A mining company’s quest for gold is posing “extraordinary” threats to Cambodia’s Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary, according to a new report by the Bruno Manser Fund, an international human rights and environmental organisation based in Switzerland.
The Late Cheng Mining Development Company is developing two large-scale gold mines in Kampong Thom province, about 200 kilometres from Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital, the report says.
The $13 million, 15,000-hectare project is expected to last 15 years and create 300 jobs, according to the Council for the Development of Cambodia.
Ung Dipola, director-general of the general department of mineral resources at the Ministry of Mines and Energy, said the company had a production capacity of 180 kilograms of gold a year and had planned a trial operation for last August, according to the news website Cambodianess.
According to the report, satellite imagery shows that Late Cheng began commercial gold production at its main mine complex in 2020, just a few months after receiving permission to explore for gold and almost 18 months before receiving permission to begin commercial production.
According to the BMF report, “these developments pose a direct threat to the environment in the most biologically important evergreen lowland forest in Southeast Asia”. Using satellite and drone imagery, the BMF found damage caused by mining operations, including ‘the use of cyanide, which appears to be used for gold extraction’.
Images show the potentially lethal chemical spreading through the area as it flows into rivers and streams, posing a threat to people and the environment.
According to the report, the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Late Cheng mines is not publicly available. “The public has no idea how the impacts have been assessed, what biodiversity has been assessed, what contingency plans are in place for a spill or other contamination, or what clean-up and restoration work will be required after the mines close.”
“This EIA, if it has been prepared at all, is clearly inadequate given the environmentally damaging activities that have taken place in the concession area,” the report said.
Endangered species threatened by the mining activities include gaur – also known as Indian bison – which are susceptible to domestic cattle diseases, and pileated gibbons, which prefer old-growth forests with dense evergreen cover, according to the Animal Diversity Web at the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology.
The BMF called on the Cambodian government to revoke mining licences in the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary and ban large-scale mining projects there in the future.
The 400,000-hectare wildlife sanctuary was established in 2016 to protect the forest, according to the report, which says the mines ‘are obviously not in line with the protection of the area’.
Even without gold mining, the sanctuary’s forests have long been threatened by illegal logging, power line development and poaching, the report said. It adds that thousands of hectares of forest and much biodiversity have already been lost.
According to the Council for the Development of Cambodia, Cambodia’s highest government decision-making body for private and public sector investment, the mining company has been granted a licence to mine gold in Kampong Thom province in 2022.
VOA Khmer has contacted Mines and Energy Minister Keo Rattanak and Ung Dipola, director-general of the ministry’s General Department of Mineral Resources, but has yet to hear back.
Last year, Ung Dipola confirmed to local media that authorities had fully assessed environmental and social impacts before granting Late Cheng Mining Development a licence to mine gold.
VOA Khmer contacted Phay Bunchhoeun, spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, Tob Kakada, director of the Kampong Thom provincial environment department, and Late Cheng Mining Development by telephone for comment on the BMF report, but did not receive a response.
Hoeun Sopheap, a member of the Prey Lang Community Network in Kampong Thom province, told VOA Khmer that he is concerned that cyanide and other chemicals he believes the mining company is using are flowing into local waterways, causing widespread environmental damage. He added that the mining company has failed to compensate people who have been forced to leave the area.
The company doesn’t appear to be complying with the laws governing the reserve and is not transparent about its activities, he said.
We’re very concerned because they’re taking Cambodian resources, but only the mine owners are benefiting, not Cambodians,” he said. “We see that some activities are illegal and some government officials are supporting the company, but there is no consultation with the people.”
Heng Kimhong, who heads the research and advocacy programme of the Cambodian Youth Network Association, echoed concerns about the mines’ use of chemicals, including some known to cause health problems in people exposed to them. Cyanide, which is believed to be used in the mines, can cause heart, brain and nerve damage.
“I urge the government to consult with stakeholders, especially independent experts and local people’s groups, before granting a company a licence to explore or operate,” said Heng Kimhong.
VOA Khmer has contacted Mines and Energy Minister Keo Rattanak and Ung Dipola, director-general of the ministry’s General Department of Mineral Resources, but has yet to hear back.
Last year, Ung Dipola confirmed to local media that authorities had fully assessed environmental and social impacts before granting Late Cheng Mining Development a licence to mine gold.
VOA Khmer contacted Phay Bunchhoeun, spokesman for the Ministry of Environment, Tob Kakada, director of the Kampong Thom provincial environment department, and Late Cheng Mining Development by telephone for comment on the BMF report, but did not receive a response.
Hoeun Sopheap, a member of the Prey Lang Community Network in Kampong Thom province, told VOA Khmer that he is concerned that cyanide and other chemicals he believes the mining company is using are flowing into local waterways, causing widespread environmental damage. He added that the mining company has failed to compensate people who have been forced to leave the area.
The company doesn’t appear to be complying with the laws governing the reserve and is not transparent about its activities, he said.
We’re very concerned because they’re taking Cambodian resources, but only the mine owners are benefiting, not Cambodians,” he said. “We see that some activities are illegal and some government officials are supporting the company, but there is no consultation with the people.”
Heng Kimhong, who heads the research and advocacy programme of the Cambodian Youth Network Association, echoed concerns about the mines’ use of chemicals, including some known to cause health problems in people exposed to them. Cyanide, which is believed to be used in the mines, can cause heart, brain and nerve damage.
“I urge the government to consult with stakeholders, especially independent experts and local people’s groups, before granting a company a licence to explore or operate,” said Heng Kimhong.
The Late Cheng mine is in close proximity to the Porong River, which flows into the Stung Chinit River and on to the Tonle Sap, a UNESCO biosphere reserve that provides fish and other food for hundreds of thousands of people.
According to the report, “dozens of kilometres of streams have already been directly affected, but downstream impacts have not been assessed”.
