VietNamNet Bridge – Besra, the gold miner from Canada, imported 60 tons of counterfeit cyanide from China, local authorities have discovered.

Besra, which runs two gold mining companies, Phuoc Son and Bong Mieu, realised it was fake when it began using the material.

Pham Ba Huyen, a senior official at the Quang Nam Province’s Industry and Trade Department, told the local press on November 14 that the department has asked Besra to destroy the chemical.

The imports contained no cyanide but the material has yet to be identified.

Nguyen Ngoc Lan from the local Industry and Trade Department, said Besra had asked for permission to treat the import chemical at the dumping ground of the factory.

However, the proposal has been rejected by local agencies, which believe the company is not capable of treating hazardous chemicals.

“Further experiments are required to find out what the chemical is before the relevant agencies decide what to do with it,” Lan said.

“If the chemical is found as hazardous, the company will have to work with organizations that treat hazardous chemicals to ensure safety during the treatment process,” he said.

The department will supervise the treatment process and submit a report prior to December 30.

Besra reportedly bought the chemical from Chinese Tianjin Haina Tianyi Chemical at $12,720, or VND21 billion.

Later, the company discovered that all the 60 tons of cyanide were counterfeit goods. A representative of the company said after discovering the fraud, the company tried to contact the exporter many times, but all emails and calls were unanswered.

This is the second time Besra has had trouble, causing headaches for state management agencies.

Several months ago, local press reported that Besra still had not paid VND300 billion in tax.

However, the Ministry of Finance and the Quang Nam provincial authorities have not reached an agreement on dealing with the company.

The Ministry of Finance has asked the Quang Nam provincial taxation agency to extend the tax payment deadline for Besra.

Meanwhile, the provincial authorities believe that it is necessary to force the gold miner to respect Vietnamese laws on tax payments.

As the problem still cannot be settled, it has been reported to the Prime Minister for a final decision.

Dat Viet