More than 10 mining projects will be approved before 2010 if the National Assembly agrees to a proposal from the Minister of Mines and Energy Dr Bosaikham Vongdara.
Dr Bosaikham said the government had approved fewer mining projects in the past two years as it weighed up financial benefits with environment impacts.
The government has not approved any mining projects to proceed to the excavation stage this year, nor did it approve any last year. It allowed companies to conduct mining studies (15 in 2007 and 10 in 2008), but none have been allowed to excavate.
Dr Bosaikham said he had studied 10 specific mining projects which he believed would provide significant economic benefits to Laos .
“I know that natural resources will be exhausted one day and that's why we won't rush to approve the new projects,” he said.
“We will approve only mining projects that are beneficial to the nation and the projects requested by local authorities.”
Dr Bosaikham said the government would strongly promote the export of mining products, but the excavation of coal would only be approved to supply the domestic market.
The government plans to build two steel factories, one each in the provinces of Vientiane and Huaphan, to respond to rising demand for steel from the construction sector.
Dr Bosaikham also said the government wan ted to excavate potash in Vientiane capital and Khammuan province.
“We have a lot of potash in these areas and its price is quite good, about US$600-US$700 per tonne,” he said.
“We also want to excavate bauxite. According to our estimates, bauxite will be found in 6,000 to 7,000 square km of Laos . We have approved investors to study 1,000 square km of this area.”
Dr Bosaikham said the survey had found hundreds of tonnes of bauxite which could be excavated between 2008 and 2010. This would generate additional revenue for national development.
The mining sector has been developing very fast since 2001. So far, 118 companies have operated 181 mining projects, including projects which are still at the surveying stage.
Of these companies, 101 are owned by 74 foreign companies including those from Australia , China , Vietnam , Thailand and Russia .
The government intends to enhance management of this sector and improve mining legislation.
Dr Bosaikham also addressed the NA on hydropower development, informing them the government had approved 65 hydropower projects with an installed capacity of 21,247.9 MW since the 1970s.
Projects to be completed between 2009 and 2011 include the Nam Theun 2 project, Xeset , Nam Yoi , Nam Ngum 2, Nam Leak 1-2 and Nam Ngum 5. The installed capacity for these projects is 2,243.4MW.
By 2012, Laos will be able to supply all of its domestic electricity and will no longer need to import electricity from neighbouring countries, Dr Bosaikham said.
One challenge is that the electricity network does not supply enough for factories in northern provinces , because the 115 kilovolt supply only reaches Luang Prabang province. The government will extend it to Oudomxay province by 2009.
Dr Bosaikham said another challenge was that electricity production failed to reach last year's target due to low wa ter levels in reservoirs.
You know the country that produce have all the diamond mine? How are they doing? Are they prosperous at all?
Not all all , decent people of those country are very poor , hungry, uneducate, no health care, and some country right now have tribal war, killing each other spreading everywhere.
So in short...a country with all kinds of resources such as timber, hydro, mining, and land does not equate to a prosperous country and better living standard for all its citizen unless the government manage the resources properly. And spread the wealth among it citizens (not meant giving the money to the people but rather creating and improving infrastructure of the countryn, health and education) rather than the elites keeping all the wealth.
