Emerald Resources, the Australian-listed mining firm behind Cambodia’s Okvau gold project in Mondulkiri province, is one step closer to receiving an industrial mining licence after it signed an environmental contract with the Ministry of Environment (MoE), the firm announced yesterday.

Under the terms of the contract, the Phnom Prich Wildlife Sanctuary, where the project is located, will be rezoned by the MoE to be reclassified from a “Conservation Zone” to a “Sustainable Use Zone.” The firm now expects to be granted a mining licence by the Ministry of Mines and Energy “in the next few weeks,” the company said.