Extractive industries
Gold mine ban ‘not final’
Experts believe junta order allows room for amendment later; Akara Resources says 1,000 workers will lose jobs. Environmental experts believe that the junta’s order on Tuesday to suspend gold mining operations is not final and there is room to reverse the decision or amend the ...
Vietsovpetro to exceed annual gas target
Russia and Viet Nam’s oil and gas exploration joint venture, Vietsovpetro, will ship ashore around 1.6 billion cu.m of gas this year, 27 per cent more than its annual target. Of this, 654 million cu.m of gas will come from Lot 09-1, in the northwest ...
Rights groups welcome order to shut Thailand gold mine
Human rights groups on December 14 welcomed a decision by Thailand to close the country’s only active gold mine by the end of the year as the mine’s operator said it had laid off the employees. Thailand’s ruling junta on December 13 said it is suspending all ...
Will coal shares bounce back?
The strong increase in coal prices has rekindled hopes for Vietnam’s miners and securities investors after a period of disappointment. After eight years of decline, the coal price began recovering in early 2016. Analysts commented that the coal price has been witnessing the strongest recovery compared ...
Mixed feelings toward dredging-fuelled fund
Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem on December 6 announced in Koh Kong province the creation of a community fund of nearly $40,000 for Koh Sralao village, according to a ministry official, who said the funds came from a 2-cent-per-cubic-metre levy imposed on sand dredgers ...
Ministry promotes quartz industry
The Industry Ministry is pushing for the development of quartz mining, as this mineral is an important raw material for the production of solar panels. According to the ministry’s Department of Primary Industries and Mines, the Kingdom has reserves of 25 million tonnes of high-quality ...
Sand extraction in Koh Kong province halted, ministry says
Facing mounting scrutiny over the country’s sand trade, the Ministry of Mines and Energy said on November 16 that all sand extraction had been suspended in Koh Kong province, where much of the country’s extraction takes place. “We have suspended it for a long time already,” ...
Bids for petroleum blocks face delay
The bidding for the Erawan and Bongkot petroleum blocks in the Gulf of Thailand may be delayed further, from next March to the second quarter of 2017, says Energy Minister Anantaporn Kanjanarat. The Energy Ministry had aimed for the new auction of gas fields to take ...
KrisEnergy ups stake to unclog offshore Block A oil
Singapore-listed KrisEnergy Ltd has upped its stake in the Block A offshore oil field to 95 percent, acquiring the shares of two minority stakeholders who had opposed the Cambodian government’s attempts to renegotiate a revenue-sharing model, the company revealed in its third-quarter filings. The document, ...
Emerald hopes to draw first gold by end of 2018
Australian mining firm Emerald Resources expects to complete a definitive feasibility study for its Okvau gold project in Mondulkiri province by early next year, with gold production to commence by the end of 2018, according to an investor presentation released on November 2.Keep reading ...