Aug 9 2016
ANGKOR GOLD CORP. ("ANGKOR") is pleased to announce that the Cambodian government today approved the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment ("ESIA") for the Mesco Gold (Cambodia) Ltd. ("MESCO") Phum Syarung mine located in northeastern Cambodia.
This landmark decision represents the final step before approval from the Minister of Mines, for MESCO's mining license application covering 12 km2 at their Phum Syarung mine site, for the extraction of minerals including gold and other precious and base metals. MESCO has completed most of the necessary mine infrastructure.
ANGKOR maintains a sliding-scale net smelter return (NSR) agreement from 2%-7.5% based on the price of gold on the Phum Syarung mine. For all other minerals, a 7.5% NSR will be paid.
"Today's news represents the final step in the process towards issuing MESCO with their mining license for the Phum Syarung mine site. We are extremely pleased with the approach that the Cambodian government has taken to apply international standards to this important process," stated Mike Weeks, Chairman and CEO of ANGKOR.
"The Phum Syarung mine site has received very positive reactions from all, and we anticipate the final approval process to be quick," stated JP Dau, VP of Operations for ANKGOR.
Dau continued, "There are a number of serious investment firms and mining companies keeping a very close eye on this process as Cambodia continues to increase in popularity within international investment communities."
"Cambodia, after years of grass roots exploration, is finally starting to see some of the early development pay off. Mesco's license marks the beginning of a new chapter for the country in the mineral sector, moving the industry one step closer towards extraction," said Richard Stanger, President of the Cambodia Association for Mining and Exploration Companies. He continued, "It is a testament to the dedication and efforts made by this government in working to build a viable mining sector."
The QP for this release, which he wrote and approved, is Kurtis Dunstone, BSc Geology, Senior Project Manager for ANGKOR. Mr. Dunstone has fifteen years post graduate mining and global exploration industry experience, across Australia, Canada, Papua New Guinea and Cambodia, and is a current member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists.
ANGKOR's six exploration licences in the Kingdom of Cambodia cover 1,273 km2, which the company has been actively exploring over the past 6 years. The company has now covered all tenements with stream sediment geochemical sampling and has flown low level aeromagnetic surveys over most of the ground. ANGKOR has drilled 21,855 metres of NQ core in 190 holes, and has collected in excess of 110,000 termite mound, 'B' and 'C' zone soil samples in over 20 centres of interest over a combined area of over 140km2, in addition to numerous trenches and detailed geological field mapping. Exploration on all tenements is ongoing.