Vietnam Ministry to Inspect Pollution at Privately-run Nui Phao Mining Site

Vietnam’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) is planning a thorough inspection in early August over the environmental compliance and natural resources exploitation at Nui Phao Mining Company, a subsidiary of one of the largest private-run conglomerates in Vietnam - Masan Group, state media reported. Covering a total area of 9.21 square kilometers in the northern province of Thai Nguyen, Nui Phao is one of the world’s largest tungsten deposits outside of China with an estimated reserve of 66 million tons. The decision, following complaints by residents in Thai Nguyen province about pollution near the mining site, was made after the MONRE had a meeting with provincial authorities regarding the company’s environmental issues. Inspectors from the MONRE will lead the task and coordinate with relevant agencies to determine the level of pollution, its impacts on local livelihood as well as other issues related to the exploitation and production of tsungten in the locality. In addition, the Thai Nguyen People’s Committee is asked to prepare for a plan for resettlement of affected areas. Masan Group, the listed parent company of Masan Resources, has invested an extra $320 million in the project since it spent $130 million in the acquisition of Dragon Capital’s stake to become the major shareholder in Nui Phao in 2010. As part of its commitment, Masan created three resettlement sites with the aim of relocating 1,925 households over the life of the project, marking it the largest resettlement project in the province and one of the largest in Vietnam. In 2014, the group signed a joint venture with Germany-based H.C. Starck, a leading worldwide manufacturer of technology metals and one of the biggest companies in the global tungsten industry, to produce value added tungsten chemicals. Nui Phao and H.C. Starck will own 51% and 49% respectively of the joint venture. Masan Resources, listed on the unlisted public company market UpCOM as MSR since September 2015, posted loss of over VND400 million ($18 million) on revenue of VND806 billion in the first quarter of this year. The company reaped VND450 billion from its tsungten mining alone. On June 27, Masan Group passed a plan to provide financial support up to VND100 billion for its mining subsidiary in 2016. (infonet.vn July 27, Dan Tri July 25, Bao Dat Viet July 26)