The Quang Nam Tax Department has proposed the relevant government authorities to revoke the investment certificate of Besra Vietnam’s two gold mines under Phuoc Son Gold Company Ltd. (PSGC) and Bong Mieu Gold Mining Company Ltd. (BMGMC), due to their long delay in paying VND430.7 billion ($19.3 million) in taxes.

Notably, PSGC has yet to pay VND334.8 billion ($15.01 million) and BMGMC VND95.7 billion ($4.29 million) in taxes.

According to newswire Tienphong.vn, the Quang Nam People’s Committee has requested BMGMC to suspend its gold exploitation operations due to a lack of co-operation with provincial authorities in dealing with the company’s difficulties.

The resumption of the company’s operations is conditional upon receiving a new investment certificate. The initial one, which was granted in March 1991, expired on March 5, 2016.

The reason for the above order is because the company has delayed in restructuring in spite of the province’s continued urging.

Besides, the company has yet to submit a completed dossier for the new investment certificate.   

Both mines have difficulty maintaining their operations due to suffering a massive loss of over VND1 trillion ($44.7 million), with a short-term debt volume of VND2.5 trillion ($111.7 million).

In January 2015, Besra Vietnam was warned to have its investment certificate revoked for its delay in payment of taxes and fees as well as late payment fines incurred for environmental pollution.

Besra Vietnam has to face continuous losses as well as financial trouble due to the impact of the global slump in gold prices in recent years. Almost all of Besra Vietnam’s gold is exported, thus, when world prices fell through in 2012, the revenue and profit of the company decreased accordingly.