Geopacific Resources, an Australian mineral exploration company, said it has extended the zone of copper found in Preah Vihear province’s Kou Sa district to 18 kilometres, the company announced yesterday.

While phase one of the geochemical sampling identified an eight kilometre zone of resources, the second phase found a 10-kilometre zone, the company said. Those results are on average five times higher than the copper levels of background samples.

The results of the two sampling phases seemingly indicate high potential for copper in the Kou Sa project area, according to Natacha Kim, executive director of the NGO Cambodians for Resource Revenue Transparency.

“However, we call on Geopacific Resources to consider any necessary plans to mitigate the environmental and social impact of its activities in the 18-kilometre copper project as well as in the immediate surrounding areas,” she told the Post yesterday.