Angkor Gold announces that Cambodia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy has approved and issued a mining licence on 12sqkm for Mesco Gold’s Phum Syarung mine. It is the first commercial mining licence to be approved in the country.

Angkor says the landmark approval represents the first industrial mining licence for gold and associated metals under new regulatory framework established by the Royal Government of Cambodia, and the final step for Mesco to bring the Phum Syarung Gold Mine into production.

Mesco Group chairman JK Singh said, “With the grant of the first fully approved mining licence in Cambodia to Mesco Gold, a new stage in the evolution of the mining industry in the country has begun, which so far was limited to exploration only.” Mesco Group owns Mesco Gold.

“We are very excited and proud of this final approval for Mesco,” said Angkor’s CEO and chairman Mike Weeks. “This is a new era for Cambodia and sets the stage to further the development of a world-class mining sector.”

ANGKOR retains a sliding scale 2.0% to 7.5% net smelter return on the Phum Syarung project.

Angkor’s VP of operations JP Dau said, “This is a very important transaction for Cambodia. We are now working with our partners JOGMEC and Blue River towards building a better understanding of our joint venture projects with an end-goal of securing future income streams for the company.”

Canadian-based Angkor’s six exploration licences in the Kingdom of Cambodia cover 1352sqkm2, which the company has been actively exploring over the past six years.