INTERVIEW - Cambodia Wants Gold Mines to Replace Land Mines
Date: 29-Mar-05
Country: SINGAPORE / CAMBODIA
Author: Robin Paxton
But before the war-scarred nation of 13 million people can join Southeast Asia's rush to dig minerals from the ground, it must rid itself of a less welcome type of mine: land mines.
Chea Sieng Hong, secretary of state for industry, mines and energy, said Cambodia would ask the World Bank to help finance a comprehensive mapping of its resources to attract foreign firms that have flocked to neighbouring Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
"Our number one priority is to complete a road map of Cambodia's minerals. Then we can attract real investment," Chea said on the sidelines of the 2005 Asian Mining Congress.
But before mining, Cambodia must demine, he said, ridding areas rich in minerals of underground bombs left behind by nearly 20 years of civil war after the 1979 fall of the genocidal Khmer Rouge.
"People in local communities know where the dangerous areas are. But if you explore a wider area, you'd need to demine it first," said Chea, who previously worked for the Cambodian Mine Action Centre, a government and United Nations-backed body for clearing land mines from Cambodia's soil.
Chea said Cambodia spent about $3 million annually on demining, much of which was donated from overseas.
To date, the country's largely unregulated mining industry has yielded only small returns for families who dig for metals in the dry season and grow rice in the rainy months.
OPEN FOR INVESTMENT
Cambodia's neighbours have welcomed investment in their mining sectors in recent years, as Chinese demand for industrial metals helps push the price of copper to record highs and aluminium to its best in a decade.
Gold hit its highest in 16-1/2-years in December and costs 25 percent more than it did two years ago.
Chea said the government had approached several foreign firms active in the region, among them Australia's Oxiana Ltd., which produces gold and copper just across the border in Laos, and Asian Mineral Resources Ltd., which is drilling for nickel in Vietnam.
"We are opening our doors for investors to come to Cambodia."
In order to attract exploration companies, Cambodia planned to introduce stricter legislation to govern its mining sector. Small miners would be required to buy licences, pay taxes and adhere to environmental regulations, he said. The government would also extend, on request, the two-year term of exploration licences currently granted to prospectors.
If a project is taken through to mining stage, a seven-year permit would be granted, he said.
Two companies had already received such a licence: Ratanak Stone Cambodia Development Co. Ltd., a Chinese-backed joint venture looking for iron ore in Preah Vihear province; and Delcom Cambodia Co. Ltd., partly owned by a Malaysian company and exploring for gold in Mondulkiri province.
Chea said iron ore was prevalent in the northern part of the country. Gold, tin, tungsten and antimony were also present, but he added it was impossible to give a detailed picture before the country had been fully mapped.
Preliminary data showed Cambodia had potentially large deposits of bauxite, the ore from which aluminium is made, near its border with Vietnam.
The secretary of state added some promising metals deposits were far from those areas in the west and northeast of the country most affected by land mines and unexploded ordnance, but that caution was needed throughout Cambodia.
