Gold finds could make Cambodia the richest country in the world

Originally posted at: Khmerization

By Kenneth So

Dear Friends,

According to the news (please see the links and story below), the Australian firm OZ Minerals had discovered a gold mineral deposit of around 8.1 million tons in the north eastern province of Mondulkiri.

This gold deposit is so large that it is about 50 times of all the gold that has ever been produced throughout human history. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold), a total of only about 161,000 tons of gold have been mined throughout the history of human civilization.

According to the US geological survey (http://minerals.usgs.gov/ds/2005/140/gold.pdf), the world gold production in 2008 was only 2,260 tons. Therefore, with the current production, it would take Cambodia 3584 years to exploit all the gold from the mine.

I made some calculation as to the value of our Cambodian gold deposit. Considering that the price of gold is about $1,200 per troy ounce, the total value of our Cambodian gold deposit amount to over $300 trillion ($1200 x 8,100,000 tons x 22,240 lb/ton x 14.584 oz/lb). This is about 24 times the current debt of the United States of America (The current US debt is about $13 trillion). This mean that Cambodia could buy the US out and still have about $300 billion left. With this kind of wealth, Cambodia would be the richest country in the world.

I hope Cambodia and the government know how to manage our natural resource properly for the benefits of Cambodia and its citizens.

As some of you may have remembered, Cambodia used to be called Sovannaphum, which means a country of gold. Now we know the reason why our ancestors called Cambodia Sovannaphum.

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May 24, 2010

Cambodia’s gold, mineral find

PHNOM PENH – CAMBODIA said on Monday that Australian firm OZ Minerals had discovered around 8.1 million tonnes of gold on its territory, ahead of a conference intended to draw in mining investment.

Some 60 local and foreign firms including companies from Australia, China, South Korea and Vietnam have been conducting mineral research and exploration across Cambodia, an official said ahead of the international mining conference starting in Phnom Penh on Wednesday.

‘We have been conducting research and we have obtained remarkable results,’ said Sok Leng, head of the General Department of Mineral Resources at Cambodia’s Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, at a news conference.

OZ Minerals Limited had recently discovered about 8.1 million tonnes of gold in an area in the north-eastern province of Mondulkiri, said Mr Sok Leng. Other minerals including gold, iron ore, and copper had been found elsewhere in the country, he said.

Douglas Broderick, representative of the United Nations Development Programme, which is co-organising the conference with the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, said Cambodia’s mining sector would continue to develop. ‘Obviously, we would like to see (the) mining conference encourage investment,’ Mr Broderick said during the briefing.

London-based Global Witness has alleged that Cambodian earnings from natural resources, including minerals, are being ‘jeopardised by high-level corruption, nepotism and patronage.’ The environmental watchdog said Cambodia had enough natural wealth to wean itself off foreign aid but that international donors must do more to ensure the assets are properly managed. — AFP

London-based Global Witness has alleged that Cambodian earnings from natural resources, including minerals, are being ‘jeopardized by high-level corruption, nepotism and patronage.’ The environmental watchdog said Cambodia had enough natural wealth to wean itself off foreign aid but that international donors must do more to ensure the assets are properly managed.

Kenneth So
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