HCMC bank proposes separating gold and forex trade

TUOI TRE

The Ho Chi Minh City branch of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is calling for a policy to discourage gold shops from doubling as foreign exchange dealers.

According to current SBV regulations, people can own foreign currencies but can only sell them to banks and forex dealers licensed by the central bank. Gold shops can apply for a license to be a forex dealer, which means they can buy - not sell - foreign currencies.

But SBV-HCMC said many gold shops with such a license were illegally selling foreign currencies, which was the main cause of recent price fluctuations in the gold and forex markets.

At present, there are seven out of 74 forex dealers in HCMC which also trade in gold. 

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Mountain rockslide kills 6 gold miners

A gold mine collapse in 2009 that claimed 13 lives in Quang Nam

TUOI TRE

Police said Friday morning that six gold miners in the central province of Quang Nam were killed on June 14 following a mountain rockslide which was probably triggered by heavy rains.

As the unlicensed mine is located remotely in the middle of a forest, authorities have just been informed of the accident, said Pham Thi Nhu, deputy chairwoman of Nam Giang district government.

Due to rugged terrain, entering this mining area requires at least one day of walking.

Nhu said the six victims belonged to the Kho Mu ethnic minority group of Bac Giang province and were illegally mining for gold.

The victims’ names have not been identified.

The mine has been exploited without a license for many years in Nam Giang district.

Local authorities have raided the mine and chased away hundreds of illegal miners many times but due to the mine’s off-the-beaten track location, efforts seem futile.

On the same day the accident happened, a mob overran a licensed gold mine, also in Quang Nam Province for the second time in 10 days, and spirited away 15 tons of gold-bearing rocks

The robbery occurred at a mine belonging to the Bong Mieu Gold Mining Co Ltd in Tam Lanh Commune, Phu Ninh District.

Tran Ha Tien, general director of Bong Mieu, said 400 raiders brushed past security guards, packed the ore in sacks, and fled.

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Gold mine collapse kills 1, injures another

Local police find and seize an air compressor at an illegal gold pit in A Ho valley, northern Quang Tri Province

TUOITRE

An illegal gold mine in the northern Quang Tri Province suddenly collapsed yesterday morning, killing one digger and injuring another.

The dead person has been identified as Ho Van Tho, 16, of Hong Thuy commune, A Luoi District, Thua Thien-Hue Province.

Ho Van My, also 16, of Vuc Leng hamlet in the local district has been admitted to the Hue Central Hospital in a critical condition.

The two were among 10 miners digging a pit in A Ho valley, Dakrong District. The others escaped before the mine collapse.

Lieutenant Colonel Ho Si Nhung, deputy head of the district police, said the pit was too deep and had its wall weakened by groundwater, causing it to collapse.

Illegal gold mining is rampant in the area, the police said, and this is the seventh accident since 2009. The earlier collapses saw seven people being killed or seriously injured.

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