The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment is consulting the public on the environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the Nam Khac Kiem Valley alluvial gold mining project in Than Sa Commune.
According to the EIA, a Thai Nguyen-based company was licensed to mine alluvial gold at three sites in the Ban Na-Khac Kiem Valley, namely Ban Na, Khac Kiem and Nam Khac Kiem Valley. The three sites run consecutively from north to south along the valley.
The Nam Khac Kiem Valley mine has approved remaining reserves of over 66 kg of gold.
In 2010, the former Vo Nhai District People's Committee approved the project's environmental protection commitments and rehabilitation plan. The Thai Nguyen People's Committee subsequently granted a mining licence in December that year.
Mining began in 2018 and continued until the licence expired in October 2022, with over 13,750 cubic metres of ore-bearing sand extracted. The mine has been idle since November 2022.
The project received investment approval from Thai Nguyen authorities in August this year. It covers over eight hectares and is designed to extract 10,000 cubic metres of ore-bearing sand a year, equivalent to around 8.79 kg of gold, over 7.5 years.
Mining would combine open-pit and underground methods. With remaining approved reserves of over 66 kg of gold, the mine falls under the licensing authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment.
The project requires an estimated investment of VND 43 billion (USD 1.6 million), funded by the company's own capital and bank loans.
No households currently live within the project area, with residents having been relocated to the Xuyen Son resettlement area north of the Ban Na mine. The nearest household is about 1.5 km south of the site.
Although the project lies outside the planned Than Sa-Phuong Hoang Nature Reserve, its nearest point is just 100-300 metres from the protected area.
The EIA warns that blasting could send rocks flying, requiring the mine design to comply with safety-distance regulations.
It also says past and future gold mining could adversely affect the environment and landscape in the Khac Kiem-Than Sa area. Potential impacts from waste, pollution and other mining activities would need to be assessed in detail.
Further studies are needed to assess geological risks, extreme weather events and biodiversity in the area, according to the report.
The investor has pledged to comply with environmental zoning requirements and prevent adverse impacts on strictly protected areas of the Than Sa-Phuong Hoang Nature Reserve.
Covering over 48,900 hectares of largely limestone terrain, the reserve is home to 259 animal species, including 56 mammals, 117 birds and 28 reptiles. A troop of Tonkin snub-nosed monkeys was discovered there in 2010, while 34 species are listed in protected Groups IB and IIB.