Surveyors from the Ministry of Mines and Energy’s inspection department have arrived in Kampot province’s Toek Chhou district to begin inspecting large mountain quarries suspected of being home to unlicensed mining, an official said Wednesday.
Moek Sopheaktra, director of the ministry’s department of mineral resources, said a team led by the director-general of the ministry’s inspection unit, Prak Chan Roeun, arrived at the Phnom Khlay mountain on Monday.
“Prak Chan Roeun was ordered by the mines and energy minister…to check illegal-mining sites with expired licenses,” Mr. Sopheaktra said. Former Toek Chhou district governor Se Dang, who was replaced a month ago, said the miners on the mountain worked for the Hok Chenda Company.
Mr. Dang said the operation started small, mining stone and red soil on Phnom Khlay five years ago, but had since expanded to a pair of nearby mountains.
