Basileia to Develop Gold Mine in Cambodia

25 Nov 2009
Korean Int'l Trade Association

A Korean-American businessman has secured a mining opportunity for precious and base metals in Cambodia amid soaring metal prices in international markets.

Jonathan Kim, chairman of Basileia Cambodia, secured for his company the rights to explore a gold mine in Andong Bor ― about 410 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh ― after leading the company's successful effort to purchase 90 percent of the developing licence ownership Liberty Mining International Pty Ltd. (LMI) of Australia has held on the 363.5 square kilometers mine.

Kim signed the contract to set up a 9:1 joint venture, Basileia Mining Corp., with Richard Stanger, managing director of Liberty, in late October, a company executive said.

Yoon Dong-yeol, senior executive and vice president of Basileia, said that the two parties also inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on joint explorations of five other mines in the northeast part of the country. The mines have deposits of oil, gas, iron ore, coal, bauxite, copper and other precious metals, according to Yoon.

The Bo Sup Trup gold mine is estimated to have deposits of gold worth 1 trillion won to 3 trillion won in five veins that have been confirmed so far, including one with an estimated 440,000 tons of gold ore, with 15 grams of gold to be produced per ton, he explained.

The joint venture is ready to simultaneously conduct a geological survey and drill the mine from December, as it has completed a check of the drilling survey LMI had already drawn up, he said.

The gold mine has been internationally recognized and was registered as the No. 1 mine in a report on the natural resources of Cambodia issued by the United Nations in 1993.

"This is the biggest success I have achieved in five years since jumping into the mining business in Cambodia. We will explore and drill the mine in full scale from 2010," Jonathan Kim said in a press release.

"In a bid to help Korea secure mineral and gas mines, which they are in desperate need of, we will step up efforts in developing natural resources in Cambodia. We will also play a leading role in guiding Korean businesses hoping to invest or do business in the Southeast Asian nation."

Cambodia to get first skyscraper [-Hun Sen's Twin Gold Towers to overshadow the royal palaces?]

Officials linked the building to Cambodia's economic success

Cambodian officials have attended the official sales launch of the first-ever skyscraper in the capital, Phnom Penh.

The twin towers are to be 42 storeys high - almost three times higher than the current tallest building.

It is the first of three skyscrapers planned in the capital, where the skyline has been kept low - in part to avoid overshadowing royal palaces.

But the government has encouraged the new buildings as symbols of Cambodia's development after decades of conflict.

Although Gold Tower 42 is some way from completion, the launch of its show apartment and sales office attracted government ministers and overseas ambassadors.

The BBC's Guy De Launey, in Phnom Penh, said the launch gave a taste of the shape of things to come.

He said the solid, imposing, gold-faced structure would stand out from its neighbours on Norodom Boulevard - an area of yellow-washed, wooden-shuttered French colonial-era buildings.

But Phnom Penh is in the middle of a real-estate boom - and some residents hope that building up will bring the price of homes down.

"It's more affordable for people wanting to stay in town, and I think it's good. It's secure and they have all the facilities," one resident said.

But other locals worry about the effect tall buildings will have on the city's character

"The original Phnom Penh city [was developed to] be horizontal, not vertical," one resident said.

South Korean companies are building Gold Tower 42 and another even taller skyscraper near the Mekong River.