BRIGHTON Mining Group Ltd has begun test drilling for gold at its Antrong project in Mondulkiri province, intending to establish an inferred maiden resource by the second half of 2011. The ASX-listed firm drew parallels to OZ Mineral’s Okvao tenement in the same province, and claimed in a filing to be “very excited” about the project’s prospects.

In March last year, OZ declared an inferred resource of 605,000 ounces at a property in the Cambodia province, one of the more noteworthy discoveries yet found. Last month, Cambodian Association of Mining and Exploration Companies president Richard Stanger said while that actual extraction of resources had yet to begin in the Kingdom,  “in the next five to seven years mining operations will be taking place here”.

On Friday, Australian junior miner Gulf Mines Ltd announced it had entered into an agreement with Brighton to provide a short-term loan facility. Brighton climbed 18.6 percent on the ASX in Sydney last week, closing Friday at A$0.255 (US$0.252) a share.  

It increased more than 18 percent in trading on Wednesday, the day it announced the drilling.