(KPL) A central-level participatory consultation to review the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan (EMMP) for the gold–silver mining expansion project in Nady Village, Longchaeng District, Xaysomboun Province was held on Feb 24 in Vientiane Capital.

The meeting was jointly organized by the Department of Environment, under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in collaboration with Phu Bia Mining Company Limited, and was chaired by Sainakone Inthavong, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Forestry.

Participants included senior officials from central and local authorities, representatives of Xaysomboun Province, communities in the project area, environmental consulting firms, the project owner, and other relevant stakeholders.

During the meeting, representatives of the Department of Environment reported on the review process of the EIA report and presented a synthesis of comments gathered from local-level participatory consultations. The expansion project is planned to have a two-year construction period and a five-year operational phase, with an estimated annual production of approximately 1.3 million tons of ore and about 4.3 million tons of waste rock and overburden. Mining activities will be carried out using open-pit methods with conventional drill-and-blast, load, and haul techniques.

On this occasion, the chair urged all sectors to actively contribute technical comments to ensure the EIA and EMMP are comprehensive, practical, and effectively implementable. He emphasized strict compliance with environmental, social, and natural resource management measures, particularly the prevention, mitigation, and remediation of potential impacts arising from construction, transportation, and mining operations. He also stressed the importance of improving local livelihoods and ensuring that project implementation fully complies with national laws and regulations to avoid adverse impacts in the future.

KPL