinerary. ## Has New Zealand been in the room with Guyanese business? Twice that is on the record, both with the High Commissioner rather than with companies. The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association held a hybrid meeting with New Zealand's High Commissioner to the Caribbean, Linda Te Puni, on 5 March 2026, on trade, investment and collaboration between the two business communities, the association [said](https://www.facebook.com/gmsa.gy/posts/yesterday-the-gmsa-held-a-hybrid-meeting-with-new-zealands-high-commissioner-to-/1517617057039004/). GMSA President Rafeek Khan, Executive Director Govindra Raghubansi and board members took part. The discussion covered export development, Guyana's growing economy and possible cooperation in energy and agriculture. Two years before that the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry met her on 1 February 2024 at its Waterloo Street office, when she was in Guyana to present credentials to the government and to CARICOM, the [chamber](https://gcci.gy/gcci-discusses-visa-requirement-removal-and-collaboration-with-new-zealand-high-commissioner/?ref=lacaribenanews.com) reported. The chamber lobbied for three things: removal of the New Zealand visa requirement for Guyanese nationals, a New Zealand mission for the Caribbean region located locally, and a continued working relationship. Energy, climate-smart agriculture, education and sport were also discussed. The visa requirement is still there, and Guyanese passport holders meet it in most high-income markets, as La Caribeña News reported in [How Guyana's Oil Boom Is Rewriting Its Passport](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-passport-visa-free-countries-2026/). The local mission is still not there either: the High Commissioner remains non-resident. **Disclosure:** Theon Alleyne, the proprietor of La Caribeña News, is a Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association director, and attended the meeting with the High Commissioner as part of the Association’s delegation. ## How much do the two countries trade? | Direction, 2025 | Value | | ----------------------------- | ----------------------------------------- | | New Zealand exports to Guyana | US$27.4 million | | Guyana exports to New Zealand | US$1.34 million | | What New Zealand sells | Dairy products dominate the total | | What Guyana sells back | Wood and wood articles dominate the total | Source: United Nations COMTRADE, as published by Trading Economics for [exports](https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/exports/guyana?ref=lacaribenanews.com) and [imports](https://tradingeconomics.com/new-zealand/imports/guyana?ref=lacaribenanews.com). So the trade exists, it is small, and it runs about twenty to one in New Zealand's favour. It is also almost entirely food going one way and timber coming back, which is the shape of trade between two countries that have no service or technology relationship to speak of. ## What would New Zealand mining technology serve in Guyana? A sector that is being surveyed rather than measured. Guyana is flying a national mineral inventory over the North West, Mazaruni, Potaro and Puruni districts and has no critical-minerals law, as La Caribeña News reported in [Chile, Argentina and Brazil Race to Refine Lithium](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/lithium-chile-argentina-brazil-refining-guyana-mineral-mapping-2026/). Its bauxite is charged a single royalty across every grade, reported in [Guyana Charges One Royalty for Every Grade of Bauxite](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-refractory-bauxite-royalty-grade-india-comparison-2026/). Measurement is the common thread. A load scanner counts what leaves a pit, geological software turns drill data into a model, and both produce the kind of record a royalty regime or a mineral inventory rests on. Guyana has also promised five mining companies compensation if its law changes, reported in [Guyana Has Promised Five Mining Companies That If the Law Changes, the State Pays](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/guyana-mineral-agreement-stability-clause-local-content-mining-2026/), and the United States has taken an equity stake in a Guyanese bauxite mine, reported in [Washington Has Taken an Equity Stake in a Guyanese Bauxite Mine](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/us-department-of-war-strategic-bauxite-guyana-refractory-2026/). The Dominican Republic has shown what an outward-facing minerals programme looks like when it is organised around foreign partners, reported in [The Dominican Republic Dated Its First Rare-Earth Export](https://www.lacaribenanews.com/dominican-rare-earths-2028-bauxite-emidom-guyana-2026/). New Zealand's suppliers went where the mines already are. Its own ministry says the Caribbean networks do not exist yet, and the trade record shows it: US$27.4 million of mostly dairy going out, US$1.34 million of mostly wood coming back. ### What the title card shows - **Four companies:** Seequent, Loadscan, TrackGrip and Tait Communications, at Exposibram in Belo Horizonte from 24 to 27 August 2026\. Source: BNamericas. - **US$27.4 million:** New Zealand's exports to Guyana in 2025, dominated by dairy. Source: UN COMTRADE via Trading Economics. - **US$1.34 million:** Guyana's exports to New Zealand in 2025, dominated by wood. Source: UN COMTRADE via Trading Economics. - **No resident mission:** New Zealand covers Guyana through a non-resident High Commissioner based in Wellington, currently Linda Te Puni. Source: New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry. - **Two meetings** are on the record between the High Commissioner and Guyanese business bodies: the Manufacturing and Services Association on 5 March 2026, and the Georgetown Chamber on 1 February 2024\. Sources: GMSA; GCCI. ## Frequently Asked Questions Which New Zealand companies are targeting Latin American mining? Seequent, Loadscan, TrackGrip and Tait Communications attended Exposibram in Belo Horizonte from 24 to 27 August 2026, brought by New Zealand Trade and Enterprise. They supply geological modelling software, load measurement, traction systems for tracked equipment and radio communications. Is New Zealand interested in Guyana? Its foreign ministry's July 2026 market report names commercial opportunities in Guyana's agriculture and, potentially, in oil and mining adjacent ecosystems. The same report says New Zealand Trade and Enterprise has no established networks or in-depth market knowledge of the Caribbean. How much trade is there between Guyana and New Zealand? New Zealand exported US$27.4 million to Guyana in 2025, mostly dairy, and imported US$1.34 million, mostly wood, according to UN COMTRADE data published by Trading Economics. Has New Zealand met Guyanese business bodies? Yes. The Guyana Manufacturing and Services Association held a hybrid meeting with High Commissioner Linda Te Puni on 5 March 2026 on trade, investment and collaboration, and the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry met her on 1 February 2024, when it lobbied for removal of New Zealand's visa requirement for Guyanese nationals and for a New Zealand mission located in the region. Does New Zealand have an embassy in Guyana? No. It maintains relations through a non-resident High Commissioner based in Wellington, in the Americas Division of its Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.