Vietnam has nearly 500 gold mines
Vietnam has spotted 500 gold deposits and verified reserves totaling 300 tons in 30 of the deposits, local media reported Tuesday.
Most of gold mines are located in northern mountainous provinces including Hoa Binh, Thai Nguyen, Bac Can, Cao Bang and Lang Son, Young People newspaper quoted a report of the Vietnamese Trade Industry.
According to the industry's assessment, Vietnam should establish a gold complex with annual gold production capacity of one ton in the Doi Bu area in Hoa Binh. The Na Pai area in Lang Son has an estimated gold reserve of 30 tons, but the country finds it hard to exploit gold there, since the exploitation requires complex technologies.
Now, all gold exploiting businesses in the northern mountainous region have stopped operation, since their outdated technologies have resulted in low economic efficiency and big loss to natural resources, said the newspaper.
Vietnam's first gold plant with an annual refining capacity of 180,000 tons became operational in central Quang Nam province in early April. The plant, owned by a joint venture between two local companies and a Canadian one, is exploiting ores from the Bong Mieu gold mine with an estimated reserve of at least eight tons of gold to produce 600 kg of the precious metal annually.
Xinhua - May 23, 2006.
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