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The rare Asiatic golden cat has been detected in natural protected areas in the Kingdom’s northeastern province of Ratanakkiri. Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra said on June 28 that according to images collected by specialists, the cats were captured on automatic cameras in Ratanakkiri’s Virachey National Park. Pheaktra said Virachey is an ASEAN national heritage park and is rich in biodiversity. The research team for the ministry’s Department of Conservation of the East Mekong River Area had placed cameras there from March to May and caught many images of rare animal species. Read the full story at:

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Australian miner Renaissance Minerals (Cambodia) Ltd on June 21 began the commercial operation of its $120 million Okvau Gold Project in the northeastern province of Mondulkiri, becoming the Kingdom’s first gold producer. Located in the Okvau area in southwestern Mondulkiri province’s Keo Seima district, the mine’s processing plant was inaugurated by Minister of Mines and Energy Suy Sem. Sem said the facility started processing ore from the mine, casting gold alloy bars and stamping its first dore bar on June 21. Construction of the plant and key infrastructure for the site began in mid-2020, he noted. “The gold mining site and processing plant have the capacity to process nearly two million…

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ASIAN elephants maintain a significant presence in the Kingdom, despite indications of very high extinction risk, according to Ministry of Environment spokesman Neth Pheaktra on July 2. Also known by their scientific name Elephas maximus, the pachyderms have been classified as 'endangered' in the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Red List since 1986. Pheaktra pointed out that cameras in the Kingdom's protected natural area have captured the giant mammals on numerous occasions, even calves. “These calves are the hope of conservationists and environmentalists in Cambodia and the result of forest and habitat protection, as well as efforts to safeguard the Asian elephant,” …