The Ministry of Mines and Energy on Monday put on offer concession licences for some 207sq km of gold-polymetallic mining areas in Tbong Khmum and Ratanakkiri provinces.
“Interested national and international companies can apply for a mining licence at the [ministry’s] General Department of Mineral Resources,” the ministry said in a press release, adding that it will make a public announcement naming the winning company once the process is completed.
It said the areas of tenement are 107.10sq km in Tbong Khmum’s eastern Memot district and 100sq km in Ratanakkiri’s southeastern O’Yadao district.
The department’s director-general Yos Monirath told The Post on Tuesday that the ministry saw the areas’ potential for exploitable metallic mineral resources, chiefly gold.
“We made the announcement on the exploration of natural resources in the areas after having spotted the potential of the gold-polymetallic mines – their magnitude and exploitability,” he said.
He said the ministry has issued 40 metal exploration licences throughout Cambodia.
The ministry said applicants must file all relevant documents in a sealed envelope marked “Auction bid documents” to the ministry’s One Window Service Office no later than October 5.
Early in March, Australian-listed Emerald Resources NL signed a $230 million seven-year mining contract with Mining and Civil Australia (Maca) for its Okvau Gold Project in the Kingdom’s northeastern Mondulkiri province.
The contract includes the supply of earthmoving equipment and mining services for the project, Emerald Resources said. It also covers load, haul, drill and blast services.
Emerald Resources has said it plans to extract gold in the second quarter of next year through its subsidiary Renaissance Minerals (Cambodia) Ltd.
