Cambodian Gold Rush Lures Foreign Giants

A Cambodian man looking for gold at O'Clor village in Mondulkiri province, some 550 kilometers northeast of Phnom Penh. (AFP Photo)

June 23, 2011
AFP

O'Clor, Cambodia. Squinting in the harsh midday sun, Ry Kuok emerges slowly with a bag of rocks on his back from a hand-dug mine in a remote corner of Cambodia known as the "Gold Forest".

He's one of hundreds of prospectors searching for the yellow metal in the isolated village of O'Clor in northeast Mondulkiri province, where a modern-day gold rush is threatened by the arrival of foreign mining giants.

On a good day, the 29-year-old can earn about $12.50. Not bad in a country where a third of the population survives on less than a dollar a day.

The work is dangerous, difficult — and completely illegal.

Carried out by tens of thousands of Cambodians across the impoverished country, the practice has been quietly tolerated by the government for decades.

But that is about to change as companies move in and invest millions of dollars to develop a gold mining industry, leaving no room for illegal prospectors.

Cambodian gold rush rumours attract hundreds of hysterical hopefuls

May 19, 2011
DPA

Phnom Penh - Rumours that hundreds of kilograms of Khmer Rouge-era gold had been found in western Cambodia have drawn hundreds of people to the area in recent days, national media reported Thursday.

The governor of Pursat province, Khoy Sokha, told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper that the authorities had now taken over the site but had found nothing.

'If the authorities did find buried treasure, it would be kept as state treasure (sic!), and no one would own it,' he said, adding that tensions had seen fights break out among desperate diggers.

Indochine Mining Limited nnounce High Grade Gold Discovery In Cambodia

Press Release

Sydney, Mar 9, 2011 (ABN Newswire) - Indochine Mining Limited has discovered a new area of gold-bearing quartz veins within the Kratie North Project in central Cambodia.

Multiple sets of outcropping quartz veins have been sampled over 50-100 metre strike length in two locations approximately 500 metres apart. The veins trend east-west, dipping 45 degrees to the south and are exposed in numerous pits and shafts recently opened by local prospectors, where the highest grades appear to over 20-30cm in width where the veins are currently exposed.

Seven grab samples were collected from the veins and host rocks and assayed for gold. The best result returned 42 grams per tonne gold.

Southern Gold discovers new high grade gold at Kratie South Project

Wednesday, August 18, 2010
ProactiveInvestors.com.au

Southern Gold has identified new high grade gold at the Gossan prosect within the Preak Khlong tenement at the Kratie South Project in Cambodia and has now completed exploration activities for the 2009‐2010 field season.

The best results from diamond core drilling on the Gossan prospect include; 3m @ 14.60 g/t Au, 0.4% Pb, 0.5% Zn and 0.1% Cu from 38m (including 1m @ 34.57 g/t Au) (DD10GSN003) and 2m @ 1.44 g/t Au from 88m (DD10GSN002).

Best rock chip results include; 35.55 g/t Au, 2.8% Zn, 2.9% Pb and 119.5 g/t Ag and 26.16 g/t Au, 23.6% Pb and 974.7 g/t Ag.

In addition, two high grade gold quartz vein‐sets (massive sulphides) have been detected to date at the Gossan prospect, which are hosted within metasedimentary rocks adjacent to diorite intrusive rocks.

A total of 2,178m of diamond core drilling, 767m of reverse circulation drilling and 2000m of trenching has been completed over the Preak Khlong and O’Khtung tenements within the Kratie South Project during the season and all assay results are now to hand.

Exploration on three of Southern Gold’s seven tenements in Cambodia (Preak Khlong & O’Khtung, Kratie South Project and Phnum Khtong, Kratie North Project) is being fully funded by the Japanese Government‐backed JOGMEC, pursuant to a Joint Venture agreement whereby JOGMEC can fully fund exploration activity to a total of US$4.5 million over 3 years to earn a 51% interest in these tenements.

Mick Billing, executive director, said the discoveries at Gossan and Preak Khlong will be the focus of systematic rock chip sampling, trenching and infill drilling programmes planned to start in October‐November 2010, when the next dry season commences in Cambodia.

Southern Gold predicts major discovery in Cambodia

Southern Gold operations

14 Apr 2008
MineBox (Australia)

Asian equity market and resources investors have been told Adelaide-based explorer Southern Gold Ltd is on the verge of making a “major” gold discovery in Cambodia.

Addressing the peak Asia Mining Congress in Singapore, Southern Gold’s Managing Director, Mr Stephen Biggins, said recent investments in the Company’s Cambodian campaigns had enabled it to “significantly” step up exploration activities at three of its eight gold projects in the country’s northeast.

“We have now cemented our early mover advantage in Cambodia, and are on the verge of making a major gold discovery,” Mr Biggins told the mining and investment Congress.

Southern Gold is the sole or majority owner of eight Cambodian tenements, covering a total of 1,800 km2 in the highly prospective northeast region, where artisanal mining has long pointed to extensive high-grade gold and base metals mineralisation.

Exploration licences have been granted for three of Southern Gold’s wholly-owned tenements, with applications pending on a further four.

The Company’s first drilling at its Snoul concession, completed in December last year, intersected gold in three holes. Detailed geochemistry and geological programs are currently being undertaken.

“All eight tenements suggest the potential for high-grade gold finds, with widespread mineralised intrusive bodies and highly anomalous regional soils,” Mr Biggins said in Singapore.

“In some places, there is undrilled gold mineralisation literally protruding out of the ground and this continues to add to our confidence of an imminent large discovery.”

Last month, the Company’s exploration program received a fillip when the Japanese Government-owned Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) agreed to invest US$4.5 million over three years in exploration at the Australian explorer’s Phnum Khtong, Preak Khlong and O’Kthung tenements.

Through the agreement, JOGMEC joined a list of major Southern Gold shareholders that includes Chinese resource investor, CITIC and Australia’s Macquarie Bank.

“The Joint Venture with JOGMEC has enabled us to significantly bring forward our exploration schedules – and potential discoveries – in Cambodia, which we regard as one of the world’s great mining frontiers,” said Mr Biggins.

“As well as enabling us to commit to much larger surveying and drilling budgets, these investments also provide substantial potential for us to acquire additional projects."