Perak scores gold discovery

IPOH: The Perak Government has identified several potential gold sources in the state. Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, who refused to name the locations of the recently-discovered gold deposits, said the authorities would first need to determine whether the gold deposits had any commercial or considerable value.

Source from (The Star Online): http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/11/1/nation/12254440&sec=nation
Published: November 01, 2012

“I have instructed the Mineral and Geoscience Department to conduct further research at the spots.
“We need to determine if there is any commercial value in them or if they only contain small amounts of gold.
“The state will not name the locations for now to prevent a gold rush,” he said after the state-level Innovation Day awards presentation yesterday.

Dr Zambry said the state was also looking into refining the categorisation of minerals to facilitate the process of imposing royalty taxes on mining activities.

“As of now, the categories are too general, thus the royalties do not reflect the value of the minerals.
“For example, all forms of sand are categorised under a single category when there are actually different types of sand, including silica, which is more valuable,” he added.

Dr Zambry also said Perak had already increased its tax revenues from mining activities to about RM30mil this year through a royalty tax increase to 5% as compared to last year's revenue of less than RM1mil.

“This is a sign that the mining industry in Perak is picking up steam and the further sub-categorisation of minerals will mean a bigger increase in revenue.

“Previously, mines producing less than 50 tonnes of material would be taxed while those that produce more are not, which is a practice carried over from the colonial era,” he said.

On another matter, Dr Zambry said state Education, Higher Education and Human Resources Committee chairman Datuk Mohammed Zahir Abdul Khalid had met with PAS to clear up any confusion the opposition party had over a misunderstanding that Sultan Azlan Shah Islamic University College graduates were not certified.

“They had requested for a meeting and I agreed to it. The meeting went well. Any confusion over the issue has been cleared up.”