The new National Geological Laboratory of Cambodia in Kampong Tralach district’s Longvek commune in Kampong Chhnang province. Photo supplied
The National Geological Laboratory of Cambodia, which is a project funded through a $3 million grant from China, was launched in Longvek commune, Kampong Tralach district in Kampong Chhnang province on Wednesday.
Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem and Chinese Ambassador Wang Wentian officiated the launching ceremony of the new national laboratory which took two years to build on a 14,000sqm plot.
General Department of Mineral Resources director-general at the Ministry of Mines and Energy Yos Monirath told The Post that China’s Ministry of Natural Resources and the Autonomous Administration of Guangxi province funded the laboratory.
He said: “It is important for Cambodia to have its own geological and mineral resource laboratory, because previously when we wanted to identify the type of mineral and its quality, we had to send all samples to be tested abroad.
“We also have a laboratory at the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, but it is only for simple lab testing purposes. If we want to test the sample of a piece of stone to know its mineral composition, that cannot be done.
“But with this new laboratory [in Kampong Chhnang province], we can study the samples of various minerals.”
Monirath said the new geological laboratory will take on the role of the national laboratory of the Kingdom for analysing samples of mineral resources in Cambodia.
The ministry said the ceremony was also attended by its senior officials and a delegation of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Autonomous Administration of the Guangxi region, Kampong Chhnang provincial governor Chhour Chandoeun, local authorities, and municipal and provincial Departments of Mines and Energy.
Monirath said a focus of bilateral collaboration between Cambodia and China is to develop the Kingdom’s mining sector. In future, he said there would be more cooperation between the two countries in human resource training and research in the Cambodian mining sector.
He said Cambodia had opened up the mining sector for foreign investments since it had not grown significantly in previous years.
Cambodia, he said, wanted to attract bilateral and multilateral cooperation and private investments in the mining sector and welcomed any country that is interested to conduct a study or investment.
