PHNOM PENH, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia has produced 3.5 tons of dore bars with 90 percent pure gold solution since mining began in June last year, a spokesman said on Tuesday.
The Southeast Asian nation started extracting gold for the first time at a gold mining site in Keo Seima district in northeastern Mondulkiri province in June 2021.
Renaissance Minerals (Cambodia) Ltd, a subsidiary of Australia-listed Emerald Resources NL, is the developer of the mining site.
"The company has so far refined about 3,543 kg of dore bars," Ung Dipola, director-general of the Ministry of Mines and Energy's General Department of Mineral Resources, said during a press conference.
The royalty income generated from the gold production was 5.1 million U.S. dollars so far, he said.
Dipola said that another gold refining company, Delcom Campuchea PLC Ltd, has started its trial operation in northwestern Preah Vihear province since Aug. 4, extracting about 20 kg of dore bars so far.
"It is a medium-sized company that is capable of producing around 340 kg of gold per year," he added. ■