Astra Says Gold Exploration Project Still On

An Australia-based firm that announced a plan to explore for gold in Ratanakkiri province insisted Monday that its Cambodian venture is still on track, despite allegations made in an Australian newspaper that it has garnered investment based on false information. Astra Resources, which has companies incorporated in both Australia and the U.K., has made a series of public announcements since 2011 about its plans to acquire the mining exploration license—currently held by a Vietnamese firm—for a 222-square-km plot in O’Yadaw district. … In statements made through an Australian law firm, Astra strongly refuted the claims made in the article, which cited a court affidavit from a former non-executive director and an interview with a former legal adviser attesting that Astra had raised as much as $46 million from investors in Australia based on false public statements. The company’s last public statement about its Cambodian venture, in November last year, said the transfer of the O’Yadaw license was set to happen in the first half of this year as the company had made its penultimate payment for the tenement. …

http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/astra-says-gold-exploration-project-still-on-36194/