Vanguard Mining Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Minh Duc ICC Co, a Vietnam-based company, to supply sand from the Mekong Delta of Vietnam to Singapore.

According to the MoU, Vanguard will sign a definitive agreement with the Vietnamese partner within 60 days to establish a joint venture enterprise to operate a sand mine in the Mekong Delta, currently owned by the partner, for primary export to Singapore.

Vanguard will hold 51% ownership in the JV and will be responsible for securing one or more long-term offtake buyers from Singapore for the sand produced from the mine. It is estimated that the total market value of the sand deposits at the mine is approximately $US7.6 billion.

Historically, Singapore’s land area has increased from 581.5sqkm in the 1960s to more than 700sqkm today. The government also plans to grow the country by another 100sqkm by 2030. Almost all of this land reclamation has been undertaken using sand imported from nearby countries.

The country also needs vast volumes of sand for its massive construction industry, the result of an ongoing property boom in which any building over 10 years of age is potentially at risk of being demolished and replaced by an even larger one.

Sand traders estimate that Singapore is currently importing sand at a daily rate of 200,000 tonnes. Tenders have been put out for another 21 million tonnes, but this is only a drop in the ocean when taking into account the overall land-reclamation projects planned up until 2030. The upcoming Tuas Finger 1 project alone is expected to require 1 billion tonnes of the product.

Vanguard director Hoang Dinh Vo (Jack Vo) says, “We are pleased to cooperate with our Vietnamese partner to provide much needed sand to Singapore from this joint operation while adhering strictly to the environmental protection requirements by the Vietnamese governmental oversight bodies. We expect to conclude the definitive agreement within the prescribed time frame and will be able to generate revenues from production within three to four months.”

Vanguard Mining Corporation, a Nevada corporation established in 1987, is building and developing a portfolio of mineral assets in South East Asia, including gold, copper, limestone, manganese and iron sand in Indonesia. The company has also investigated mineral asset opportunities in other geographical areas. www.vnmcglobal.com