[PHNOM PENH POST]
Claims of gold bonanzas made by the newest player in Cambodia’s mining
sector underscores issues dragging on an industry that is crucial for
the Kingdom’s economic development.
Late last month, Astra
Mining, which describes itself as an Australian diversified mining
company, announced it had discovered a potentially significant gold
deposit in the O’Yadao district of Ratanakkiri province.
While
the field results were preliminary, Astra claimed similar finds
overseas, such as those in Alaska, “have been known to host greater than
3 million ounces of gold resources.”
The company also said it
had “signed an option agreement to fund the acquisition of an operating
gold mine … which presently has an exploration license” in O’Yadao.
Astra
has touted Cambodia’s potential mineral wealth in a series of press
releases, but domestic operators said they are unaware of the company’s
operations here.
“We have not heard of Astra nor of the gold
mining operation that is claimed to be in O’Yadao,” said Richard
Stanger, president of the Cambodian Association of Mining and
Exploration Companies.
The General Department of Mineral
Resources has so far declined to confirm or deny if Astra has a licence
to do business in the country, citing confidentiality. But the Sydney
Morning Herald ran an article in May calling into question the character
of Astra and its senior management.
The article, titled
“Pencil-drawn map adds a touch of Indiana Jones”, claimed Astra Chief
Executive Officer Jaydeep Biswas was at the heart of a previous failed
deal worth tens of millions of dollars and was known for associations
with convicted fraudsters, among other dubious activities.
Biswas
agreed to an email interview with The Post in order to fill in the
gaps. He called the article “scurrilous”, claiming the paper never
contacted him for comment.
He said Astra must be “considered and
careful” in what it divulges given the company is in the early stages
of its work in Cambodia, though he did offer some worthwhile
information.
Astra has been working through local companies but
plans to open a Cambodian office “in the next three months,” he said.
Astra will meet with relevant government departments soon “to define the
Cambodian legal requirements for our licences.”
Also according
to Biswas, Astra has been doing business in Vietnam for the past three
years with a company called Petone Investments and an unnamed Vietnamese
partner. It is this Vietnamese partner that holds an exploration
licence in O’Yadao, not Astra, Biswas said.
Still, Biswas’ answers beget more questions.
If
it is true there is an operating gold mine in Ratanakkiri, has anyone
conducted and submitted the proper environmental impact assessments and
feasibility studies for approval? Biswas chose not to answer that
question.
One also wonders why the GDMR would allow a largely
unproven operator – though Astra claims to have businesses on four
continents – to explore and mine Cambodia over other more established
companies, especially those with rigorous internal and external auditing
standards.
Rights groups have called for transparency in the
extraction industry, as it offers a path out of poverty for many
Cambodia. The Kingdom’s vast mineral wealth will need to be better
managed in order for that happen.
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