Mining

About 30 kilometres from Ratanakiri’s Banlung town, 10 miners have dug holes deep in the ground in a rubber plantation, hoping to strike it rich. Their tunnels range from 10-15 metres deep and their equipment is basic – everything is done by hand. These men ...

Following the recent approval of its environment and social impact assessment by the Ministry of Environment, the kingdom’s first gold-processing plant will begin operations next year, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Mines and Energy said on Monday. ...

People appear to have resumed illegal mining activities at a gold mining site in Kratie province, which was shut down by authorities in August after four miners were killed, officials said yesterday. ...

Twenty-two NGOs released a joint statement yesterday demanding the release of two activists detained by Koh Kong Provincial Court after recording a video of sand dredging. ...

Emerald Resources, the Australian-listed mining firm behind Cambodia’s Okvau gold project in Mondulkiri province, is one step closer to receiving an industrial mining licence after it signed an environmental contract with the Ministry of Environment (MoE), the firm announced yesterday. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy revoked three mineral exploration licences from two different Australian mining firms that failed to meet work performance guidelines, it said​ on the 3rd of August in a release. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy announced that it has granted licenses to four different mining companies to explore for potential mineral resources in Kratie, Kampong Thom, Mondulkiri and Kampot. ...

Angry residents in Kratie town’s Krakor commune yesterday protested against a sand-mining company they accuse of damaging a local road. The protesters used their vehicles to block the company’s trucks from driving on the road. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy has issued licences to four mining companies to extract minerals and precious metals in four provinces, according to a statement issued by the ministry. The four companies – Renaissance Minerals (Cambodia) Ltd., Kiri Resources Co. Ltd., Samnang Angkor Development Co. ...

Activists say a new sand-processing facility is under construction in Koh Kong’s Tatai Wildlife Sanctuary, in the vicinity of the area where two companies were granted permission to conduct environmental impact assessments (EIAs) for sand-dredging projects, documents show, despite a standing government ban on sand ...

About 30 villagers escorted two environmental activists from Kandal province’s Sa’ang district to the relative safety of Phnom Penh yesterday after the pair were allegedly harassed by local police for helping coordinate a protest against sand dredging in the area the day before. ...

An environmental activist branded an “anarchist” by a government spokesman said he fled to the U.N. human rights office in Phnom Penh on Monday after police harassed him for becoming involved in a dispute between sand dredgers and villagers in Kandal province. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy’s mineral exploration licensing process is vulnerable to corruption, an independent study has found, identifying 14 potential openings for graft. ...

One of four new mining exploration permits, advertised publicly this week, is within the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary map, coordinates reveal, sparking concern among activists and community members about the strength of the forest’s recently-acquired protected status.In the first public tender of fresh exploration licenses ...

The Mines and Energy Ministry on Friday defended sand exports reported last week by an environmental NGO, saying Cambodia’s sand ban did not include the type seen in a video being loaded onto vessels off the coast of Sihanoukville. ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy has publicly announced that companies can bid for four mining exploration permits in both Kratie and Kampot provinces, marking the first time since the ministry was formed in 2013 to issue fresh licences for private companies to investigate mineral ...

The Australian-listed mining firm behind Cambodia’s Okvau gold project in Mondulkiri province released its definitive feasibility study (DFS) yesterday, confirming its predictions of 1.14 million ounces in gold reserves while reducing its projected investment costs for extraction. ...

Australian mining firm Emerald Resources is on track to complete its definitive feasibility study for its Okvau gold project in Mondulkiri province by the end of this month, the company reported in a filing on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). ...

Illegal miners in the remote reaches of Cambodia are repelling government inspectors with armed middlemen, the Mines and Energy Ministry said on Wednesday as it hosted its annual meeting in Phnom Penh.   ...

Sand exports will remain suspended amid questions about a 56 million-ton discrepancy in deliveries to Singapore. Dith Tina, a secretary of state and spokesman for the Ministry of Mines and Energy, said yesterday that no date had been set for the exports to resume. ...

The controversial exporting of Cambodian sand to Singapore has finally—if temporarily—been stopped, according to officials from the two countries, amid long-running criticism over discrepancies in shipment records and environmental damage. ...

Breaking months of silence over accusations that it imported tens of millions of tons of smuggled sand, Singapore’s government on Monday distanced itself from any wrongdoing, a response an environmental NGO leader deemed “full of lies” and “devoid of any meaning.” ...

The government is stepping up the fight against illegal mining in the country, cracking down on an illegal mine in Mondulkiri province last Friday and arresting two people. But local residents targeted by the crackdown protested after the raid, complaining that large mining corporations were allowed ...

Singaporean President Tony Tan Keng Yam’s visit to Phnom Penh on Monday yielded two agreements on education and health, but no words on controversial sand imports or migrant maids, an official said. ...