Extractive Industries

A mining exploration firm working in the remote jungles of northeastern Cambodia is using termites in its search for goldDeep in the heart of Ratanakkiri province, the earthen mounds that pepper the forest floor provide clues as to the mineral wealth that lies below. ...

With the rainy season petering out, mining companies are gearing up to resume full operations on prospects in northern and eastern Cambodia, with investors keeping a close watch as firms push to expand their resource estimates and the country prepares to open its first royalty-bearing ...

Mesco Gold has established the required surface-level infrastructure and is awaiting government approval to begin the extraction of gold at its Phum Syarung mine in Ratanakkiri province, the company’s director said yesterday.The Indian mining firm is poised to become the first operational commercial mine in ...

Officials in Ratanakkiri province are preparing to take action against an illegal mining site that is said to have been operating since at least 2006 as part of ongoing efforts to reform the sector.Hun Bunthan, director of the province’s Mines and Energy Department, said that ...

The government will eliminate taxes on vehicles used by low-income families and farmers to improve their livelihoods and boost farm production, according to the bill on the national budget approved by Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday. ...

Six of the country’s eight major gas retailers yesterday agreed to a request from the Commerce Ministry to lower the price of gas by 100 riel (about two cents) per liter for the Pchum Ben festival, as negotiations on a formula for setting a price ...

The Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce on Thursday convened a meeting with eight major oil companies to urge them to slash oil prices as global prices have declined. ...

A visiting Mongolian delegation comprised of government, industry and civil society active in the petroleum and mining sectors shared their experience in implementing the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) with their Cambodian counterparts at a workshop in Phnom Penh yesterday. ...

Preah Sihanouk provincial authorities have revoked the business licences of four companies working across more than 10 hectares for alleged environmental impact, including damaging sewage and road systems. ...

Police on Thursday raided three illegal gold mines in Ratanakkiri province’s Lumphat district believed to have been operated by undocumented Vietnamese migrants, but made no arrests as all the camps had been abandoned, possibly just hours earlier. ...

A top mining official on Wednesday urged the government of northeastern Cambodia’s Ratanakiri province to crack down on a group of Vietnamese running an illegal gold mining operation villagers and rights groups say is being protected by local authorities. ...

Fearing the loss of their water source, hundreds of villagers of the Jarai ethnic minority last week continued to block an Australian gold mining company from accessing a plot of land in Ratanakkiri’s Andong Meas district that is licensed for exploration.Angkor Gold Company, which first ...

As global oil prices have plummeted over the past year, the price of gas at the pump in Cambodia has seen a much slower fall. ...

Thailand’s largest cement producer, Siam Cement Group (SCG), plans to invest up to $300 million to increase its production capacity in Cambodia over the next five years in a bid to take advantage of booming domestic demand, a company official said Monday. ...

Three activists from Mother Nature Cambodia have been detained by the provincial court of Koh Kong, after launching a campaign to stop sand dredging along a river there. ...

Locals in Kandal province’s Sa’ang district are worried that renewed sand dredging will damage their land as the Ministry of Mines and Energy gears up to hand out licences that will make the practice legal once more. ...

Authorities in Koh Kong province’s Botum Sakor district said yesterday they will take legal action against three environmental activists summonsed on Friday over their refusal to answer questions about their supposed involvement in a protest against Vietnamese corporations involved in sand dredging. ...

Singaporean-listed oil and gas firm KrisEnergy is edging closer to finalising its deal with the Cambodian government that will pave the way for extraction from offshore oil field Block A.According to KrisEnergy’s half-yearly financial statement, posted on its website yesterday, terms have been agreed and ...

Until recently, the illegal mining community at the remote village of Poutung did their digging at risk of arrest. They have since become the first to be given official sanction. But operating under the law has its own challengesUntil a month ago, Poutung village was ...

Activists yesterday continued their campaign to drive out sand dredging companies from Koh Kong province’s Botum Sakor district, refusing a meeting with local authorities and instead holding a 100-strong protest outside the district hall. ...

The PFS estimated that the project would require capital investment of $120-million, which was down from the $133-million estimated in the 2014 scoping study, while life-of-mine cash costs also decreased from the $735/oz estimated in the scoping study, to $684/oz. ...

Cambodia’s new mining law is on track for adoption by the end of this year and will introduce a raft of reforms to the sector, a senior official said, although the country’s mining tax will likely remain the same. Meng Saktheara, secretary of state at the ...

Meng Saktheara wants to take some of the risk out of one of the riskiest businesses in Cambodia – commercial gold mining. As Indian mining giant Mesco Gold seeks a permit to build and operate the country’s first commercial gold mine in Ratanakkiri province, Mr. ...

Policymakers and experts gathered at Can Tho city on Friday to discuss and propose an inter-provincial policy for the sustainable management of sediment in the Mekong Delta region.  About 126 companies currently have the licence to extract sand in the region, he said. ...